On November 23, the results of a large-scale sociological study of Ukrainian youth aged 14 to 18, conducted by the Sociological Information and Research Center "Pulse" in partnership with the International Expert Club, were presented in Kyiv.
"The goal of our study was to find out what young Ukrainians live by, what they want, how they see their future, what language they communicate in, what their life values and priorities are," said the head of the board of the International Expert Club, Elena Ovchinnikova.
The object of the study was young Ukrainians aged 14-18 — that population group that in 10-15 years will represent the most active, qualified and even leading part of the working-age population of Ukraine.
What drives young Ukrainians, what moods reign in their midst, said Elena Knyazeva, director of the Sociological Information and Research Center "Pulse".
Elena Knyazeva summarizes: "Success is one of the key topics of youth (and not only) research. Different methods present their own "solitaire" data, however, we note that the data are generally comparable. "Pulsa" data illustrate the specifics of youth understanding: the new generation more often identifies success with work that allows you to realize and show your abilities, the presence of friends and the creation of a strong and friendly family."
According to the survey data, the main priority in the life of modern Ukrainian youth is the desire to "have a job that allows you to realize and show your abilities." This was indicated by 62% of respondents. In a little more than half, success in life is associated with having good friends and creating a strong and friendly family, raising good children.
This does not mean that the family in principle becomes less important - on the contrary, it remains one of the main value imperatives of young people. Accents change: while the desire to create one's own family weakens, the desire to realize oneself in life through work becomes stronger. We note that recently young people are beginning to play a more noticeable role in the labor market due to the combination of study and work. However, it is difficult for the market to "digest" the growing labor supply of young people due to the "stuck" labor elevators and "backbone" employment culture throughout the country.
It should be noted that, if having an interesting job is a priority for boys and girls equally, then girls are more likely than boys to focus on creating a "strong and friendly family" (60% of the surveyed girls indicated this), and boys are more likely to prioritize values 54% note "the presence of good friends" and the desire to "become a rich man" - 50%. Thus, modern Ukrainian boys and girls broadcast traditional gender priorities: girls, unlike boys, are mostly focused on family and children and love, while boys are focused on friends and wealth.
If we talk about values in general, then it turns out that in those cases when we compare data both for Ukraine and for other countries (for example, according to the data of the World Values Survey (WVS), we see that Ukraine is not unique, but is part of international trends.
ARE HUMAN RIGHTS OBSERVED IN UKRAINE AND HOW HAS THE SITUATION CHANGED AFTER THE SECOND MAIDAN?
To assess the degree of observance of human rights, young representatives of the Ukrainian generation Z (14-18 years old) were asked to express their agreement/disagreement with seven common judgments (the judgments include general norms and principles in the field of human rights and are not related to the implementation of individual rights):
● Human rights enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine are implemented in our country
● Human rights are violated only in poor countries
● Human rights are violated only in authoritarian countries/dictatorships
● Human rights can be respected only in rich countries Human rights are something that only lawyers deal with
● Problems of human rights do not interest me
And it was also offered to answer the question: "In your opinion, after the events on the Maidan in 2013-2014. Has the situation with respect for human rights in Ukraine improved, worsened or not changed?".
During the survey, it became clear that "human rights issues" do not concern only one out of ten. The absolute majority of respondents — 72%, do not agree with this statement, and 17% found it difficult to answer. We note that in the South of Ukraine, those who disagree with this statement are 10 percentage points higher - 82% of them.
Opinions about Are human rights respected in Ukraine? divided into two equal groups. Almost every fifth polled young man — 20% — struggled to say whether the human rights enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine are fulfilled in Ukraine or not. The opinions of the rest were almost equally divided: 42% believe that human rights are respected in Ukraine, and 39% believe that they are not. The opinions of young men and women practically do not differ, but they differ significantly in age: the younger the respondents, the more among them are those who believe that human rights are respected in Ukraine (yes, among the respondents aged 14-15 such 45%, and among respondents aged 17-18 — 37%), and vice versa. It should also be noted the differences in the macro-regions: yes, in the West and the Center, the opinions of those who agree with this judgment predominate, and in the South and East, on the contrary. Also, among rural youth there are more people who agree with the fact that people's rights are respected in Ukraine than in cities.
