Politics is no place for young people
Young people have been shut out of politics at every turn, and politicians seem reluctant to try to bring change.
Since the General Election, opposition to the Conservative Party have called for young voters to head to the ballot boxes. Young voters tend to vote with left wing parties but turnout for young voters has been uninspiring since the turn of the millennium. It is not the fault of young people; politicians have waged a war against the younger generation with cuts to support services, housing benefit and breaking promises on tuition fee rises. Young people have, quite simply, been taken for granted by a political elite that are scratching their heads at the fact that young people aren’t inclined to vote.
James Hart knows well the complacency behind youth engagement from politicians. Hart is a PhD student at Nottingham Trent University and his thesis is concentrated upon exploring young people’s political engagement and the barriers they face to political participation. He also teaches on the Classical and Contemporary Social Theory at Birmingham City University.
Hart doesn’t believe that politicians have done enough to try to engage young people. In 2009, a commission was established to improve the participation of young people but Hart is ambivalent about its results.
‘The measures suggested by the report to increase citizenship and participation have been poorly implemented,” Hart comments. “If they were implemented at all. Interestingly, it is the conduct of many politicians that many young people highlight when they are discussing their negative feelings towards politics. Contemporary youth feel that politicians are self-serving and have little concern for young people. So, somewhat ironically, politicians are currently encouraging young people’s disengagement.”
The discord between young and old in politics is being felt acutely. Young people are struggling to find a voice in party politics. Few representatives in either the House of Lords or the Houses of Parliament are under thirty. Hart believes this can be overcome.
“Getting more young people involved in political discussions would go a long way to overcoming the divide between younger cohorts and Westminster.
“A lot of young people have reported that they don’t understand politics, because it is too complicated and is not accessible to them. However, if more young people were involved in political discussions and policy formation, then they could influence the language used in political messages to make it less complex and more appealing for young people.
“Having more political representatives who are younger would also make Westminster more appealing to young people as they could more easily identify with those who are making political decisions.”
One event that brought young people to the voting booths was the EU referendum. While turnout was initially thought to be low, the majority of young people did participate in the vote. It bucked the trend of local and general elections in recent years and it’s something that Hart has written on before for The Conversation. A major reason for engagement with the referendum, Hart argued, that was that it transcended party politics.
“I would suggest that this one of the principle reasons for young people’s lack of electoral participation. Some young people have previously complained that mainstream UK political parties offer similar policies and outlooks,” Hart says.
“And, of course, many young people have felt betrayed by successive governments who have prioritised older voters and withdrawn support from young people. Labour’s introduction of university fees, the Liberal Democrats decision to increase university fees and the Conservative’s exclusion of young people from access to welfare and the national living wage are just a few examples.
“Political parties in the UK rely on a centralised and a hierarchical structure, in which policy is formed by those at the top of the party. Young people, conversely, are increasingly favouring more direct forms of policy creation where they can contribute to the formation of policies and can monitor the progress of their engagement. Indeed, if you look at Hansard’s Audit of Political Engagement for 2016, you will see that young people are the most likely of all age cohorts to agree that getting involved in the decision-making process is important. Consequently, there is a conflict between the political engagement offered by political parties and how young people want to participate in politics.”
Such an oppressive structure is unlikely to encourage young people to engage. The UK has been a complacent place for politics in recent years. Young voters having to drag themselves to the polls does not suggest that we are living in a healthy and vibrant democracy. Ahead of the General Election, Hart has concerns for the participation of young people.
“I don’t think there will be a large decline in young people’s turnout as their turnout has plateaued since 2005, where young people recorded the lowest turnout on record, though this relatively low level of engagement may continue.”
Yet, Hart still believes there are reasons to be optimistic for the future.
“However, I am cautiously optimistic that young people will increase their political participation in the future. There are an increasing number of organisations who are trying to understand the experiences of today’s young people and why they are not engaging with politics. This will only improve our ability to understand young people’s aversion to political participation, find ways which stimulate their engagement and bring attention to their marginalisation by political parties.
“Young people’s relatively high turnout of 63% at the EU referendum is exciting as it demonstrates that the majority of young people are interested in political matters, which means that we know that the problem is with the delivery of politics rather than apathetic young people. The priority, then, is improving the interaction between political parties and young people, but if political parties and the political system continues to ignore young people, then it would be not surprising if many young people continue to ignore politics.”
To attempt to increase engagement there must be action. With Hart’s experience and research, he understands this well. Hart insists that a cohesive strategy can increase engagement by young people.
“Political parties need to include more young people in political discussions and policy creation. Many young people would appreciate working in collaboration with their political representatives, where they would be active participants.
“Political parties also need to improve how they communicate with young people. Making politics more accessible, less obscure and using new forms of media would give young people the opportunity to evaluate political parties and their policies.”
A lack of interaction and communication with young people has been a fundamental element to young people being turned off politics. If there’s to be any hope of young people being involved in politics, this must change. Young people don’t think that they can make a difference and so they have little motivation to participate in politics.
“Research demonstrates that young people could change who wins in many constituencies if young people’s electoral participation increased. If they influence a significant number of seats, then politicians would be compelled to engage with young people. Young people have more power than they think, and I want them to harness that.”
The economic legacy of austerity has also had its impact on voter turnout, particularly for young people who have been hit hard since 2010. Since then, the education maintenance allowance has been scrapped, housing benefits for under 21s has been removed and tuition fees have risen to some of the highest in the world. Despite what they pay for university, young people are struggling to find graduate-jobs with many having to settle for unsecure, low-paying work. It was found in 2014, that one in six call centre workers held degrees as did one in ten childminders.
“The socio-economic conditions that young people are now experiencing suppresses the likelihood of them voting, so improving their opportunities and financial position would lead to an increase in voting. The current generation may be the first in many not to see improved standards of living compared to the previous generation – in fact, there is some concern that their standards of living will be worse than the preceding generation.
“Contemporary youth are facing a far more complicated economic position than previous generations. Young people receive less support from the state, while, at the same time, they are finding homeownership more difficult to achieve, the cost of renting increasing and decreasing opportunities to find secure employment. Young people’s attachment to citizenship is consequently reduced which decreases their likelihood of voting. Furthermore, these socio-economic conditions increase inequality between younger and older cohorts and we know that large levels of inequality reduce the political participation of the disadvantaged social groups.”
Young voter turnout is unlikely to surprise on June the 8th, but the culprits behind that are the political parties that have ignored the next generation. Young people have been given no reason to believe in our political system. It will take long term commitment to begin to get young people to trust in politics again.
You can empower young people in politics right now by ordering your copy of Stand Up.
