According to a survey, one in five young people in Germany has debts, many 14- to 29-year-olds are saving energy and are worried about inflation and war. Nevertheless, the young generation continues to express relative satisfaction with their personal situation, even as fears grow that the prosperity years are over. These are the results of a study published on Monday by youth researchers Simon Schnetzer and Klaus Hurrelmann.

For the biannual trend study “Youth in Germany”, 1027 teenagers and young adults were surveyed online in October. An essential part of the survey is a query about the biggest concerns of this age group. Currently, inflation (71 percent) is at the top of the list, followed by the war in Europe (64) and climate change (55).

In the survey, 20 percent of teenagers and young adults agreed with the statement “I have debts.” More than half (55 percent) said they were saving energy because of inflation, for example by heating less and taking cold showers, and buying more reduced-price goods (51 percent). A quarter said they had cut back on buying organic products.

Fears, worries and “resilience”
The war in Ukraine continues to be a major concern for many young people. For 38 percent, the fear is “very great” or “rather great” that it will spread to all of Europe. 27 percent have little or no fear of it. 35 percent say neither. Significantly more young people than in the spring (54 percent (+25)) are now worried about inflation.

Many young people continue to complain about psychological burdens, such as stress or lack of drive. Here, however, some survey results have also eased. The proportion of those who learned to deal with the “permanent crisis mode” without psychological stress has increased slightly, the study says, “because a certain routine in dealing with exceptional situations has occurred and resistance forces (“resilience”) have formed.”

Nevertheless, the authors point out that psychological worries had become entrenched and condensed in a “frighteningly large minority,” so that urgent support was needed. For example, 16 percent reported helplessness and 10 percent (+3) reported suicidal thoughts. This is an “urgent warning signal”.