Young people living in the Southern region, as well as Russians (by self-identification), 17-18-year-old youth and university students were the most sensitive to human rights issues. In only one region, the number of those who believe that human rights are not fulfilled in Ukraine — 47% — exceeds the number of those who believe the opposite. We will also note another trend: the older the respondents, the more those who believe that human rights are not respected in Ukraine. This same opinion is shared by more than half of the students (1st year) of universities. Among Russians, there are half as many people who believe that human rights are respected in Ukraine.
Among the respondents, the prevailing opinion is that after the events on the Maidan in 2013-2014. the situation with respect to rights in Ukraine has not changed. 39% of respondents think so. 21% believe that the situation has improved and almost as many, 17%, that the situation has worsened. Another 23% found it difficult to answer. At the same time, in the south of the country, almost twice as many young people believe that the situation has worsened (32%) and only 11% believe that the situation with human rights has improved after the Maidan.
ATTITUDE TO POLITICS
Despite the fact that it is typical for young people not to be interested in politics in general, only a third of the surveyed young people said during the survey that they are not interested in political events in Ukraine and the world. The main source of information about political events in Ukraine and the world for them is equally recognized as forums, blogs, social networks - this was indicated by 38% of respondents and television - 37%, friends, acquaintances, relatives - 35%.
"It is known that young people actively use social networks. According to the data of our survey, the vast majority - 98,6% - of the surveyed respondents are registered in social networks or instant messengers. During the survey, only 17 people (1,4%) indicated that they were not registered on social networks. Instagram is the most popular among young people - 86% indicated this, Viber - 82%, and equally Facebook - and Telegram - 67%." — said Elena Knyazeva, director of the Puls Sociological Center.
Young people quite carefully evaluate the level of objectivity of the Ukrainian mass media. More than half of the surveyed young people - 54% - believe that some Ukrainian mass media (television, radio, newspapers) cover the events taking place in Ukraine objectively, while some do not. The number of those who believe that the mass media cover events objectively and the number of those who believe that it is biased is almost equal.
More than half of the surveyed young Ukrainians are not ready to participate in any rallies, demonstrations, protest actions related to the problems that concern them and their loved ones. The level of declared political activity does not depend on the gender and age of the respondents, but is markedly differentiated by the place of residence. More passive youth in the South (only 9% expressed readiness to participate in protest actions, and 79% exclude such an opportunity), more active in the west of Ukraine - there are four times more people who allow such an opportunity for themselves than in the South.
The surveyed youth demonstrated a very low level of generalized trust. Na vopros "Do you think most people can be trusted, or should one be cautious in dealing with people?” the answers were distributed as follows: 72% answered that one should be careful in dealing with people, and only 23% said that most people can be trusted. Only 15% of surveyed young people in the West believe that most people can be trusted, in the East such 29%.
"The level of generalized trust among young people is lower than among the population of Ukraine as a whole. According to the data of the last wave of the World Values Survey 2017-2020, the majority of people in Ukraine are trusted by 30% of the population. The indicator of generalized trust in others is not directly related to real public activity. Rather, it reflects the general atmosphere in society, the level of openness and benevolence of citizens. The wariness recorded by the overwhelming majority of young people is a rather alarming signal of social unrestElena Knyazeva reported.
Opinions were divided into practically two equal groups on the question: can people in Ukraine express their political views freely today or not: 46% believe that not everyone can express themselves freely, and 43% believe that "all without exception" can. At the same time, in the South, the share of those who believe that freedom of speech is violated in Ukraine is noticeably predominant: 55% against 38% of those who believe that everyone in Ukraine can freely express their political views.
THE COUNTRY OF VICTORIOUS DIGNITY
She presented a block of questions devoted to knowledge about the Maidan and the feelings of young Ukrainians project expert, candidate of sociological sciences Elena Fostachuk.
