How Do We Get The Younger Generation Interested In Voting?

[biotechpete 10]

On the whole i think the young are less ideologically driven and prefer practical policies. This intuitively doesn't fit well with our adversarial system.

 

But what it really needs is someone to stand up and tell it like it is. Policies which aid the young are vehemently opposed by the baby boomer generation and their sense of NIMBY entitlement.

 

The young need houses, communities and jobs. They work harder for less money than their parents and are faced with the highest ever debts and housing costs.

 

It reminds me of a lyric from a Frank Tuner song

You've got a generation raised on the welfare state,

Enjoyed all its benefits and did just great,

But as soon as they were settled as the richest of the rich,

They kicked away the ladder, told the rest of us that life's a b**ch.

[the_bloke 17]

People will vote on a matter that they feel is important to them; if a party has policies they can understand and would like to be put in place, then they are more likely to vote for it. If none of the parties have policies that they feel will make the slightest difference to anything, then they won't vote.

 

I worry that a growing percentage of young voters feel they have a greater understanding of how the X Factor works rather than comprehending the policies of the political parties. Combine that with the idea that all politicians are crooks, and you start to see why young people can't be bothered with it all.

 

Another theory I heard, is that until you become financially independent you are oblivious to how politics actually affects you. If the press is to be believed a lot of people aren't leaving home until the late twenties or they are all unemployed in council flats (garbage, but hey ho)

[poppet2 13]

What do you expect when not just the young but people of all ages have given up on voting because they feel their vote is wasted with this first past the post system. It's ridiculous that you have to vote technically to avoid a another political party gaining power.

[Anna B 1,401]

On the whole i think the young are less ideologically driven and prefer practical policies. This intuitively doesn't fit well with our adversarial system.

 

But what it really needs is someone to stand up and tell it like it is. Policies which aid the young are vehemently opposed by the baby boomer generation and their sense of NIMBY entitlement.

The young need houses, communities and jobs. They work harder for less money than their parents and are faced with the highest ever debts and housing costs.

 

It reminds me of a lyric from a Frank Tuner song

 

What makes you think baby boomers are opposed to policies which aid the young? Or that they have a nimby sense of entitlement?

 

I don't think I am for a start.

[tinfoilhat 11]

What makes you think baby boomers are opposed to policies which aid the young? Or that they have a nimby sense of entitlement?

 

I don't think I am for a start.

 

What would help young people is the price of housing to drop through the floor. See how well that sits with house owning baby boomers.

[biotechpete 10]

What makes you think baby boomers are opposed to policies which aid the young? Or that they have a nimby sense of entitlement?

 

I don't think I am for a start.

 

The majority are opposed to things like green technologies eg wind turbines and building additional housing where people want to live ergo my NIMBY comment. I also regularly hear the 'I worked hard all my life, so I'm entitled to my winter fuel payment and generous final salary pension'.

 

How many pensioners would take a cut to their pensions to give more money to the young now that the over 80s have a higher standard of living than those in their 20s.

 

According to figures from the Office of National Statistics, retirees have seen their incomes increase by 5.1% between 2007/08 and 2011/12, while working households saw typical incomes fall by 6.4%.

 

How many of them would like to pay for their hospital and care needs upfront instead of loading PFI debt onto the young?

When government debt and public-sector pension liabilities are combined, the resulting debt per member of the workforce is now over £70,000, equivalent to more than three times median household incomes.

[*_ash_* 88]

I think things are very cynical nowadays and if politicians tried to appeal to young people, the young people would see through it very quickly, and would probably feel like they were being targeted as some demographic to be captured: like 'hard working families', 'Mondeo Man' or some other lazy and stupid name that spin doctors like to call voters.

 

...and I think older voters/older people would also see through it, and say that they [politicians] are trying to brainwash the young.

 

I think feeling like they have a stake in society is one part of it; and ideas of the parties is another (i.e. differences in vision of political parties, rather than difference in emphasis between parties). A sense that their vote matters would be helpful, so that if they live in a safe seat, then in a way their vote appears to matter less.

 

I'll come back to this.

 

The recent Scottish election had young people engaged because their vote mattered, there wasn't some stupid and patronising name given to certain groups of voters (that I'm aware of); issues were discussed, and there seemed to be a freshness and honesty about the election. Votes seemed to matter, and the debate didn't feel staged or controlled.

