the world of young people today: victoria guyatt, deputy head of ethnography, ipsos mori

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The World of Young People Today Victoria Guyatt, Deputy Head of Ethnography Ipsos MORI

04/12/2012

Presenter

Presentation Notes

I’d like you all to think back over the last couple of weeks. Think about the news coverage of young people on TV and in the paper. How are young people portrayed? What’s the main theme of that coverage? 2,000 under-12s arrested last year, says charity What drugs do students take? Happy 20th birthday, SMS – I'll resist the urge to send you a drunken text It’s difficult to find positive stories about young people today, we often vilify them and feel concerned about the effect this ‘next generation’ will have on society. But research shows that it’s not all doom and gloom, they’re an aspirational bunch, and with the use of technology are actually very resourceful. This presentation looks at the world of young people: Economic world they find themselves in today How technology impacts their lives And what the public think of young people and their ambitions for the future

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British public is worried young people have little to do …

4639

3433

29212121

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The level of crime

Activities for teenagers

Road and pavement repairs

Facilities for young children

Public transport

Affordable decent housing

The level of traffic congestion

Clean streets

Source: Ipsos MORI clients – Place Survey 2008/9

Job prospects

Q Thinking about your local area, which 4 or 5 of the things on the card, if any, do you think most need improving?

Presenter

Presentation Notes

I’m sure it’s no surprise that the British public are concerned about young people...

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20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

% Im

port

ant i

n m

akin

g so

mew

here

a g

ood

plac

e to

live

% Most needs improving

Source: Ipsos Global @dvisor Base: c.23,000 online citizens, November 2009-January 2010

Cultural facilities

Parks

Education provision

Sport & leisure facilities

Race relations

Shopping facilities

Health services

Community activities

Clean streets


Level of pollution

Public transport

Level of crime

Job prospects Affordable housing

What is important in our lives?

Presenter

Presentation Notes

When we look at data around what’s important, education provision features highly on ‘what makes somewhere good to live’ and ‘activities for young people’ features a the thing that most needs improving. Indeed we worry about this more than other countries around the world

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20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

% Im

port

ant i

n m

akin

g so

mew

here

a g

ood

plac

e to

live

% Most needs improving

Cultural facilities

Parks

Education provision

Sport & leisure facilities

Race relations

Shopping facilities

Health services

Community activities

Clean streets


Level of pollution

Public transport

Level of crime

Job prospects

Source: Ipsos Global @dvisor Base: c.23,000 online citizens, November 2009-January 2010

Affordable housing

International average Britain

In Britain we are less worried about education and more worried about teenagers than the international average

Presenter

Presentation Notes

We are less worried about education and more worried about giving them something to do, than the international average. That’s why it’s great to be here today and be involved with initiative like Kids in Museums which aims to tackle this issue.

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

So, I’ve only got 20 minutes or so, so this really is going to be a helicopter view on young people and in particular technology. I’ve taken the key elements from a number of studies from our trends and futures group at Ipsos MORI, namely our Technology tracker, which interviews 1000 people face to face each quarter about their technology use and habits and our Youth in Transition study, which is a qual study with 120 young people designed to understand the new generation and their lifestyles.

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What is the world like for young people?

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Today’s youth are living through

economic uncertainty…

…and rapid technological

change.

• Source: Ipsos MORI Youth in Transition 2011

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Youth unemployment is at its highest level since

the mid 1980s

of 16-24 year olds are unemployed

Are young people bearing the brunt of the economic slowdown?

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/nov/16/youth-unemployment-hits-1m-uk


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Many students unsure of the value of taking degrees

Youth in education are worried ...

Job seekers worry about shrinking choice in jobs and how to differentiate themselves

“I feel sad for them... the Government should do more with apprenticeship schemes - they aren’t being given enough chances”

Adults, What do we think of Youth? group

Youth entering the job world are worried...

Adults are worried for Youth ...

Uncertain national mood …

What effect will the financial crisis have on my future?


