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📋Ichikowitz Family Foundation 📅 2022 📍Africa
At-a-Glance
At-a-Glance
The Ichikowitz Family Foundation published the Africa Youth Survey in 2022. The report shares findings from 8,707 African youth ages 18-24 across 19 countries exploring their views on a wide range of issues, from employment to the environment.
#Afro-optimism #futureleaders #surveys
About
About
Based in South Africa, IFF works through films, research, art, and publications to change perceptions about Africa’s potential and give African countries data to understand their future leaders. This report surveys youth to examine their priorities and ideals. Topics vary from questions about good governance and job opportunities to internet access and foreign relations. While many of the concerns they highlight are not directly related to OneHope priorities, the findings offer a detailed picture of African young people’s opinions and concerns.
What We Learned
What We Learned
The African continent boasts the world’s highest rates of entrepreneurship, with more than one in five working-age Africans engaged in starting a new business.
The world’s fastest growing cities are in Africa. By 2050, the continent’s overall population is expected to double, with two-thirds of that increase taking place in cities.
African youth believe that national leaders are the most significant drivers of positive change in their country, but also view them as the least trustworthy to do the right thing. Religious leaders, on the other hand, are seen as the most trustworthy. Two-thirds of youth trust them to carry out correct actions.
Mobile phone usage is high, but cost is a big issue for access. Nearly two-thirds of African youth find the price of mobile data to be high, and just one in eight can afford coverage at all times.
Job opportunities are a top concern. 86% of young people say that they are concerned about the lack of employment currently available in their country.
What you can do with this research?
What you can do with this research?
The Africa Youth Survey gives us a robust set of insights into a wide range of topics affecting African young people. This was a large-scale project with good geographic distribution and transparency about their research methods. You can feel very confident presenting these statistics as meaningful representations of views from African youths.
There are a few things to keep in mind, however, when referencing this data. The report is already a few years old, and some of the responses date back as far as 2019. As time goes on, the findings will become less relevant. There are also limits to the kinds of insights survey data like this can give us. Because young people were selecting their answers from a predetermined pool, the importance of their responses can only be compared with other answer options. We cannot know, for example, if they had unnamed concerns that simply were not listed.
Neither of these issues negates the value of the report as a unique, well-researched snapshot into the perspectives of African youth. But as always, it is good to be aware of what information our sources can and cannot give us as we consider how to act in response to this data.
Read OneHope’s summary of the Africa Youth Survey.
Access a digital copy of the report here.
📋Youthscape 📅 2024📍United Kingdom
At-a-Glance
At-a-Glance
Youthscape published the ‘Feel-Good’ News report in April 2024–the second release of their Translating God research project. They survey 1,000 young people in the UK, ages 12-17, to understand what resonates as good news within Christian beliefs.
#youthculture #translatinggod #surveys
About
About
‘Feel-Good’ News is the second release of a three-part research project initiated by The Youthscape Centre for Research, conducted in collaboration with Scripture Union. The overall research project, titled Translating God, was created to explore how young people understand and respond to the Christian story. This second phase report, published in April 2024, explores central Christian ideas and assesses whether they feel like good news to young people. Data was collected from 1,000 young people ages 12-17 through an online survey in the UK.
What We Learned
What We Learned
Most teens are largely uninterested in Christian ideas, but they aren't necessarily negative. Instead, they have a “you do you” attitude.
Practicing Christians were the most surprised to discover that the themes presented were Christian beliefs. They also felt the most positive after reading them. Many Christian youth are not involved in a faith community.
The theme of love was the most attractive to survey participants. Across all faiths represented, there was a strong desire to always feel loved. Many youth viewed God as a source for that love or were drawn to the idea that a loving force exists somewhere.
In general, youth surveyed preferred abstract ideas of love over concrete ones. They were not comfortable with the idea of a God who became human to save us or a God who wants a close personal relationship with us. This was often described as “creepy.”
Young people who don’t believe in God but are open to the idea, as well as youth who follow another religion, were more attracted to Christian ideas than Nominal Christians.
What you can do with this research?
What you can do with this research?
