Just 41% of Gen Z Britons say they are proud to be British, half the level among young people 20 years ago
As part of a major study for The Times, YouGov has conducted research into the lives and attitudes of Generation Z. Gen Z are the generation born between 1997 and 2012, although our survey only comprised those of adult age at the time of the study, i.e. 18-27 year olds.
Asked a series of statements about the UK, around half of Gen Z Britons feel it is true that Britain is “a racist country” (50%), with a similar number seeing “Britain is stuck in the past” as an accurate description (48%). Only 36% disagree in both cases.
But there is some positivity, with more likely to Gen Z Britons (47%) feel that Britain is a tolerant country (47%), than not (37%).
Overall, just four in ten Gen Z Britons (41%) would say they are proud to be British, though this does outnumber the proportion (34%) who feel it would be untrue to describe themselves as such.
And just one in seven British Gen Z-ers (15%) would say they live in a united country.
Notably, these findings are significantly less positive towards Britain than twenty years ago, when Populus asked a similar set of questions to a sample of 18-30 year olds.
In 2004, eight in ten (80%) younger Britons said they were proud to be British, twice the number who say so today. Younger Britons were also more likely to describe Britain as a tolerant country (79%) and nearly four times more likely to say it was true that Britain was a united country (58%).
By contrast, the approximately half of younger Britons saying that Britain is stuck in the past or is a racist country has increased from around a third (32-34%) two decades ago.
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Photo: Getty