Presenter

Presentation Notes

Youth in education are worried – many students are unsure of the value of taking degrees. Young people entering the labour market are also concerned, there’s shrinking job choices and a concern with differentiating themselves. Indeed adults are also concerned.

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But I’m still aiming for success!

Happiness! Wealth

Material assets Well paid

job

Feelings of worry about the immediate future are mixed with ambition and hope for the longer term…

Financial security

Family

My future My here and now

I’m worried...


BUT Long term aspirations remain high

Presenter

Presentation Notes

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Surrounded by human stories of fame and good fortune – ‘read how Branson made it to the top’, ‘Meet the band’ fansites.

This empowers young people to ‘make their goals their reality’ but brings pressures to achieve and attain

Empowerment Pressure

‘Meritocracy’ increases expectation


Presenter

Presentation Notes

This notion of meritocracy could be fuelling this positivity. Surrounded by stories of footballers and pop stars ‘doing it for themselves’ young people feel that they can do things that their parents didn’t. They do feel empowered to get what they want in life, but this comes with added pressure.

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Time to spare Time to care

School work - learning

16 -18s 18 - 21s 21 - 24s

Seeking instant gratification

First jobs Research / planning

Peer groups

Seeking certainty

Killing time

What am I up to?

University

What’s everyone up to?

Accepting ambiguity

Discovery

What are my options?

Decisions

Lifestyle

Across these age groups, social and attitudinal differences emerge

Time use and mindset changes with age


Presenter

Presentation Notes

It’s a time of rapid change for young people. They go from being children to adults in a short space of time.

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Mum, Dad, Bro, Sis

Close face to face contact has biggest influence

Boyfriends, girlfriends

Peers

But wider circles provide powerful source of inspiration

Facebook and ‘real life’

friends

Wikipedia, Google

Media

Facebook pages, Twitter

Who influences them?


Presenter

Presentation Notes

They also have a number of influences in their lives, and understanding these is a key element to working with and understanding young people. Traditionally, it has been close face-tof-ace contact that has had the biggest influence, but increasingly these other factors in green are playing a part.

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The impact of technology

Presenter

Presentation Notes

We can’t talk about young people today and not talk about the pervasive influence that technology and social media has in their lives. I ’m going to show you a 4 minute film from some ethnographic work we did with young people for our Youth in Transition project which sought to understand the role of technology in young people’s lives. Now the problem with doing research into technology is that it changes so quickly! This was conducted just over 1 year ago and already feels dated...

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The younger ones are naturally ‘tech-y’

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"I'd rather give up, like, a kidney than my phone. How did you manage before? Carrier pigeons? Letters? Going round each others' houses on BIKES?“

Philippa Grogan, 16, The Guardian, 2010

Presenter

Presentation Notes

So, what we’ve found is that the iphone age, are comfortable with the kind of information sharing and openness that the online world invites

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And adept at multitasking

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

They are adept at multi-tasking. Dipping into the online world while engaging with offline realities is blurring the boundaries.

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But they are easily distracted

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

They are distractable. Their minds wander easily between the on and offline world and they find it difficult to differentiate between the two.

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16 14 18

46 46 32

24 29 34

7 8 12

1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009

% Strongly disagree % Tend to disagree % Tend to agree % Strongly agree

...boredom threshold has fallen

2008

I am the sort of person that gets bored very easily

2005 2003

Presenter

Presentation Notes

So they’re a very difficult group to target. The average time young people will wait for a page to load is 2 seconds. I remember dial-up connection so am prepared to wait longer, but they’ve only dealt with broadband, there patience is short. Don’t assume that because they’re into technology that you can simply interact with them online. They are very discerning online ‘consumers’, and demand levels of excellence when interacting in this manner.

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What does society think of young people?

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Now before I continue I’d like to ask who here has children? I always like to present this to say either a. Things will get better, or b. You’ve got a long way to go!

