Almost half of young people in Brabant have (a lot of) confidence in the European Union. That is much more than the older Brabanders, according to research by Kieskompas commissioned by the NOS and the regional broadcasters. And there are more differences between the youngest and the oldest inhabitants of our province.
Kieskompas questioned 3029 people from Brabant of different ages, backgrounds and from all parts of the province about their identity, how they view politics and how satisfied they are with their lives.
The Brabant identity
The research shows, among other things, that 50% of all Brabant people, both young and old, feel connected to their province. That connection is not self-evident: nationally only 37% of people feel that way, in South Holland even only 25%.
Does the Brabander have nothing to do with the rest of the Netherlands? Certainly, 47% indicate that they (also) feel connected to the Netherlands, which is exactly the national average. Only 15% feel emphatically disconnected from the rest of the country, the rest have no opinion.
Trust in politics
What about confidence in Dutch politics? That is low, and the further away from home the lower the confidence appears. Close by, things are not too bad (57% have confidence in local administrators), confidence in the province is already less (43%) and only 21% say they have confidence in national politics.
Striking: confidence in the European Union (EU), which is still a bit further from home, is slightly higher: 30%. This is partly due to the number of young people who say they like the EU: 47% compared to only 25% of the over-35s.
Own experiences
Quita Muis, sociologist at Tilburg University, can explain that difference. “You often see that very young people are critical, also out of rebellion. When they get a little older, confidence increases, they understand what the EU is and see its usefulness.” But when they get a little older, they also see the bad sides, or they themselves have had negative experiences that make them more critical.
The fact that young people grew up when the EU already existed also plays a role. Finally, Muis mentions the level of education: young people are on average more and more theoretically trained, something that is often related to their confidence in institutions such as the EU.
Differences between old and young
You can also see the differences between young and old when it comes to satisfaction with their own situation. In general, both young and old people from Brabant are very satisfied with their lives, giving an average score of 7.3.
The differences are only visible when it comes to monthly income, digital skills and the owner-occupied home. 46% of young people are satisfied with their income, compared to 73% of the over-65s. In no other subject is the difference between the oldest and the youngest Brabanders so great. 66% of young people are satisfied with their home, compared to 90% of the over-65s. Young people are more digitally skilled: 93% of them are very satisfied with this, compared to 68% of the elderly.