On the eighth anniversary of the events of 2013-2014 in Ukraine, not only the annual festive and commemorative events, but also their official (event) names have already been legislated and recognized: Maidan (gradually and spontaneously the previously relevant prefix Euro-), as well as the Revolution of Dignity. But the definition of "coup d'état" is deliberately worn out and even pursued in public opinion - although "coup d'état" is immediate attribute revolution as an ideal type. The dignity of a citizen, pride for Ukraine, "new patriotism" acquired by compatriots are essentially recognized as the main ones, and, most importantly, indisputable achievements of this revolution, which became part of the modern history of Ukraine. The data of our study of life orientations, political and historical presented by Ukrainian youth clearly illustrate this idea. Indeed, the events of eight years ago are perceived by young people as socially significant and often reproduced memoria (something that needs to be remembered). Not experienced personally, but stable, active, connected with certain places and emotions - to a greater extent than with specific living people.
Knowledge of the recent past. The majority (82%) of those surveyed are aware of the events that took place in Ukraine at the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014 (18% of the total number do not know anything about them at all). At the same time, it should be noted that almost a third (29%) of those surveyed in the Southern region indicated that they did not know anything about this event (for comparison, in the Western region there were twice as many - 15%). Such a tendency (despite the fact that the majority of respondents are schoolchildren and the curriculum is the same for all) may testify both to the distancing of young people from the South of Ukraine from official narratives, and to the fact that, unlike their peers from Western Ukraine, they are concerned about this event and worries to a lesser extent.
Taking into account the politicization of the topic itself and the fact that the main sources of information about politics (for those interested in politics) are Internet resources and social networks, it is not difficult to conclude that information is often contradictory (the source of many online conflicts), different from didactic officialdom and fragmentary. That is, just the kind that will allow, after casual reading, viewing or execution of a search request, to understand the "topic" in general terms, without thoughtful analysis, while recording various emotions, categorical assessments and the permissible framework of the "big" discourse. At the same time, a young man may or may be skeptical of all types of evaluative judgments and prefer to consider all these political and historical problems too complicated for his everyday life.
Only 25% of respondents consider themselves well-informed, almost half - 46% - know about the Maidan "in general terms", 19% - "poorly informed", that is, the percentage of "struggled", which may indicate an unwillingness to evaluate their own knowledge
Residents of villages are less informed about the events on the Maidan in 2013-2014 than residents of cities, which is most likely due to the fact that urban residents are more involved in the discussion of these events (influence of information policy) than rural residents.
The question about the causes of the revolution - "What, in your opinion, caused the events on the Maidan" found that half of the surveyed young people (50%) believe that the Maidan "was caused by the struggle of citizens who spontaneously united to protect their rights" (which corresponds to the national official discourse), and 17% - that it was "specially organized by a number of Ukrainian oligarchs".
Many will probably be saddened by the fact that the "coup d'état" hypothesis, which is so fiercely debated on many TV shows, podcasts, and online, is also reflected in the views of young people (13% supported it). Such an equal division of opinions about the driving forces of the revolution well reflects the contradiction between the "didactic" position enshrined in legislative acts on the one hand, and the "speculative" position of the CMI and network communities on the other. In general, the attitude to the Maidan, taking into account regional differences, can be characterized as uncertain. In the South and East, the shares of those who believe that the Maidan was a spontaneous event (34% and 37%, respectively) and the shares of those who had trouble responding (36% and 34%) are almost equal. Such a high percentage of undecideds in the South-East of Ukraine may be due to a lack of information about this event, a lack of interest in it, or another point of view that is not reflected in this study due to objective circumstances. We also note that there are twice as many supporters of this version in the West of Ukraine than in the South and East: 68% in the West, 34% in the South, 37% in the East.
Participation of the "inner circle" in the events on the Maidan. The absolute majority of respondents (68%) answered that there were no people among their relatives or acquaintances who took part in the events on the Maidan. Judging by the answers of the respondents, citizens of Western and Central Ukraine took part in the events on the Maidan. It should be noted that almost 90% of respondents in South-Eastern Ukraine reported that they did not personally know those who took part in the Maidan events, and if they did, they were acquaintances who could also be residents of other regions.
