Nuorisobarometri_2012_Verkkojulkaisu

etween the family’s socio-economic status and
children’s and young people’s exercise activities.
The article’s writers are preparing a book on the
subject which will be published in spring 2013.
YOUNg peOple AND tHeiR
pAReNtS, AND SiMilARitY OF
OpiNiON
Jussi Simpura
How similar do young people and their parents
consider one another’s opinions to be? Is there a
generation gap or are there similarities that bring
the different generations together. According
to other studies on the subject, young people
and their parents in 2012 find that they belong
to very different generations. The parents are
mainly baby-boomers while their children are of
the computer or wellbeing generations. The data
250
from the 2012 Youth Barometer survey shows
how similar or different the young re spondents
and their parents consider one another’s
opinions to be, based on 20 questions, and
the result was an astonishingly strong mutual
understanding of similarity. Young people and
their parents imagine that their opinions are
similar especially when it comes to the very
basic questions (sexual and generational equality,
Finnishness) and extreme phenomena
(drugs). Gradually, but perceptibly, there seems
to be agreement between the generations on
youth-related matters (alcohol use, use of free
time). The study does not shed any light on
when generational identity is formed and how
slowly opinions change from one generation to
the next. Future Youth Barometer data could
illuminate these areas.