The war in Ukraine has dominated the news for months. This does not leave children and young people unaffected, as a Bertelsmann study has now found. But that's not the only reason why young people are gloomy about Germany's future.
Children and young people in Germany rate their own future more positively than the future of the entire country. This is the result of a representative Internet survey of 12 to 18 year olds for the Bertelsmann Foundation. According to the study, 43 percent of young people believe that their personal future will be better in three years than it is now, and only 8 percent believe it is "worse than now". 30 percent believe that it will "neither get better nor worse", 18 percent gave no concrete assessment.
When looking at the future of Germany, the result looked different, here the respondents gave more pessimistic forecasts. Only 16 percent of young people believe that Germany's future will look "better than now" in three years' time. 37 percent answered "worse than now", 29 percent "neither better nor worse", 18 percent gave no answer.
Among the greatest concerns of young people was the fear that a family member or one's own partner could die. When asked to what extent this concerned them, 83 percent of respondents answered "very" or "somewhat". 82 percent feared that there could be a war in Germany, 80 percent feared climate change.
When asked about specific wishes, the young people indicated personal freedom as the most important by a greater distance. 75 percent of 12 to 18 year olds consider them "very important". This is followed by "travel and discover the world" with 45 percent and "earn money" (44 percent).
