YOUTH 2020 - The position of young people in Slovenia

Key findings of The Youth 2020 study  349 have felt discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. Nor do the changes in values described above automatically imply that young people are in practice very supportive of foreign immigration. For exam- ple, young people’s social distance from refugees remains very high: while only 7% of young people would feel uncomfortable if a family from Western Europe moved near them, 56% of young people would feel un- comfortable if refugees moved in. The serious problems of tolerance in Slovenian society are also reflected in the fact that more than 80% of young people witness hate speech on the internet several times a month. As many as 70% of young people also think that there is too much hate speech in Slovenian society. Young people also feel more politically competent than they did ten years ago and are more inclined to communicate directly with politicians, in- cluding by participating in petitions. However, it is important to note that young people’s level of interest in institutional politics, including their self-reported knowledge of politics, is still low. This is also linked to a very low level of trust in political decision-makers, which is reflected, among other things, in young people’s low external political efficacy (i.e., the view that the ordinary individual in our society has no real influence on the actions of the authorities). All this, of course, has a negative impact on youth electoral participation or on the broader political participation, which remains low. On the other hand, there is a significant threat of po- litical radicalisation; as many as a quarter of young people believe that the use of violence is legitimate in achieving higher goals. The aforementioned increase in young people’s interest in politics can also be linked to the marked increase in interest in arts and culture ob- served over the period 2010-2020. It is particularly encouraging to note that young people’s artistic creativity is increasing more than their con- sumption of artistic content. This is particularly true for young people un- der 18, almost 40% of whom are involved in an artistic activity on a week- ly basis. It seems, therefore, that a creative generation of young people is coming of age – but also a generation that is more willing and able than generations before it to cope with uncertain labour market conditions. However, this does not mean that they are passively accepting social con-