iGeneration Survey

by Populus on behalf of The Times

Telephone poll of 1,004 18 to 30 year olds

Memorable Quotes

“We put ourselves before our country and worship in gyms - not churches.   

We're fit and, my gosh, don't we know it.”

·   38% of men and 31% of women regularly work out in a gym

·   40% are members of a gym

·   More than half have not attended a religious service outside the   

     traditional rites of “hatch, match and dispatch” since childhood

·   More than one in ten have never been to church

·   22% would fight for their country

·   57% would fight if they agreed with the reasons for the conflict

·   19% would not fight for their country

·   80% are proud to be British

·   60% think Britain is a united country

“Belief is not matched by faith in the institutions of the Church”

·   53% believe in life after death and 10% are willing to consider the

               possibility

“We can predict phenomena such as a rise of spirituality outside the established Church.”

   

“Most believe that giving to charity is more important than voting.”

·         90% have given to charity

·         66% have voted in a election (68% men, 64% women)

·         18% won’t vote in the next election

·         40% have voted in a reality TV shows in the last 5 years (48% women, 31% men)

“A hard-working and savvy generation.”

“We have no money but loads of stuff ………. We may the first generation to be ruined by consumerism.”

·   1 in 3 men and 1 in 5 women expect to be less involved in raising their

      children than their father/ mother was.

·   1 in 10 men work over 50 hours a week

·   17% are still in full-time education

·   70% are not able to live well on their income

·   More than a quarter have debts of at least £10,000 or more

·   30% live with one or both parents

“The iGeneration still believes in ideals, such as justice, charity and an afterlife, but they just don’t believe in the ‘server’ mechanisms traditionally used to arrange access to them.”

·  96% think fathers should have identical rights and responsibilities to

               mothers

·  91% have or want children

“Institutions like marriage, the Church, the police force and the legal system aren’t enough to deliver or even guarantee any of these common ideals.”

·         39% consider marriage irrelevant

·         41% consider lifelong monogamy unrealistic

·         31% have parents who are either divorced or separated

·         More than half have little or no confidence in being treated fairly by  the police if arrested

·         Only 30% are sure they would get a fair trial from the legal system

“If we have lost faith in the agencies and embodiments of our ideals, we look to the past for solutions ………… With no certain present, it’s as if we actually want to be more and not less ‘stuck in the past’! “

·   32% think Britain is stuck in the past

·   47% favour the reintroduction of corporal punishment in schools

“Wishing discipline on others, there’s a basic refusal to accept discipline oneself ………… as a result of a loss of faith in social institutions.”

“We are surprisingly happy with our appearance ………”

”Good looking but with room for improvement ……….. Blame men – their average is 7.4 compared with women’s 6.7”

·The average rating (out of 10) for their physical appearance was

     high at 7. 

·   33% women and 12% men would consider cosmetic surgery and

     53% women and 27% men have been on a diet.

Here is “the emergence of a new post-materialist value system, in which quality of life (has) assumed a greater value than material goods.”

“We still live like children ………… the ‘me’ generation, the generation that never grew up.”

“Charitable giving, reality TV voting, binge drinking, internet pornography ………..  they all involve an immediacy of access to a ‘product’ or to a result ……….. a shift towards a kind of society where the pursuit of pleasure is ‘asocial’.”

·   84% have engaged in binge drinking of alcohol

·   58% have looked at internet pornography

And on moral issues……………..

·   48% do not support scientific testing on animals in any circumstances

·   67% are pro-abortion

·   65% agree with voluntary euthanasia

·   75% think gay couples should have the same rights as heterosexual

    couples

·   53% believe taking cannabis should not be a criminal offence

While on social issues ……….

·   39% are opposed to immigration

·   34% believe Britain is a racist country

·   81% have a close friend who is a different race or colour from me

·   88% would marry someone of a different race

·   41% think some races are inherently harder working than others

In summary …….

“The iGeneration is a dissatisfied one, and perhaps, a confused one …………. On the look out for new ways to implement its ideals.”

Lynda Barley

Archbishops’ Council

September 2004