FES MENA Youth Study

Not only regional developments, but above all global events have strongly influenced the lives of young people in the MENA region in recent years and politically incapacitated them. They are not very interested in politics and hardly trust most state institutions. Democratic forms of government have clearly lost their appeal, and a sense of helplessness is spreading instead. The preference for a political system based on a ‘strong man’ is an expression of the expectation that the state should provide fundamental social and economic support.

The economic situation and employment of young adults in the region have come under further pressure as a result of the pandemic and the current crises. The perception of the economic situation of the family has deteriorated in almost all countries. In particular, those young adults who have already started a family are coming under pressure. While the majority of the parent generation still works in public service or as employees, young people have to look for new jobs that often offer less security.

The family is the most important institution and the central point of reference for young people in the MENA region, especially because reliable other institutions are lacking. 87 per cent of those surveyed are convinced that ‘you can only lead a happy life in a family’. At the same time, more than half of the respondents stated that it had become more difficult to find a partner. It is particularly young women who are developing new values in this situation and striving for more agency.

The numerous crises in the MENA region range from the economic crises that were already virulent in 2016 and the associated problem of youth unemployment to the critical slumps caused by the Covid 19 pandemic, which were experienced worldwide for the first time in 2020/21. While the pandemic has not spared any of the countries surveyed, other problems such as supply shortages, insecurity and hunger are seen as even more urgent and serious depending on the country and social class.

The Covid-19 pandemic was an ambivalent experience for many of the respondents. It had a direct impact on the physical and mental health of young people. But everyday life in the Corona crisis was also characterised by temporary restrictions and new structural inequalities that particularly affected the most vulnerable. By contrast, the most important positive experience during the pandemic was the huge, spontaneous, often self-organised social engagement and sense of solidarity shown by large sections of young people.

Food insecurity and violence are often linked and primarily affect poor and vulnerable population groups. Both phenomena have drastic consequences for those affected, which are difficult to reverse and lead to social fractures and the loss of social standards, especially with regard to access to basic foodstuffs and social justice. In the countries and social classes affected, hunger and violence have the effect of radical expropriation processes that make self-determination for young adults and fair life chances seem increasingly unrealistic.

Despite the prevailing insecurity in the region, only a small minority of those surveyed are determined to emigrate. However, the number of those who definitely do not want to leave their home country has fallen since 2016. The complex feelings and differentiated assessments of migration among those surveyed refute the stereotypical assumption that the majority of young adults in the MENA region are ‘migration aspirants’. Furthermore, mobility plans are not only an indication of economic exclusion, but also a strategy for a dignified life with a secure livelihood and a fairer distribution of prosperity and opportunities.

Awareness of environmental protection and climate change is growing across the region (from 41% in 2016 to 56% in 2021). It is always particularly pronounced when they are directly affected. The vast majority of young people say they are concerned about the state of the environment, and many are willing to take an active role in improving it. However, those responsible for pollution and climate change are often difficult to identify. The survey shows that the prospects of success for protest and engagement are greatest when activists manage to combine environmental issues with socio-economic concerns.

There is a strong willingness to get involved in society; the majority of respondents (78%) say they do volunteer work. Helping the poor and weak and working for a better and cleaner environment are at the top of the list. Working for social and political change is at the bottom. Many young people consciously locate their commitment outside formal and institutional areas. Despite their critical view of the state and society, they act with the conviction that they can positively influence the world, at least in their own environment.

Despite profound disappointment over political and economic developments, the respondents have an almost inexhaustible reservoir of optimism that seems to be a characteristic of every young generation. Compared to the survey five years earlier, however, the percentage of those who look to the future with optimism has decreased. While demands are articulated to politics and the older generations, young people are also willing to tackle things themselves. The spontaneously organised solidarity is an instructive and encouraging example of the great energy and potential of this young generation to break the spiral of expropriation and to make the societies of the region fairer and more sustainable.