Background to the Research

• Each year, the YLT survey offers all young people who celebrate their 16th birthday in the February of that year the opportunity to discuss key social issues.
• This research update draws upon data obtained in response to the community relations questions contained within the YLTS 2004.
• Between the 2003 and 2004 survey, the success of the DUP and Sinn Fein at the Northern Ireland Assembly elections produced a highly polarised political landscape. kground to the research here
  

Research Approach

• In 2004, 2000 young people were invited to participate in the research. In total, 824 completed the questionnaire over the telephone, online or by post, the latter being the most popular response method.
• Comparisons were also made with the responses from the 2003 survey to identify any changes in attitudes.
  

Main Findings

• A total of 48% of the participants perceived an improvement in community relations over the previous five years. This represented a 7% increase on YLT of the previous year. In 2004, there was a 3% increase to 39% in the number of people who felt that community relations would improve in the next five years.
• Whilst both surveys indicated that Catholics were more optimistic about past and future community relations than Protestants, a more positive belief in future relations emerged amongst Protestant young people in 2004.
• Eighty six percent of participants from both of the predominant religion traditions remained convinced in 2003 and in 2004 that religion would always influence how people in NI perceived each other.
• This viewpoint was more entrenched amongst Protestant respondents in both 2003 (91% both years) than Catholics, (84% in 2003 and 86% in 2004).
• 11% of 2004 YLT respondents attended religiously mixed schools, 5% attended planned integrated schools and just over one quarter (28%) lived in mixed neighbourhoods.
• Young people who lived in segregated Protestant (32%) or Catholic areas (42%) and those attending segregated schools were less likely than those living in mixed areas (25%) to have friends from the other main religious community.
• The 2004 survey reported small decreases in the level of support amongst Catholics and Protestants for mixed religious work environments, schools and neighbourhoods.
• However, the greatest degree of support for mixing came from participants who were categorised as having 'no religion'.
• Forty two percent of respondents overestimated the percentage of people from minority ethnic backgrounds living in NI, compared to 2001 government statistics, which the authors admit may be out of date.
• When asked if they thought people would mind if a close relative married someone from a different ethnic or racial background, 72% said they would not personally object, compared to 22% who thought that most others would not mind.