Youth is regularly qualified by the media and political discourse as "disengaged, apolitical, individualistic and apathetic" observe the authors of the "Youth Barometer". Youth Barometer. " Sociological field surveys reveal, however, that the commitment of young people, in the broadest sense, is not weakening, and is even tending to progress and change.
This national survey, led by the Directorate of Youth, Popular Education and Associative Life (DJEPVA), is conducted among 4,500 young people aged 18 to 30.
The 2019 Barometer thus records " a slight increase in youth engagement."
Référence :
Digital engagement, the main avenue for youth action in public life
In 2019, digital engagement (" having signed a petition or advocated for a cause via the internet, a blog, a social network in the past 12 months") is among young people the main route to action in public life (45%). The proportion has increased steadily since the first wave of the barometer in 2016, and has risen a total of 9 points in the space of four years.
Beyond the diffusion on social networks, the progression of these practices among young people is likely to be linked to the success of online petitions, several of which gathered millions of people in 2019.
CREDOC's Living Conditions and Aspirations survey of the French population as a whole confirms this particular infatuation of young people with online engagement (whether through petitions or defending a cause on the internet, a blog, a social network): the digital engagement observed in the population as a whole is lower and has remained stable in the meantime (32 percent in 2017 and 31 percent in 2019).
Volunteer work, with a little more than a third of young people involved (37%), remains, in 2019, the second most popular form of commitment among young French people; its evolution is slightly upward since 2016 (+ 2 points).
Predominance of young women in digital engagement practices
Nearly one in two young women (49% to be exact) say they "signed a petition or advocated for a cause via the internet, a blog or a social network " in 2019 compared to only 40% of their male counterparts.
This predominance of women in the practice of digital engagement has also been highlighted in other studies of all age groups. Young men, on the other hand, are more present in other types of participation: volunteer work (43% of men vs. 31% of women), participation in public consultations (12% vs. 6%), membership in a political party (7% vs. 3%), participation in demonstrations, strikes or occupations (22% of men vs. 12% of women).
The level of education also influences the type of participation. Youth with a bachelor's degree and above are more likely to "sign petitions on the Internet" (46%), compared to 38% of youth with less than a bachelor's degree. On the other hand, young people with a degree below the baccalaureate (23%) participate more in physical modes of expression: a demonstration, a blockade of a place or a strike.
"volunteering your time".
Digital engagement (through online petitions, participation in social networks or blogs), on the other hand, is identical regardless of employment status: the share of students and employed youth is similar (45%), as it was already in 2016 (36% for young students and 37% for students), and regardless of the social categories to which the youth feel they belong.
