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| Be happy, be Danish |
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| Tuesday, 08 January 2008 | |
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by Nick Rowswell New statistics suggest that the world's happiest youngsters are Danish. In a recent international poll carried out on 20,000 teenagers and young adults across the globe, the Danes seemed to be the most optimistic. Almost 59.6% of Danish 16- to 29-year-olds questioned said that they had "a promising future" and exactly 60% were "sure of having a good job in the future". It is also clear that happiness for Danish youngsters is more than a purely financial matter. Commenting on the statement "You need to be rich to have a good life", only 18% of those Danes questioned actually agreed. One thing is for certain, the Danes are a society of individuals. When read the statement "to have a successful career you must conform to the expectations and wishes of others" (literal translation) only 29% of the Danes agreed, compared to 54% of young French adults who took part in the same survey. The fact that more than half of the French participants agreed with the last statement is perhaps only to be expected. In the nation's state education system, the French are well drilled in the art of conformity. Though individualism is not openly discouraged, it is certainly frowned upon and the child who shows any signs of individuality is made to understand that he or she is 'holding up the group'. In France all kids move at the same pace at the same time on their journey to a common objective. Strangely enough, on the conformity question, young French adults knocked their Chinese counterparts into second place (53%), while the Russians scored 47% and the Japanese 24%. The worldwide survey on young adults was carried out by Kairos Future, an international research and consulting firm that "helps companies understand and shape their futures" as the company's website claims. The French results from the survey were analysed by FONDAPOL (Fondation pour l'innovation politique.) The survey paints a disturbing portrait of French youth today: "ultra conformist… and resigned to the fact that they cannot change society and will never control their own personal destiny". Forty years ago however, it was not the same story. In May 1968, the nation's youth took to the streets, erected barricades and fought running battles with police, all in the hope of breaking the moral and political chains that, as they saw it, shackled French society. "Forty years after May 68, all that young French people seem to have gained is sexual autonomy and a few extra radio stations," says Anna Stellinger, Head of Reseearch at FONDAPOL. Results of the survey for France show that the nation's youth are a gloomy lot, with little confidence in the future. Only a quarter of French youngsters agreed with the statement "My future is promising" while only a few more (27%) thought "I will have a successful career". Just 4.2% of them agreed that "Our society has a promising future". Only 39% thought that they had any hope of changing society and 22% reckoned that they had total freedom of control over their future. Young British adults surveyed attained more or less the same scores on all questions as their French counterparts, except on questions of conformity, where only 26% of British participants thought it necessary to conform to succeed in life. British society is often held up by some French sociologists and politicians as a model to be followed. They admire the more individualistic nature of British society and the entrepreneurial spirit that this can foster, reflected by the almost 600,000 French people living and working in the UK. They often cite the economic and moral constraints of French society as the major reason for their move. On the other hand though, there just as many Brits living in France who enjoy life on this side of the Channel because France supposedly still nurtures those traditional values of work and family that seem to have been lost in Britain. People in France take time to live, they are more courteous and the quality of life is better, according to many of these British expats. One thing is clear, for a happy and meaningful existence, French youngsters need less than their British counterparts. When questioned, 70% replied that a fulfilling job was the key to a happy life. Only 47% of young Britsh adults said the same. |
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