Millennials versus statistics

Photo: Chmee2 (CC) commons.wikimedia.org

While this is a very broad overview of millennials, they nevertheless differ across European states. Who are the Czech millennials and how do they differ from their Polish counterparts?

Emigrate or not to emigrate?

One of the main differences between young Czechs and Poles is their relationship towards emigration. Among the former, the percentage of people who decided to leave their country is much lower than the latter. According to last year’s Eurostat study, out of all EU states Poland has the second highest number of citizens living in another EU member state. In the same poll, Czechs were ranked 20th, close to Austria and the Scandinavian countries.

The Generation What project is also a great source of information on millennials. It is a survey instrument which asked close to a million young Europeans (between the ages of 18 and 30) to answer a series of questions. The purpose of the project was to create a broad portrait of the generation. In relation to the possibility of living abroad, 46 per cent of Czech millennials said they would consider it in future and only 15 per cent were prepared to leave immediately. In Poland, 44 per cent of millennials would consider living abroad in the future and around a third are willing to leave straightaway. In comparison, among those surveyed in Germany and Belgium, around half said maybe in the future” and just over 10 per cent are interested in emigrating immediately.

Czechs who decide to emigrate usually choose Germany as their destination, although many young Czechs also opt for more exotic locations. The latter are more interested in adventure than finding a stable place to live. Young Poles, by contrast, head to countries where opportunities to earn money are the best – to Germany, the United Kingdom or the Netherlands. Recently, the Czech Republic has also become a popular destination for Poles, which may be connected to fears of terrorist attacks in Western Europe.

Does the fact that Czech millennials decide to emigrate less mean their economic situation and perspectives are better than those of Polish millennials? In the 2016 Human Development Index, which assesses the general national wellbeing, the Czech Republic was ranked 28th while Poland was eight places lower. Nevertheless, young Czechs and Poles living in large urban areas face similar problems such as housing. An OECD report from last year compared the housing situation of Europeans between the ages of 18 and 25 and found that 70.2 per cent of young Czechs and 68.2 per cent of young Poles decide to live with their parents (largely because rent is too expensive or scarce). The ranking is headed by young Italians, Slovenians and Greeks, while the Danes, Swedes and Norwegians are the least likely to stay at home with their parents. Those Czechs who decide to live independently often rent a room or even just a bed. In her article for Radio Wave, Zuzana Fuksova argued that many young Czechs move to small cities close to Prague since the cost of renting a small flat in the capital is around 800 euros and very few can afford that.

The Eurostat research also suggests that Poles – including the youth – usually live in overcrowded flats (around 60 per cent of the time). Hungarians and Romanians are slightly ahead, while Slovaks are right behind. In the Czech Republic, only 20 per cent of citizens face overcrowding; the lowest rates have been recorded in Cyprus, Ireland and Belgium – between three and six per cent.

 Conflicting views

 When I moved to Prague and began watching young women and the families of my peers, I noticed that the traditional division of roles is something natural for them, which contrasts the popular image of Czechs as emancipated and liberated. Answers given about family life in the Generation What survey also demonstrate how important traditional family is for young Czechs. To the question of whether marriage is important for them, 56 per cent of Czechs answered that they dream about it (in Germany the same was true for 54 per cent, in Poland 43 per cent and in France – 39 per cent). At the same time, 19 per cent of Czechs think marriage is “only a piece of paper” (compared to 32 per cent in Poland, 28 per cent in France and 26 per cent in Germany). Regarding whether one can be happy without children, 48 per cent of Generation Y Czechs answered “yes” (60 per cent of Generation Y Poles answered “yes”).

One sign against the conservative image of Czechs can be found in their attitude towards divorce: three-quarters of respondents claim that divorce is “sometimes needed” and the number of divorces in the Czech Republic is relatively high (although in recent years it has been systematically declining). It may mean that Generation Y is turning against trends set by Generation X. This tendency can also be observed in the responses of young Poles, as they have a different worldview to the one of earlier generations. 

Nevertheless, young people do see the need for change. Almost half of millennials in the Czech Republic and Poland recognise that their own country has an issue with gender equality, which includes the gender pay gap. Ninety per cent of Czechs and 80 per cent of Poles do not think workplaces should be reserved mainly for men in times of high unemployment, according to the survey. Research on wage inequality by the Global Gender Gap Report, which encompassed 144 countries, ranked Poland 124th (the lower the rank, the bigger the problem), while the Czech Republic was ranked 81.

A statistical young Czech (just like a Pole) sees Europe either as a “necessary evil” or only as a continent. It does not change the fact, however, that the vast majority define themselves as European. According to Generation What, the majority of Czechs worry about the increase in nationalist tendencies in Europe, seeing it as something negative (their Polish peers, in general, view this trend as something positive). Therefore, the fact that over a half of respondents would not like the Czech Republic to leave the EU does not come as a surprise; what is more, they claim that Europe should accept refugees and educated people from other countries. Over half of Czechs think that immigrants enrich their culture, while the same is true for 43 per cent of Poles, 29 per cent of Hungarians, and 50 per cent of Slovaks.

Not identical

Young Czechs feel part of the European community, united by common values, such as freedom and democracy. They see the EU as a place where there is a free flow of people, open markets and capital. They believe that the economic crisis which struck Europe has not affected them to the same extent as other places – the majority claim the problem will soon become irrelevant and they assess their material situation as good. Over 60 per cent state their happiness does not depend on their material wealth (in contrast to 60 per cent of Poles who said happiness does depend on their material wealth).      

What attitudes do young Czechs have towards religion? Are they tolerant? Again, the Generation What project offers some insight. In this regard, Czechs are markedly different from other young inhabitants in Central Europe and the rest of millennials in general. Eighty-nine per cent of Czechs believe they can be happy without religion (the same answer was given by 69 per cent of Poles, 72 per cent of Germans and 86 per cent of Italians). Moreover, over three-quarters of young Czechs are not against same-sex relationships and an image of two people of the same sex kissing each other does not bother them (43 per cent of Poles gave the same answer).

The image which emerges from the statistics suggests that Czech millennials are pretty similar to their peers in other European countries, but not identical. And based on my own observations, young Czechs differ from their European peers, above all, in terms of life priorities: enrichment and chasing trends are not as important for them. They are also quite tolerant and open to other cultures (including migrants), which is an exception in Central Europe.            

In the Generation What project Czechs were asked to label their generation using one word. The words that were chosen most frequently were the internet, freedom, online, lost, future, uncertainty and opportunity.

Translated by Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska

Kinga Motyka is a graduate of Polish and Slavic studies and a member of Generation Y.

Czech youth, Millenials, Poland youth, Polish-Czech relations