When we look at the world our children and young people are growing up in, there is certainly plenty to worry about. Between rising costs, uncertainty about jobs, world events, and concerns about the environment, it can sometimes feel as though the next generation has more reasons to worry than reasons to hope.
But are young people really losing their optimism about the future? A new international survey offers an interesting look at how students feel about their lives, their communities, and the world they will inherit.
I found it especially interesting that young people can feel hopeful about their personal futures while feeling much less confident about politics. It makes me wonder how much the support, encouragement, and faith we share with young people can matter as they navigate an uncertain world.
About Oxford Scholastica Academy– The findings come from Oxford Scholastica Academy, an organization that has offered academic summer programmes for young people since 2013. Its programmes bring together students from around the world to learn, explore their interests, and prepare for the future.
The academy surveyed 1,433 students to explore how optimistic young people feel about five areas: their personal futures, the economy, the environment, politics, and the future of society. The survey covered students representing 100 countries, with enough responses to include 41 countries in the final rankings. Students rated their optimism on a scale of 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating greater optimism. The United States received an overall optimism score of 3.99 out of 5, placing it 13th among the 41 countries included in the rankings.
The results suggest that young people are not equally hopeful about every part of the future. Globally, students reported the greatest optimism about their personal futures, with an average score of 4.40 out of 5. Political optimism received the lowest global average, at 3.29. That difference is worth considering. Young people may believe they can build meaningful lives for themselves while still feeling uncertain about the decisions and circumstances shaping the wider world.
Sri Lanka ranked first, with an overall score of 4.32 out of 5. Students there reported strong optimism about their personal futures and the environment, with environmental optimism scoring 4.62. Kenya ranked second, with an overall score of 4.31. Its students recorded the highest political optimism in the survey, at 3.96, and shared the highest score for optimism about the future of society.
Nepal ranked third, scoring 4.24 overall. It was the only country to receive a perfect score of 5.00 for personal optimism, and it recorded the highest economic optimism score, at 4.80. Other countries in the top ten included Kazakhstan, Cyprus, Canada, Nigeria, Indonesia, Russia, and Armenia.
Among the Western countries compared in the report, Canada ranked highest, placing sixth overall with a score of 4.08. The United States followed at 13th, while Germany scored 3.73, the United Kingdom scored 3.61, and France scored 3.22. Kuwait ranked last among the 41 countries, with an overall score of 2.92 out of 5. Its students reported the lowest political optimism, at 1.80, and a score of 2.40 for optimism about the future of society.
Rwanda ranked 40th, followed by Turkey in 39th place. France, Poland, Italy, China, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and Ghana rounded out the bottom ten. The United Kingdom ranked 33rd overall, with a score of 3.61. Its students reported scores of 3.04 for political optimism and 3.06 for environmental optimism. The results show that young people’s outlooks vary across countries and across different aspects of life. They also demonstrate that a country’s economic circumstances alone do not explain how hopeful its young people feel.
Lavinia Abell, Co-Director of Oxford Scholastica Academy, noted that young people face many reasons for concern, including artificial intelligence, war, and the rising cost of living. These challenges can be particularly worrying for students preparing to enter the workforce.
Abell also pointed out that students in countries such as Sri Lanka and Kenya reported greater optimism than students in wealthier countries such as the United Kingdom and France. The findings suggest that optimism is not simply determined by material comfort. How young people view their future may also reflect their expectations, experiences, and feelings about the societies around them.
I think it’s important to remember that young people need more than advice about how difficult the world can be. They also need reasons to believe that their lives can be meaningful and that their efforts can make a difference. We cannot promise our children that everything will always work out the way they hope. We can, however, listen when they are worried, encourage them to keep learning, help them find opportunities, and remind them that they don’t have to figure everything out on their own. The survey is one snapshot of the students who participated, rather than a measure of every young person in each country. Still, it raises an interesting question for families: How can we help the next generation face real challenges without losing hope?
At Greatful Moments, we believe there is value in remembering what we have to be grateful for while continuing to work toward a better tomorrow. Being hopeful doesn’t mean ignoring the hard things. Sometimes, it means believing that even when the future is uncertain, there is still good worth working toward.
Source: Oxford Scholastica Academy
Survey methodology: Students rated their optimism about five areas on a scale of 1 to 5. Rankings include 41 countries with at least five student respondents each, from a dataset representing 100 countries.
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