This new research offers insights into young people's views on Christian beliefs including love, life, hope, community, and justice. Understanding which aspects of faith they find appealing or challenging could help us shape programs that address their concerns and interests. The research also highlights the importance this generation places on long-term relationships. Young people need sustained engagement with these ideas to become open to the gospel. Engaging young people in meaningful spiritual development requires building trust and fostering open, honest dialogues about faith.
It is important to acknowledge some of the limitations of the research, as pointed out by YouthScape themselves. Firstly, the survey’s brevity may have oversimplified complex theological topics, potentially leading to misinterpretations. Secondly, teens were asked to highlight words or phrases they found more attractive or less attractive, but there is likely no uniform way that teens approached this task. They could have picked words they were more familiar with or those that are already generally positive. Despite these limitations, the research remains valuable for its insights into what aspects of faith are capturing the attention of the next generation.
Read OneHope’s summary of the ‘Feel-Good’ News report.
Access a digital copy of the report here.
📋GYC 📅 2024📍Oceania
Global Youth Culture is OneHope’s research initiative examining the religious beliefs and behaviors of young people around the world. We have conducted this research in nearly 30 countries, discovering the habits, struggles, viewpoints, and influences of today’s teens.
Our latest GYC report takes us to teens in Papua New Guinea, a country in the southwestern Pacific encompassing the eastern half of New Guinea and its 600 offshore islands. Papua New Guinea is a country of immense cultural diversity and presents some unique findings for the GYC series.
About the Research:
About the Research:
507 teens surveyed
Ages 13-19
Data collected in November and December 2023
Key Takeaways:
Key Takeaways:
92% of teens identified as Christian, but half of those (46%) also mixed their Christian faith with beliefs and practices from animism.
Teens report high levels of relational support. 84% say they have had a positive family experience overall and 90% say they have close friends who know them well.
Parents were teens’ top influence in every category, including questions about right and wrong, the meaning of life, and gender and sexuality.
PNG teens are spending less time online than their global peers, but 64% report that social media can make them feel sad, anxious, or depressed. Girls are much more likely than boys to report these feelings.
Papua New Guinea’s research represents a unique opportunity to engage young people who broadly demonstrate baseline Christian beliefs, but might need guidance in how to live out their faith more intentionally. This report is a reminder that right beliefs are not enough. Young people need wise guides to help them translate belief into action. Given the high influence of parents, moms and dads are best positioned to fill this role, with equipping and empowering from the Church.
Spotlight on: TikTok
Spotlight on: TikTok
Is TikTok on the chopping block? Gen Z’s beloved social media platform has been triggering some serious concerns in both the European Union and United States.
The EU is pointing fingers at TikTok's "addictive design," saying it is not doing our kids any favors. In fact, they've slapped TikTok with a hefty fine of $370 million for not handling children's data properly. Across the pond in the US, things are heating up too. There's been talk of banning TikTok unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells it off within the next nine months. TikTok is fighting back, though, so it looks like we're in for a legal showdown.
For the younger crowd, this news is definitely on their radar. TikTok rules the social media kingdom for Gen Z. Around half of US teens scroll through it multiple times a day. Globally, outside of China and India where it is banned, TikTok's popularity among Gen Z has shot up by a whopping 43% since late 2020.
All this drama brings up some important questions, especially for organizations like OneHope. With so many young people glued to TikTok, how do we turn this obsession into an opportunity? Here are some ideas:
We can be aware. Look no further than our friends at Common Sense Media! They've produced a helpful report that gives us a backstage pass to the digital world of the next generation.
We can imagine innovative ways for young people to share their faith on social media. A great example can be found on the newest episode of the Telos Podcast, fresh on air from OneHope North America. Hear firsthand from a US teen about how they are using social media to spark gospel conversations. Don’t just listen for yourself; share it with a teen in your life so they can be inspired to do the same!
Feeling out of the loop? Check out this parent guide from our friends at Axis. It's a treasure trove for anyone looking to crack the TikTok code.
