Ukraine war overtakes climate change as young Germans' main concern

The war in Ukraine has overtaken climate change to become the most important issue for young people in Germany, according to a survey. Around 70 percent of respondents aged 14 to 29 said they were worried about the war, Zeit Online reports. Climate change remains a concern for more than half of respondents – almost unchanged from previous editions of the survey – followed by inflation, social divisions within society, and an economic crisis. More than two thirds of respondents said they are concerned about high energy prices. 

With reference to the coronavirus pandemic, the authors of the study, youth researchers Simon Schnetzer und Klaus Hurrelmann, said young people are in a "permanent crisis mode". "We have an overlay of crises and this burden for young people has become very great," Schnetzer summarised, pointing to a deterioration of mental health revealed by the study results.