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4 THE FUTURE

This section examines attitudes towards the future as well as exploring views on how much control young people feel they have over their lives.

4.1 Attitudes towards the future

Around nine in ten respondents (92%) said that having a career or profession was important to them. Eighty-five percent said they would like to have a full-time job for most of their adult life and 78% felt that raising a family was important to them. Around a quarter (27%) said they would just wait and see where they end up. Almost identical results were found in the comparator age cohort (24 in 2004).

The gender gap in relation to attitudes towards the future was less pronounced among those aged 24 in 2006 than among those aged 24 in 2004, where there were clear differences in relation to nearly every statement. In 2006 there were only two differences of significance: females were more likely than males to agree that raising a family was important (81% compared with 74%), and less likely to agree that having a full-time job for most of their adult life was important to them (79% compared with 91%).

Table 4-1 Attitudes towards the future by gender

On the whole, attitudes towards the future varied little according to activity status, but there were a few differences worthy of note. For example, those who were looking after family/home were least likely to agree that 'having a full-time job was important to them' (59%) and less likely to agree that they have 'a clear idea of the career they would like' (29%). Those out of work were most likely to agree that that they will 'just wait and see where they end up' (51%). However, the base sizes are small here, which makes it difficult to draw any firm conclusions.

Table 4-2 Attitudes towards the future by activity status

Not surprisingly, those with children were significantly more likely than others to say that raising a family was important to them (100% compared with 75% among those without children). However, those without children were more likely to agree that;

• having a career or profession was important to them (92% compared with 85%);
• having a full-time job for most of their adult life was important to them (86% compared with 73%), and
• they were more likely to have a clear idea of the career that they wanted (65% compared with 53%).

Table 4-3 Attitudes towards the future by children

4.2 Feelings of control over life

Overall results from questions about feelings of control over life were largely positive. For example, nine out of ten respondents agreed that what happens to them in the future mostly depends on them (92%). However, there were a few exceptions: around two out of ten (19%) often felt helpless in dealing with the problems of life; and a similar proportion (17%) felt that sometimes they were being pushed around in life. There was no gender variation of significance.

Table 4-4 Feelings of control over life by gender

Results suggest that those in employment or on a GTP and in education felt they had more control over their lives than those looking after the home/family, out of work or doing something else ('other'). For example, around one in ten (7%) of those in full-time education agreed that they had little control over things that happened to them compared with nearly four in ten (38%) of those out of work. Similarly, while only 10% of those in employment or on a GTP agreed that there was really no way they could solve some of the problems they had, for those looking after the family or out of work, the proportions were significantly higher (29% and 26% respectively).

[Table not shown}On the whole, the relationship between parental social class and control over life was relatively weak. However those with parents in partially skilled or unskilled occupations had less sense of control over their lives than the other groups. For example, they were more than twice as likely as those in professional occupations to agree that they had little control over things that happened to them (18% compared with 9%).

Table 4-5 Feelings of control over life by social class of respondents' parents

As in relation to parental social class there was no clear relationship between feelings of control over life and whether respondents had children or not. The only difference of significance was found with the statement 'there's really no way I can solve some of the problems I have' where respondents with children were more likely to agree than those without (21% compared with 12%).

4.3 Key points

• Young people were largely positive about their plans for the future, with having a career or profession being the most important aspiration overall (92%). However one quarter (27%) said they would just see where they ended up.
• The gender gap between attitudes toward the future in 2006 was less pronounced than those surveyed age 24 in 2004.
• There was little evidence of a relationship between main activity and parental social class and attitudes towards the future, with all groups having largely positive expectations about what they hoped to do.
• There was a relationship between aspirations for the future and whether respondents had children or not.
• Overall results from questions about control over life were largely positive. Around three quarters (74%) of respondents felt they had control over the things that happened to them. A similar proportion (78%) disagreed with the statement that there was really no way they could solve some of the problems they had.
• Respondents in employment or education felt in more control of their lives than those looking after the home/family, out of work or doing something else.
• There was not a strong relationship between feelings of control and parental social class or whether respondents had children or not.
• 5 Qualifications of 23-24 year olds

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