Their finances and job opportunities are what young people are now most concerned about, shows a recent NHO survey. Conversely, concern about climate change is diminishing.
Rising interest, food and electricity prices now top the list of concerns for 15-29 year olds. Seven in ten worry that this affects their future prospects and affects relationships such as work, housing and family.
This is revealed by a survey among young people that Opinion carried out for NHO. The report will be presented at the NHO’s annual conference just before the new year on Thursday 5 January.
– Make an impression
Two years ago, it was climate change that worried young people the most. Last year there was war turmoil. This year, therefore, concern for one’s finances and job opportunities are at the top of the list.
NHO head Ole Erik Almlid believes the survey is a stark warning, especially when it comes to opportunities for young people in the job market.
– There are too many young people who are outside the workforce. It’s serious. The numbers are strong and impressive, he tells NTB.
Why the survey shows that pessimism is quite common among young people:
* One in two, 50 percent, believe their generation will fare worse than the last. The number is the highest in three years. Just as many believe that finding a job in ten years will be more difficult than it is today.
* Among the youngest, aged 15-19, nearly half are concerned about not getting the job they want and not being able to do well enough in the course they are on.
* Nearly as many, 47%, are concerned about their stress level. They are slightly more than in the two previous surveys on young people.
* 46% are concerned about growing inequality in Norway.
* Four out of ten also think it is more difficult to plan for the future now than it was two years ago.
marching order
The survey will provide a better understanding of what young people think about the future. Almlid himself reads it as a marching order to secure the labor market.
– We don’t have to do anything now, which means more people have to leave the job market than expected, she says and points out that fear for one’s finances is often linked to fear of not finding a job.
The fact that so many in the survey say they are concerned about this is a serious sign, he believes.
– So we have to at least say clearly that we are doing everything we can to ensure that people don’t lose their jobs, while creating new jobs at the same time. Work is the key to everything, says the NHO head.
In this year’s survey, fear of climate change and the destruction of nature and the environment dropped to third place. There are also far fewer, 58 percent, who say they are concerned about this than they were two years ago. Then 72 percent said climate change worried them.
– I think this is due to the fact that at the moment people know about problems much more closely than before. The climate challenge is just as big, if not bigger than that of 2020. But now people are asking the question: what is happening to my life? I will have a job in the future, says Almlid.
The most worried girls
Girls are consistently a little more worried than boys, survey shows. For example, 80 percent of girls and young women are concerned about rising prices, while the same is true for 60 percent of boys and young men.
Worries also increase with age: people aged 25-29 are more anxious than those aged 15-19.
The riots are also geographically distributed differently. Young people in Oslo, for example, are much more concerned about climate change than their peers in rural areas.
