Youth

Plan International Australia, in collaboration with YouGov, conducted a poll with a representative online sample of 1,034 Australian young women aged between 18 and 24 to gauge their views on the culture and diversity of representation in Australian politics. Around 26% of respondents identified as being from a Culturally and Linguistically diverse (CALD) background, around 24% identified as LGBTQI+ and around 14% identified as having a disability. The theoretical margin of error on a sample of this size is ±3.05 percentage points. Due to rounding, totals for results may not add to 100.

Click here to access the report.

Young people care – about our planet, our future and our political systems. In the last decade, young people have initiated social movements, tackling issues that impact their own lives and those of communities around the globe. They have done so with hope and optimism about the future, at a time when we face extreme challenges. In a world where global conflict, climate change and socio-economic issues are becoming ever more acute, we need young people’s fresh perspectives to guide political decision-making.

This report aims to outline how and why young people engage in political decision- making, and the challenges that sometimes prevent them from doing so. It puts forward policy and legislation recommendations for advancing the needs and rights of young people, ensuring their voices are meaningfully heard in public life and decision- making. The research from The Body Shop International and the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth supports the Be Seen Be Heard campaign. Launching in 2022, this global campaign aims to increase young people’s participation in political arenas and help make their voices heard across all spheres of public life.

The objective of the campaign is to seek to inspire a change in legislation or policy, or support initiatives, to promote youth participation in political life in all 75+ countries where The Body Shop operates.

Click here to access the report.

Driven by the shared belief that all young voices should be heard, Raise Our Voice Australia has proudly partnered with The Body Shop Australia to ask young women and gender diverse Australians about their political engagement.

With just under 500 responses, this research captured their reflections on media reporting and politics, and the impact this has on their political actions.

Click here to access the report. 

Our 2020 data showed that young Asian women, young Black women, and young Latinas were more likely to talk politics, participate in elections, and fight racism.

In recent years, as youth have increased their civic and political participation both in the streets and at the ballot box, young women have often led the charge. In the 2020 election, we estimated voter turnout among young women was 55%, compared to 44% among young men. But, just as young people overall are not a monolith and differences in views or engagement among men and women, for example, are crucial to understand, there is also diversity among young women—especially by race/ethnicity.

Click here to read the full article published by Circle on 3 February 2022.

By Angela L. Bos, Jill S. Greenlee, Mirya R. Holman, Zoe M. Oxley and J. Celeste Lay

This article develops and tests a new theoretical framework, gendered political socialization, which offers important insights into how children perceive gender in politics and the consequences of these perceptions on sex differences in political interest and ambition. Based on data from 1,604 children who live in four different regions across the United States, we find that children not only perceive politics to be a male-dominated space, but with age, girls increasingly see political leadership as a “man’s world.” Simultaneously, as children grow older, they internalize gendered expectations, which direct their interests toward professions that embody the gendered traits that fit with their own sex. One result of this mismatch between women and politics is that girls express lower levels of interest and ambition in politics than do boys.

Click here to read the full article.

By Lucas Ledwaba

Statistics suggest women and youth dominate the country’s population, but with the local government election just weeks away the question of their participation in decision making remains a contested issue.

The Independent Electoral Commission’s announcement that the voter registration process for the upcoming election has elicited a good response from young persons augurs well for efforts that counter youth voter apathy.

This issue has been consistently raised in previous municipal elections, with the general feeling being that youth are not playing the active role they should be on this front.

Click here to read the full article published by Mail & Guardian on 21 October 2021.