Book recommendation: Faith Beyond Youth Group
Book recommendation: Faith Beyond Youth Group
#ModeledDiscipleship #ministry #youth
Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) is an organization familiar to OneHope and similar in mission and approach. FYI researches youth in the US in order to develop practical tools including ministry-oriented books, curriculums, and other materials for the Church. Fuller Youth Institute and OneHope North America partner as part of the TENX10 initiative.
Fuller’s latest book, Faith Beyond Youth Group, brings together a wide range of research to explore how a young person’s faith can mature and grow into adulthood. Their research included data from:
Surveys of 378 youth leaders
Reviews of over 200 academic and popular resources on character formation
96 phone interviews with youth leaders
7 site visits to participating churches to explore characteristics common to lifelong discipleship
Their research identified character as the central determining factor that leads to lifelong discipleship. “Character is what extends faith beyond youth group. It’s what we want our good youth group kids to take with them when they leave church so that wherever they go and whatever they do, they reflect and imitate Jesus. They’re still generally good kids—but so much more.” (20)
FYI’s research led them to identify a five-point compass to guide churches in forming character in young people. The five points of the compass are to Cultivate Trust, Model Growth, Teach for Transformation, Practice Together, and Make Meaning.
We highly recommend this book which is packed with practical ministry strategies. It guides us in thinking about how to foster an environment that promotes character formation, which is critical as we think towards OneHope’s Vision 2033 goal of modeled discipleship for 20 million youth.
Additional resources from Faith Beyond Youth Group:
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading!
That's it for this edition of the Research Radar! If you have any questions about the research featured here contact us at research@onehope.net
Know of an interesting research study, article, or book we should be reading? Send it our way! We would love to take a look for a future edition of the radar.
In this edition:
In this edition:
Good research always cites its sources–and so do we! Here are the articles and authors featured in this edition of the Research Radar:
Alderman, Liz. “TikTok Is Subject of E.U. Inquiry Over ‘Addictive Design.’” The New York Times, February 19, 2024, sec. Business. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/19/business/tiktok-european-commission-children.html.
AP News. “What a TikTok Ban in the US Could Mean for You,” April 24, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/tiktok-divestment-ban-what-you-need-to-know-5e1ff786e89da10a1b799241ae025406.
Axis. “A Parent’s Guide To TikTok (2024 Update).” January 20, 2023. https://axis.org/resource/a-parent-guide-to-tiktok-parent-guide/.
Capoot, Ashley. “TikTok Sued the U.S. Government to Block a Ban. Here’s What Happens Now.” CNBC, May 8, 2024. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/08/tiktok-sued-the-us-government-to-block-a-ban-heres-what-happens-now.html.
Hedges, Tom, and Elise Robson. “The New Age of Gen Z: Umasking the Real Lives of Young Adults.” GWI., 2023. https://staticassets.goldcast.io/organization%2Ff779d5b0-4ae6-46a8-98a4-610e04e9c66f%2Fimages%2FdgJm3TOMSIcUxr9JeIUd_The%20new%20age%20of%20Gen%20Z%20-%20GWI%20Webinar%20-%202024.pdf.
Ichikowitz Family Foundation. “Africa Youth Survey 2022,” June 2022. https://biz-file.com/f/2206/AfricanYouthSurvey2022_Final_08June2022.pdf.
Kara Powell, Jen Bradbury, and Brad Griffin. Faith Beyond Youth Group: Five Ways to Form Character and Cultivate Lifelong Discipleship. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2023.
Kingson, Jennifer A. “Pew: Many Teens Use Social Media ‘Almost Constantly.’” Axios, December 11, 2023. https://www.axios.com/2023/12/11/social-media-teens-pew-tiktok-youtube-instagram-facebook-bereal-snapchat.
Radesky, J., Weeks, H.M., Schaller, A., Robb, M., Mann, S., and Lenhart, A. (2023). Constant Companion: A Week in the Life of a Young Person's Smartphone Use. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/research/report/2023-cs-smartphone-research-report_final-for-web.pdf
Youthscape UK. ‘Feel-Good’ News: Translating God Part 2.” UK. 2024. https://www.youthscape.co.uk/research/translating-god/home.
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