GeneZYs 2015 – A youth sociological research of the Carpathian Basin

In the cooperation of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Centre for Social Sciences Institute for Minority Studies and the INFOTA Research Institute of the Foundation for Information Society, a representative youth sociological research of the Carpathian Basin was carried out under the name of GeneZYs 2015.

The assessment was focused on young people having Hungarian as their mother tongue and being 15-29 years old and living in Transylvania, Upper Hungary, Vojvodina and Subcarpathia. The research made by queries was filled by 2700 persons, so it can be regarded representative regarding their age, sex, settlement type and distribution within regions. The assessment has revealed that the Hungarian youth living outside the border of Hungary require Hungarian citizenship in great number and they also make use of the numerous opportunities offered by it.

If the current data are compared to the results of an earlier youth sociological research of 2001 called MOZAIK, it can be seen that the number of the completed higher education studies has increased in the target group, especially in the area of Upper Hungary. The number of married people and the wish for undertaking children has significantly decreased as compared to those 15 years ago. Related to the order of values, it can be stated that for young persons, material property has gained more importance as well as the reputation of carrier building.

In the dimensions investigated within the course of GeneZYs research, there are statistically prominent differences nearly in all aspects among the regions and in the three cohorts (15–19, 20–24, 25–29). The assessment has covered community affiliation, citizenship issues, interest in political and public affairs, applied communication methods, whereas it has also examined the relationship of youth to migration, their order of values and their scopes of interest as well as socio-demographical characteristics.