YOUTH 2020 - The position of young people in Slovenia

Young people, family, and intergenerational mindsets  265 “We put more emphasis on the fact that you do things because you want to do them, which older generations might see more as selfishness, because they were brought up very differently – in a way that you have to work all your life. This was probably not even achievable for them at the time. And then there are also different views and ideas about upbringing, which I can also observe in my family circle. At some point there is always a debate about children – how they should be brought up, and then one person is smarter than the other /.../ But it seems to me that we can always learn a lot from each other.” (Tina, 29 years old, radiology specialist, interrupted her specialisation to work with Covid-19 patients) Increasing individualisation is also reducing the importance of communi- ty, which in turn reduces the importance and presence of intergeneration- al cooperation. Intergenerational conflict is latently reinforced in the ab- sence of such cooperation. Such conditions, accompanied by competition for scarce social resources, create a belief in the inequitable distribution of wealth between generations, which in the long term means the inevita- bility of intergenerational conflict (Deželan, 2017). Aware of the challeng- es related to this, the National Youth Programme 2013-2022 also follows the “principles of intergenerational cooperation” and ensures “greater in- tergenerational solidarity” with one of its fundamental orientations (Res- olution on the National Youth Programme 2013-2022, 2013). Many meas- ures are needed to avoid intergenerational conflict, especially on the part of political decision-makers (see Deželan, 2017), but beliefs within par- ticular age groups are also an important aspect. These are a very impor- tant determinant of the success of political strategies and the rhetoric of zero-sum games, and they also provide clear insights into understanding complex social processes. Below we present the level of awareness of in- tergenerational conflict and solidarity among young people in 2020.