Spain: Young Hedonists or Young Entrepreneurs?
By: Heléne Olsson
Will the future Spanish Youth develop in different paces? How will this impact on Career, Living and Life Styles?
According to the survey Global Youth performed by Kairos Future in 2007, Spain was the country in Europe with highest bipolarization between Young Hedonists and Young Future Entrepreneurs.
Hedonists, because 28% of the enquired youth declared to prefer an easy-going life with few obligations, less career focused with a preference of future work in public administration and sufficient income to consume day to day luxury as clothes, travels and entertainment and without any intention to leave their parents in the close future.
Entrepreneurs, because 24% of the enquired youth stated a clear interest in creating their own company in the next years, preparing themselves carefully with education and experience.
Spain has undergone a dramatic change with a high increase of economic welfare since 1975 and the young Spanish born after Francos’ death are today excelling in consumption, education and environmental concern, one of the highest in Europe. The high rate of immigration of more than half a million of new young foreign people into Spain during the last five years, most of them with a low rate of education from Latin America and Africa but with a strong will to succeed, is also blending the future Spanish Youth culture.
Tribalization exists in Spain in big urban areas like Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao and Sevilla, but is still not as fragmented or dominating as in other European countries, showing more homogeneous youth life styles and big groups. The clearest urban tribes in Spain are alternative groups like; “Okupas” (young people occupying empty buildings), “skaters” (urban skating at public spaces) and “skinheads” (extreme right underground movement). However, the big volume of youth is bipolarized in welfare between local low ambitioned youth and global high ambitioned youth.
The trend of continued Individualism, eclipsing collectivism and associate life, brings a big challenge for politicians and companies to design their future strategies towards this target. The Spanish youth has little faith in politics and they consider themselves capable of influencing more in the immediate and local future than in the global perspective.
It is evident that the Spanish Youth in the next ten years will undergo a big change, with many different paces simultaneously and it will become more and more complex to understand and grasp.
For further information, please contact Mrs. Heléne Olsson by e-mail!
