Youth prefer action over voting: Report
AGE RELATED
Young adults may not vote as much as their elders. But don’t call them political deadbeats.
People aged 22 to 29 are just as involved in non- voting political activities such as participating in demonstrations or signing petitions as those aged 30 to 64, according to a Statistics Canada report released yesterday.
People in their 20s participate at a rate of 58 per cent, while 56 per cent of those over 30 are involved in non- voting political activities the report said. “Some researchers have referred to young people as ‘ engaged skeptics’ — interested in political issues, but wary of politicians,” said the report entitled: “ Willing to participate: Political engagement of young adults.” They support democracy but prefer more immediate and tangible ways to express it such as signing petitions, boycotting certain products, attending public meetings or participating in demonstrations, according to the report.
“ Young people’s feeling of disconnect from conventional political parties may partially account for their negative view of traditional politics and for their interest in alternative forms of political behaviour,” it said. The report, based on Statscan’s 2003 General Social Survey, says that 77 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot in at least one of the most recent local, provincial or federal elections prior to the survey. But according to the survey, just 59 per cent of adults in their 20s had voted, compared with 71 per cent of 30- to 44- yearolds and 85 per cent of those 45 or older. Kehinde Bah, 26, a youth organizer for the Laidlaw Foundation and past chair of the Toronto Youth Cabinet, isn’t surprised by the Statscan findings.
“ In my work I see many young people who are involved locally and increasingly globally,” he said. “Traditional politics is merely a tool in the shed but there are many other different tools.” Interestingly, young people in households with incomes below $ 20,000 were more likely to engage in non- voting activities than those with household incomes above $ 60,000.