However, most young people support the re-introduction of the death penalty, are opposed to military conscription and believe that a time limit should be placed on affirmative action policies. Only a minority are concerned about climate change and the influx of refugees.
The research involved 623 urban South Africans, aged 16 – 24, who were asked a range of questions on social issues and government policies.
The survey found that over 95% of young urban South Africans believe they will achieve happiness and prosperity. Material wealth is high on the list of priorities and 71% said that earning lots of money would be an extremely important source of personal satisfaction. They have high expectations, with over 80% saying it was highly likely they would own a car and a home.
These young people believe opportunities exist and success is attainable through hard work. Asked about affirmative action, 65.2% said a time limit should be put on racial preferences in university admissions and job hiring.
At the same time, the youth are not ignorant and rate unemployment as one of their top three social issues of concern. They also recognise that education and skills training are the keys to prosperity, with nearly 90% supporting the introduction of free education at public schools.
Military conscription for school leavers has been suggested as a possible solution to mass unemployment, but only 33% voiced total support for this idea.
Despite the emphasis on material wealth, this is not seen as the only key to happiness – as 89% say raising healthy and happy children is an important source of personal satisfaction.
Adults will be mightily surprised and delighted to hear that 95% of respondents said their parents had set an excellent or at least reasonable example of right and wrong.
To find out what South Africa's urban youth feel about issues such as crime and violence, HIV/AIDs and marriage, see the full report in the September 2007 issue of Reader's Digest.
