What would a 2015 manifesto look like if young people mattered?
Calling All A Level Students
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Young people’s interests should matter in the 2015 General Election. However, too often their concerns are ignored because they either can’t vote or don’t vote.
We live in a democracy where we have the power to change things if we use our vote. However, what happens if one particular group of voters, with particular interests, outnumbers other voters? The result is that their interests could be given priority.
In the UK the ‘grey vote’ is increasingly powerful, with the over-50s estimated to account for more than half the electorate by 2020. Older voters have different priorities to the young. It’s in their interests to protect pensions and other old-age benefits, the value of their houses and public spending on health and social care. Younger voters are more concerned about things that affect them — education, training, unemployment, internships, student debt, transport, housing, environmental crisis and climate change.
Political candidates promise voters policies that will get more votes — so what should young people ask for at the next election if their vote mattered?
The Intergenerational Foundation (www.if.org.uk) has teamed up with the New Statesman to ask for your Manifesto for Youth. The winning manifesto will be published online by the New Statesman and IF. Prizes of book tokens and free subscriptions to the New Statesman will be awarded to the winners and runners-up.
For further information on how to enter go to: https://www.if.org.uk/prizes/manifestoforyouth
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