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4647484950515253545556

Marriedwithoutchildren

Childbearing

Pre-schoolchildren,oldest 5

Schoolchildren,

oldest 5-12

Teenagers,oldest 12-

16

First childgone to

last leavingat home

Empty nestto

retirement

Empty nextto death of

firstspouse

Study 1 Study 2 Study 3 Study 4

The terror of teenagers!

% happy during marriage

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Does this ring true? It’s challenging bringing up teenagers, and public opinion reflects this…

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Young people lack discipline and are materialistic …

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Back to my point at the beginning, there is a perception that young people are a bit of a nuisance, there’s been a degradation of family values and we no longer sit about and eat dinner together. The next generation is going down the pan ...

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A majority think British teenagers need more discipline

2008

“Young people today have too much freedom and not enough discipline”

4 2 1 17 14 9

43 40 44

35 40 40

1997

% Strongly disagree % Tend to disagree % Tend to agree % Strongly agree

1999

Over 80% think young people have too much freedom

Source: Ipsos MORI, Real Trends 2008 Base: Self-completion and online, c. 2,000 British adults 16+ each wave

Presenter

Presentation Notes

The public don’t appear to think highly of teenagers …

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Q To what extent do you think that the following are problems in your local area? (Materialism among young people)

Materialism amongst young people is perceived to be a problem by a significant majority

Base: All. Telephone interviews with 1,204 respondents aged 16+ in selected areas of England. Fieldwork dates 14 – 22 February 2012

35 32 17 8 9

A great deal To some extent Not very much Not at all Don't know

%

Source: DCLG/ Ipsos MORI, Research for the Riots Communities and Victims Panel, 2012

Presenter

Presentation Notes

67%

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Q To what extent do you agree or disagree that . . .? (Advertising puts pressure on young people to own the latest products)

A majority think there is too much pressure on young people to own the latest products

69 16 4 5 5 2

Strongly agree Tend to agree Neither/nor Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don't know

Base: All. Telephone interviews with 1,204 respondents aged 16+ in selected areas of England. Fieldwork dates 14 – 22 February 2012

Source: DCLG/ Ipsos MORI, Research for the Riots Communities and Victims Panel, 2012

%

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Young people themselves are fairly aspirational…

Presenter

Presentation Notes

But it’s not all doom and gloom

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6%

25%

44%

15%

Most teenagers still care what others think

Strongly agree

Tend to disagree

Tend to agree

Strongly disagree

“If other people are offended by my behaviour that is their problem…”

Source: Ipsos MORI, Real Trends 2008 Base: Self-completion and online, 2,019 British adults 16+ 9 May – 5 June 2008

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80% of young people intend to go into higher education – a rise since 2003

Source: Ipsos MORI/ Sutton Trust, Young People Omnibus 2010 (Wave 16), 2010 Base: c. 2,500 young people aged 11-16 each year

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Q How proud do you feel of the area where you live, or do you not feel proud of it at all?

Base: 2757 11-16 year olds Source: Ipsos MORI Young People Omnibus (January – April 2012)

Very proud

A bit proud

Not that proud

Not proud at all

Not stated

Proud 71% Not proud 27%

They’re proud of where they come from

Presenter

Presentation Notes

71% are proud

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Q Which one of these sentences do you agree with the most?

It doesn’t matter what background you’re from, anyone can be a success in life if they try

hard enough

It doesn’t matter how hard you try, you’ll only be

successful in life if you’re from the right background

Not stated

Neither of these


Success can be theirs!

Final thoughts

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Spoke to neighbour who was 16, ‘old stuff in cases’

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• To first connect with young people, you need to give the ‘objects in cases’ status or credibility that relates to them. Inspire motivation

• Remember the importance of technology (but remember the attention span…) • Don’t assume they’re disengaged

and don’t care. They’re an aspirational bunch, and recognize the importance of education.

the world of young people today: victoria guyatt, deputy head of ethnography, ipsos mori

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