Young people 'still not keen on voting in elections'
Young people 'not keen on voting'
Tuesday, 12, Feb 2008 07:20
A new survey has claimed that low levels of voter apathy are unlikely to rise any time soon.
The survey of over 1,500 UK teenagers showed that 63 per cent of 13 to 18-year-olds would not vote if the legal age was lowered.
Forty-six per cent said in the poll, undertaken by Piczo, that they had absolutely no respect for politicians, while 22 per cent claimed public demonstration was the best way to change the status quo.
As many as 67 per cent of those surveyed said that government policy was biased against their age group and 31 per cent claimed the largest reason for not voting was a lack of confidence that it had any effect on public policy.
Exam pressure was cited as the greatest source of stress for the teenagers and global warming seen as the most important global issue today.
Piczo's European managing director Chris Seth said: "Teenagers have always struggled to find a voice and influence their environment, and the survey results reflect their frustration with this.
"If politicians are to attain greater credibility amongst teens there is a responsibility for them to reach out and listen to this younger audience," he said.
"Our research revealed that 76 per cent of teens spend more time on the internet than watching television. This highlights the increased needs for UK political parties to actively increase their online presence."
One apparent success in recent governmental policy is universities places, with only ten per cent of the teenagers surveyed seeing this as a worry for the future.