 

I was watching Newsnight & there was a discussion between 3 families and their youngsters about the election, & it was one of the most depressing things I've watched in a long time....the participants didn't seem to join up the dots, rather talking in a smug fashion about why should they vote because 'what's in it for them', and then whinging about politicians who are all 'in it for themselves'

 

It's not often that I pretty much agree with you entirely Mr M.

 

Free spliff with every vote.

 

I'm not sure about that. Perhaps a McDonald's voucher too thrown in.

 

 

I think the current system is not fit for purpose.

 

You would

 

It was designed for toffs and still has the most ridiculous myriad of anachronisms and traditions that we could well do without if we want a parliament for the 21st Century. I'm embarrassed when I compare it to other countries. Is it a tourist attraction or a place of work?

 

I like the traditions I think it's in many ways up to date. They have wifi in HofP now you know

 

If the current government announced that they were going to build a state of the art modern building for parliament, you would be the 1st, 2nd or 3rd poster to start a thread entitled something like 'Build themselves luxury, whilst the poor live in a bin' (not even their own bin)

 

... then go on about one rule for them, rich and poor, etc. I know you would, and so would all the rest of your bunch.

 

If Labour won and announced it, you be in line to post 'Hooray, new government brings us into the 21C'

 

 

This is the age of the internet, the Information superhighway, instant communication and a rapidly changing techno age,

 

Someone at work said to me last year (when we were discussing modern tech), and he asked me [meaning about the future for his Daughter], 'Do you think the internet and all this phone business, make people more or less intelligent?'... interesting question if worded slightly different. Worth a thread I think

 

Surely the way to engage young voters is to give it the whole system a radical overhaul it so desperately needs, with new, more efficient ways of doing things, and let them have a say in the design of that. I'd start with a competition to come up with new ways of doing things and a new building to do them in.

 

To answer this and the OP and the bold in Mr M's post above...

 

I just don't think that most/many young people are particularly interested in politics. They might be interested in the headlines type things, like immigration, but I don't think that's particularly healthy basing things purely on single matters.

 

I know all the posters on here that are interested in politics, you and me included, but did you always have that?

 

I don't think I was interested in politics until perhaps mid-20s. I remember though at school, there were virtually no political debates in any lessons (edit, actually I can't remember one!). We had a tutorial time, which I think could be used in schools for interactive debates where children get to argue in groups over differing policies. When we had these rare events on matters, they quickly engaged and interested people. I would push for a move to make politics something that is included in lessons from perhaps the age of 13/14. Some of course would find it boring, but then I found most lessons boring, so it couldn't hurt. Let's face it, politics create the society that all these kids will spend the rest of their lives in.

 

I think the Scottish vote was interesting how many young people voted, because it was a straightforward question, it got a lot of media attention, it was fundamentally in important question. That has probably inadvertently created a lot of young people who will vote in the next elections. Perhaps there is a lesson in that?

so get rid of them, and let the younger ones have a go.

 

They couldn't do any worse.

 

I don't think this is rational thinking Anna. Bold, I think they could, and most likely would.

 

To put this into context Anna, do you as an older woman (I think you are older than me ), think that you are better or worse with money than you were as a young person (perhaps 18-25)?

[Obelix 11]

There just needs to be a "None of the Above" option on the paper...and the number ticking this box need to be announced in the same way as the votes cast for the aspiring MPs....

 

I prefer RON - Re Open Nominations.

 

If RON wins, all the other candidates lose their deposits for being terminally boring, and they cannot stand again for a year, meanwhile a new set of candidates get to have a go....

[truman 10]

What would help young people is the price of housing to drop through the floor. See how well that sits with house owning baby boomers.

 

If the price of houses dropped "through the floor" who would build them? If there's no profit to be made then none would get built..

 

---------- Post added 25-02-2015 at 14:49 ----------

 

I prefer RON - Re Open Nominations.

 

If RON wins, all the other candidates lose their deposits for being terminally boring, and they cannot stand again for a year, meanwhile a new set of candidates get to have a go....

 

It'd probably go on forever though...you'd have to assume the first lot are the best lot wouldn't you?

[VIEW2BUY 10]

I feel we could encourage young people to vote especially students having to pay back TUITION FEES. Should a party put into place that PRISON is also an EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION and FEES for such should also be debited from offenders bank accounts once they regain employment.

Edited February 28, 2015 by VIEW2BUY

[Event Horizo 10]

The whole political system is rotten to the core. Policies are made for votes. I wouldn't waste my effort even walking to the poll station.

[anywebsite 10]

A less crooked party to vote for would be a good start.