We all love a good statistic, especially when it backs up our own experiences with life. Mission Australia have just wrapped up their eighteenth Australian Youth Survey, asking over 25,000 people aged 15-19 about their lives and what’s important to them.
This year was the third year in a row that mental health topped the survey as the issue young people thought was the most important in today’s Australia. The environment came in second, followed by equity and discrimination.
Over a third (36.2%) of surveyed people ranked mental health as the most important issue to them, which was up from 21.6% of people only three years ago. Mental health includes issues like coping with stress, school or study problems, and body image – all of which were ranked as important individual topics for young people.
We’re living in a time where stigma around mental health conditions is being dismantled, which is brilliant to see, and young people are a massive part of that.
You probably don’t need statistics to tell you that this year has seen a massive spike in concern for the environment and climate change anxiety, but if you wanted it anyway then we have you covered. In last year’s Youth Survey, 9.2% of respondents said that the environment was the thing they were most concerned about – coming in at eighth overall.
This year, it was ranked the second most important issue, with 34.2% of people saying it was the most important thing to them – tripling the amount of votes from last year.
The CEO of Mission Australia, James Toomey, says that the coverage of climate change and environmental issues is clearly breaking through to young people.
“The growing public dialogue and experience of issues, such as extreme weather events and drought, are clearly affecting young people’s view of the world.”
“The apparent inability to have their voices heard through formal channels is perhaps causing them to engage in informal ways to get heard, such as climate strikes.”