Hypothetical support of the Maidan. On the question "If these events were happening now, would you support the Maidan?"the opinions of those polled were divided into three equal groups, which indicates that there is no dominant position — 36% of respondents had trouble answering, 33% said they did not support Maidan, and only 31% of young Ukrainians declared their support.
We note that in the South and East of Ukraine, those who are ready to support Maidan today are twice as many: 13% and 19%, respectively. These data show that even in the West and in the Center among young people there is no unambiguous and positive support for the Maidan as a historical event and a great "folk tradition".
Feelings towards Ukraine. Most of the respondents (42%) feel conflicting feelings about Ukraine: both pride and shame at the same time, — a third (32%) of the young people surveyed aged 14-18 years feel pride for Ukraine, and only 13% feel shame (who are undecided about their feelings to the country also 13%).
Such a ratio is a reliable result for the age under study (young people from 14 to 18 years old are not inclined to associate recent (and long ago) events with their personal experience and reproduce social emotions that are “external” to them. In addition, “shame” itself is positive a fact of public solidarity, and the Ukrainian society in general has a tendency to be a "society of shame". It is not by chance that the acquisition of dignity, the creation of at least some reasons for pride, becomes practically the only understandable the result of the revolution for the majority of Ukrainians. Differentiating factors in the connection between "shame and pride" are the age of the respondents, as well as their place of residence. The younger the respondents, the further they live from the capital, the less pride they feel for the country, and, accordingly, vice versa.
How will they leave their native places and where will they go? More than half (55%) of the surveyed young people are thinking about leaving the locality in which they live, 18% would not want to and 17% found it difficult to answer.
Among those young people who have decided to leave their locality, a third (29%) are going to move to another locality in Ukraine, every fourth respondent (24%) is thinking of moving to Poland, every third (36%) to the USA and only 4 % to Russia.
At the same time, every second surveyed respondent from the Western region was thinking of moving to the USA (58%) and every third to Poland (32%). The choice of countries for moving also indicates a romantic vision of the world, a lack of life experience, and the influence of the widespread image of the United States as a "partner country" and "example country" for Ukraine. Although the countries of Eastern Europe (Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary - they were chosen more often by young people) - unlike the USA - are geographically and culturally closer, have an open labor market, accessible (and sometimes free) education, visa-free or simplified entry procedures . Finally, we should not forget about the vague European future of Ukraine, in which young Ukrainians presumably believe less and less.
The next block of questions was presented by the project expert, Doctor of Historical Sciences Alexander Prygarin.
The tragic events of May 2, 2014 in Odessa are considered one of the key topics for understanding the recent history of Ukraine. It is surprising that about a third of young people (35%) "heard" about these events for the first time. At the same time, there were fewer such persons in the South and East (29 and 25%) than in the West and Center: 42 and 41%, respectively. Another approximate quarter (22% in total), again and with the corresponding distribution by macroregions (14 - in the South and 25, 18, 27 in the West, Center, East) - "it was difficult to give an answer." Such high percentages, of course, indicate a certain blocking or silencing of the historical story in the mass media: its significance for the public opinion and practice of Odessa contradicts the national narrative.
Among those who gave their evaluations to these events, about a third of all - 34% believe that this is a "tragedy". And almost every tenth (9%) - "victory over the separatists, worshipers of the Russian world." Indicative distribution by macroregions. If in the South the minimum number of supporters of "Victory" (5%) and the maximum number of "tragedies" (52%, that is, a clear majority), then in other regions, a tenth of the first (10 - Center and 11 - East) and a third - of the second ( 31 and 37, respectively). The West also clearly stands out with its 9 and 24%, respectively. Of course, we are dealing with the consequences of the inertia of public opinion, stereotypes that have been formulated and broadcast for 7 years. The immediate descendants of the witnesses of the events are more aware of the tragedy and are less categorical in their assessments.
In general, legal uncertainty – the lack of legal evaluations of the tragedy of May 2, 2014 in Odessa – creates prerequisites for radical political speculation on this topic. Public evaluations of the tragic event directly depend on the ideological passions of Ukrainians, on which politicians of different levels actively speculate. It is obvious that this toxic plot of recent history does not fit into the national rhetoric. Because of this ego, they try to silence it or write it into the "discourse of victory", however, at the regional level, it becomes an absolute symbol of protestors.
