Family is ranked high in the structure of values of the Belarusian youth, Chairperson of the Belarusian Committee of Youth Organizations Pavel Alekso (BCYO), commenting on the results of the opinion polls.

In particular, in September-December 2024, the BCYO, together with the Center for Social and Humanitarian Research of Belarusian State University of Economics and the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, conducted surveys on the preferences of the Belarusian youth. Twelve thousand young Belarusians were polled in different regions of the country.

According to the surveys, family is highly valued in the value system of young people, with the overwhelming majority of respondents (70.2%) noting this.

«More than 70% of young people say that family is very important to them. This means a close-knit family with children. This shows that young people are interested in strengthening society, family, and traditional values of the Belarusian nation,» Pavel Alekso said.

According to him, the Belarusian youth has become more mature. 

«When we see various surveys where young people are asked: „Are you ready to get married today or at what stage of your life?“, we often see answers that they are ready after university graduation, after they stand firmly on their feet and are able to provide for themselves and their children. Here, we can clearly see a positive trend toward social maturity, i.e., the readiness to create a unit of society, to take responsibility for oneself, one’s family, and, possibly, for having children. This speaks of a mature choice among young people,» Pavel Alekso added.

Incidentally, Belarusian youth associate their well-being with personal activity.

As opinion polls have shown, young people’s expectations of the state are linked to ensuring equal starting opportunities for all citizens. Thus, more than 85% of respondents associate personal well-being with the individual’s own activity.

«There is a prevailing understanding among young people that the future is in their own hands and depends only on themselves. This indicates a certain maturity among young people and the maturity of their opinions. In other words, this is not a consumerist attitude, where young people demand special treatment or preferences for themselves. It is an understanding that Belarus has effective mechanisms for implementing state youth policy, that everyone today has open and free access to education, career choice, professional development, and the development of their needs for self-realization. But, of course, this requires effort,» Pavel Alekso noted.
According to him, young people understand that any benefits come with responsibility.

«Responsibility for one’s life, development, and achievement of goals lies, of course, with the individual. And here everything is interconnected: the choice of education, profession, a conscious attitude towards society, the environment, family values, and so on,» Pavel Alekso emphasized.

As part of the surveys, young people were also asked about their priorities in education. Thus, there is still a demand among young people for a more practical approach to education, with an emphasis on developing the applied skills that are most in demand in the labor market. At the same time, young people strive to obtain these skills independently (through distance education and training) or by entering the labor market earlier while still studying.

«As always, young people are the most active part of the population because this is the most effective age for learning a profession and gaining initial work experience. The demand for a practice-oriented educational process is related to the fact that everyone, especially young people, wants to see the results of their work. Young people are characterized by a certain youthful maximalism, an expectation of immediate results. Therefore, there is, of course, a demand for specific specialties that are in demand on the labor market today. These include technical specialties and applied skills. This is because young people clearly see what kind of activities are in demand on the market,» Pavel Alekso noted.

Today, it is possible to improve one’s qualifications remotely. 

«It is possible to obtain several degrees at the same time, which, incidentally, we often see. Students in the humanities often choose economics or law as a second degree. Society is multifaceted, and certain skills and industries overlap. Today, you need to be able to use your skills in modern technologies and programming. Young people already have a clear understanding of where they will be after obtaining a certain level of education,» Pavel Alekso added.

Based on materials from BelTA