MOSCOW, 8 December 2022. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre presents the findings of a survey commissioned by Social Research Expert Institute (EISI); the survey describes how Russians assess opportunities for youth self-actualization.

Youth opportunities on a national scale

A majority of Russians consider that there are plenty of opportunities for self-implementation for young people in Russia (76%). One-third of them are absolutely confident (31%); 45% are inclined to share this opinion. They are opposed by 18% of Russians, but only 4% are strongly opposed to this stance. Young people themselves are more likely to see more opportunities for self-implementation on a national scale than the adult population: 85% of the 18-24-year-olds respond positively, which is 10 p.p. higher compared to those aged 35 and older (75%). In addition, this percentage has hit its all-time high (+15 p.p. compared to 2019 and +9 p.p. compared to 2021).

…and in their home region!

On a regional scale, there are fewer opportunities for young people to fulfil their potential but positive opinions prevail: 59% vs. 37%. Every fifth Russian (21%) is absolutely confident that there are plenty of opportunities in the regions; 11% oppose them.

Young respondents are more likely to see more opportunities for self-development in their region: 65% of the 18-24-year-olds (+8 p.p. compared to those aged 35+) and 62% of the 25-34-year-olds (+5 p.p. compared to those aged 35+). This figure is on rise: more Russians give positive assessments (+5 p.p. compared to 2019; +7 p.p. compared to 2021). Adult respondents are more likely to report that there are no opportunities for youth self-actualization in their region than those aged 18-24 (12% vs. 4%). Overall, today Russians favorably assess self-fulfillment opportunities for young people both on a national scale and on a regional scale; young people tend to express more optimistic opinions than respondents aged 35 and older.

VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide telephone survey was commissioned by Social Research Expert Institute (EISI) and conducted on November 29, 2022. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18 and older took part in the survey. Survey method: telephone interviews, stratified random sample extracted from a complete list of cell phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted according to social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

Key effectiveness indicators, November 29, 2022 survey:  cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.7838; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0221; response rate (RR)*** = 0.1187. Based on corporate standards: https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/

* CR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.

** MRR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the respondents where it is unknown whether they meet the selected criteria or not.

** RR is calculated in the same way as MRR, with the only difference that the number of respondents with unknown eligibility decreases proportional to the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of respondents with identified eligibility or non-eligibility.