On the materials of the study of social distance among the youth of Ukraine (methodology, see the report), it is possible to clearly trace the significant growth of the level of xenophobia. Only Ukrainians are within the permissible limits. The index of distance to Belarusians, Poles, Germans, Russians, Georgians, Hungarians, and Jews is twice as large. Romanians, Turks, and Arabs demonstrated the maximum indicators. The specifics of youth can be traced to a more tolerant attitude towards Americans. "This love (for the Americans) gradually replaces the "love" for our closest neighbors - the Russians." It is to them that there is a phobia, manifested among 27% of young people and 29% of the population as a whole. This "Russophobia" is clearly the result of the "formation of the enemy in the public and informational space" — open xenophobia projected onto other peoples of the Russian Federation. The tendency to "national isolation" is a prerequisite for the growth of "tolerance of xenophobes".
The variability of this general tendency is emphasized by the intolerance of the inhabitants of the Western region due to its softening in the Center and the East. The lowest level of xenophobia can be traced in the South, which is understandable because of everyday international contacts. Let's pay special attention to the fact that in the West, the index of negative attitude towards Russians is defined as 6 out of 7 (the scale of the American scientist Emory Bogardus). This is almost the final stage of xenophobia, worse than which is considered only direct fascism.
The answers to the questions about the ethnolinguistic orientations of the youth of Ukraine turned out to be expressive.
The comfortable language of the answers turned out to be Ukrainian and Russian with a distribution of 2/3 and 1/3 (before the interview, a free choice of the language of communication was assumed). Regional preferences are clearly visible: if in the West 100% spoke Ukrainian, then in the South 85% corresponded to Russian (in the East 68% spoke Russian and 32% spoke Ukrainian). In cities - 60% in Ukrainian and 40% in Russian. This is due to the communicative potential of languages. This value is concretized through the languages of communication in families and education.
In family life, Ukrainian youth speak Ukrainian noticeably less often: only 42% (and in the West, 94%, in the Center - 46%, in the South - 4%, in the East - 2%), 37% simultaneously in Russian and Ukrainian (in South — 61%, in the East — 55%, in the Center — 40%, in the West — 5%) and in Russian — 20% (in the East — 42%, in the South — 33%, in the Center — 13%, in the West - 0% ). A very similar picture emerges in options for communication with classmates and friends.
Appealing to formal signs, ethnolinguistic self-identity shows greater mobility than ethnic identity. The majority of young people consider themselves Ukrainians, from 91-92% in the South and East to 98-99% in the Center and East. Representatives of national and ethnic minorities almost did not make it into our study, making up only 4% of our sample (while approximately every fifth person in Ukraine belongs to these communities). Unification and assimilation both directly and indirectly affect the factors of identity reproduction among the young generation of Ukraine.
ElitExpert Help:
The poll was conducted by the Puls Sociological Information and Research Center (http://www.puls.od.ua) in partnership with the International Expert Club (https://elitexpertgroup.com) from April 4 to April 24, 2021.
Object of research: youth of Ukraine aged 14-18 years. Geography of research: the entire territory of Ukraine (except the Autonomous Republic of Krym, Sevastopol and the uncontrolled territory in Eastern Ukraine).
Survey methodology: structured, formalized interview using self-completion and F2F techniques. The strategy of forming a sample is combined with a quota-probability method, at each of the seven stages of which the most expedient method of selecting observation units from the basis of the sample was applied at one or another stage.
Sample population: 1200 respondents aged 14-18 years, representative of the main socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age, type of settlement, macro-region). The survey effectiveness indicator is the response rate RR3 = 61%. The statistical error of the sample (with a probability of 0,95) does not exceed: 2,9% for indicators close to 50%, 2,5% for indicators close to 25%, 1,7% for indicators close to 10%, 1,3% – for indicators close to 5%. The actual error of the sample based on control quota and uncontrolled (non-quota) characteristics does not exceed ±2,3%.
