US Youth is Less Optimistic About Its Future Than Those in Developing World: Streetbees Survey

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Streetbees

Feb 27, 2018, 07:30 ET

LONDON, February 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Young people in the US are less optimistic about their future than their contemporaries in the developing world, according to a new survey.

The survey of 1,660 people - conducted by Streetbees, the global intelligence platform - finds that American 18 to 24-year-olds have less confidence in the future than groups of the same age in five other countries - India, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria and South Africa - although Americans are more confident than young people in the UK.

However, the survey also finds that 77% of young Americans said they are more optimistic about their futures now than they were at the start of 2017.

Tugce Bulut, CEO of Streetbees, said: "Our research, conducted through conversations with real people across the world via the Streetbees app, found some surprising results. The world sees America as a confident country, but we found that young people in the US are actually more worried about their futures than their counterparts in the developing world, in countries like India and Nigeria, who believe they can achieve anything."

  • When asked how they felt about the future, 86% of US young people said they were 'very optimistic' or 'quite optimistic', lower than in Nigeria (97%), Indonesia (96%), India (94%), Brazil (88%), and South Africa (87%), but higher than the UK (72%).
  • When asked if they were more or less optimistic than they were at the start of last year, 77% of US young people said they were 'much more optimistic or a little more optimistic', lower than Indonesia (91%), Nigeria (87%) and Brazil (83%), but higher than India (69%), South Africa (69%), and the UK (59%)
  • When asked if their generation is more or less optimistic than their parents' generation, 27% of US young people said theirs was 'a little less optimistic' or 'much less optimistic', a higher figure than any other country except the UK (UK 41%, South Africa 26%, Brazil 22%, Nigeria 15%, India 15%, Indonesia 3%)
  • When asked how optimistic their country as a whole is about the future, 56% of US young people said the outlook was 'very optimistic' or 'quite optimistic' (UK 25%, South Africa 36%, Brazil 54%, Nigeria 67%, India 80%, Indonesia 87%)
  • In response to the same question, 29% of US young people said the outlook was 'quite pessimistic' or very pessimistic' (UK 49%, South Africa 36%, Brazil 18%, Nigeria 15%, India 8%, Indonesia 1%)

Those surveyed were also asked about their specific concerns. When asked 'What three things are you most concerned with right now?':

  • The top concerns listed by US young people were money (60%), work (57%), and family (42%)
  • US young people were more likely to say 'access to healthcare' than those in any other country surveyed (9%), compared to Brazil (7%), UK (6%), South Africa (4%), Nigeria (3%), Indonesia (3%), India (2%)

http://www.streetbees.com

SOURCE Streetbees