Half of under-30s say they wouldn't take up arms for Britain under any circumstances

By CHRIS POLLARD, NEWS REPORTER Published: 16:09, 21 April 2026 | Updated: 16:11, 21 April 2026 Half of the under-30s in Britain say there are no circumstances in which they would fight for their country, a new poll has revealed. The UK Youth Poll also exposed a massive drop in the number of young people who expect to be better off than their parents, down from 63 per cent to just 36 per cent in a year. Of the 2,000 Britons aged 16 to 29 surveyed by the John Smith Centre, at the University of Glasgow, just a quarter said they felt fairly treated by the political system. Eddie Barnes, director of the John Smith Centre, said: 'The idea that the next generation will have it better than previous ones has been a founding belief for decades. Our poll shows this generation no longer believes it to be true. 'Locked out of the housing market, pinned down by low wages, loaded by student debt and increasingly worried about the rise in AI, young people today feel a growing sense of unfairness about the world around them. 'It should be little surprise that 50 per cent say they wouldn't fight for the country under any circumstances, or as many young people might put it: why fight for a country that isn't fighting for you?' He added the Government must listen and set out policies that will restore young peoples' faith in the future. Under-30s feel disillusioned by politics and half say they would not fight for Britain under any circumstances It comes after a separate YouGov survey last year found just 41 per cent of Gen Z Britons say they are proud to be British, half the level among young people 20 years ago. In the new poll, sponsored by Nationwide, young people ranked financial worries, job insecurity and housing instability as their top three worries, and listed the impact of AI on jobs among the top-three threats. They said better wages, affordable housing and more career opportunities were the top three things that would make them happier. One 22-year-old man said: 'A growing sentiment among my peers is why should we even try to uphold a social contract that will never work for us in the future? We will never be able to own homes or even retire at this rate.' A 29-year-old woman said she earned a degree but still couldn't find a job, adding: 'I'm terrified for the future of not being able to buy a house, not being able to have a family.' Asked which political leader best represents British values, almost half (45 per cent) failed to name a single current leader. Dr Elisabeth Loose, the project lead, said: 'The message from young people in this poll is clear: they want politicians to deliver policies that will provide them with some financial security, and they want a more honest politics that engages seriously with the challenges they and the country faces.' Dame Debbie Crosbie DBE, Chief Executive Officer of Nationwide said: 'By taking young people's experiences seriously, we can rebuild confidence, fairness and hope, and ensure the next generation has a genuine chance to prosper.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.