Labour Over 50%, National Below 20% in Youth

LABOUR OVER 50%, NATIONAL BELOW 20% IN YOUTH

Young people are more mobilised, informed and vocal than ever - mostly thanks to the internet and, in particular, social media.

Creative HQ’s Venture Up is a programme aimed at getting young people to challenge the status quo. The programme has run for three years, and we know the youth of NZ are passionate about changing the world and want to have their voice heard.

And so we asked them two simple questions:
1. How would you vote?
2. What are the biggest issues facing young people?

Who were our respondents?
Our survey was self-selecting, and we advertised across Google, Facebook and Twitter. We gained 1115 responses over the week leading up to the election. 72% were aged between 15 - 17, 25% were 13 - 14 and 2% were under 13.

Responses have come from across the country with 81.7% based in urban areas, the rest being based either in a rural area or small town. They have come from all over the country, including the Far North and Stewart Island.

The Results
We asked people who they would vote for and included all of the parties in their options and the results speak for themselves:

LABOUR 50.04%
NATIONAL 19.82%
GREENS 13.18%
ACT 7.09%

THE OPPORTUNITIES PARTY (TOP) 3.77%
NEW ZEALAND FIRST 3.41%
CONSERVATIVE 0.81%
AOTEAROA LEGALISE CANNABIS PARTY 0.63%
MĀORI PARTY 0.54%
BAN1080 0.18%
UNITED FUTURE 0.18%
INTERNET PARTY 0.09%
MANA 0.09%
NZ OUTDOORS PARTY 0.09%
DEMOCRATS FOR SOCIAL CREDIT 0.09%
NEW ZEALAND PEOPLE'S PARTY 0%

What do young people care about?
Answers to our second question, what youth cared about were broad and varied.

Commons topics include homelessness, drugs and alcohol, education and of course, housing. Many respondents indicated that they were concerned about their lack of say in decisions that will have an impact on them in the future.

A lot of young people spoke out about the fact that our decision-makers in society don’t seem to respect them “they don't think we have brains” said one respondent aged between 15 - 17.

Top Five Issues for Young People
1. Education: 34%
2. Mental Health / Suicide: 29%
3. Economy: 21%
4. Housing: 23%
5. Environment: 16%

So why didn’t young people vote?
This survey only deals with people who can’t vote because they are too young but a few of them did comment on this issue (although not specifically asked).

From a 15-17-year-old in Ashburton “I don’t agree with either National or Labour’s policies but don’t think the Greens have a chance of getting in alone so I wouldn’t bother voting”.

A 13-14-year-old from Auckland summed it up as “no one gives a sh*t about anything except being prime minister so that I won’t vote”.

The flip side of this that there are young people who are concerned about people their age (15-17) are “wasting votes by voting for unserious parties or not voting at all”, and people aren’t “informed when it comes to voting or not considering the wider impacts of their vote”.

While those aged under 18 are not currently able to vote, anyone aged 16 - 24 can participate in Venture Up and figure out how to change the world through leadership and entrepreneurship. Applications to Venture Up launch today and we invite all young people in their final years of high school or first two years of university to find out how entrepreneurs change the world.

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