JEDDAH: Misuse of credit cards by young people is a major problem in Saudi Arabia. According to a new survey, some 52 percent of Saudi youths struggle with debt because of this. The survey also says that 46 percent of Saudi youths favor working in the private sector rather than the government sector.
The Second Annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey, released this week, contains other interesting revelations. It negates common Western misperceptions of Arab youths as conservative and inward-looking and says that young Arab men and women see themselves as fully engaged global citizens and aspire to the same privileges and freedoms as those taken for granted in the West.
Generally, youths in the Middle East are confident about the direction in which the region is heading. Democracy is an important aspiration for them. Good infrastructure, access to the best universities, being paid a fair wage and living in a safe neighborhood were found to be equally important priorities, said the survey.
The findings of the nine-country survey were made public in Dubai by Karen Hughes, global vice chair of Burson-Marsteller and former US under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs.
Conducted by international polling firm Penn Schoen & Berland Associates (PSBA), the survey included 2,000 face-to-face interviews with Arab nationals and Arab expatriates between the ages of 18-24 in the six Gulf Cooperation Council nations, as well as in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.
“More than two-thirds of the respondents were very concerned about the rising cost of living, while the shortage of affordable housing was their second biggest worry, followed by unemployment. But in general, youths in the Middle East are confident about the direction in which the region is heading. When asked to consider the last five years, 66 percent of Arab youths said their country of residence was going in the right direction,” said Hughes.
Increased public participation was seen as either “very important” or “somewhat important” by the vast majority of youths in all the countries surveyed, from 85 percent of respondents in Oman to 99 percent of young people in Kuwait.
Joseph Ghossoub, chairman and CEO of the MENACOM Group, regional parent of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller said: “By examining a wide range of issues, the insights from the survey will be of relevance to the broadest spectrum of experts, including policymakers, marketers, the business community and the media. Our hope is that the survey results will spark greater understanding of the priorities and indeed action on the ground.”
“We firmly believe that an evidence-based approach is essential to understanding and meeting those needs, which is why we embarked on the second and most ambitious edition of our Arab Youth Survey,” said Sunil John, CEO of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller.
The survey explored a diversity of topics most relevant to young people in the region, from the financial crisis to foreign relations, to media consumption and online behavior, to brand preferences and spending habits, to education and career aspirations, to how youths spend their free time.
Other key findings of the survey were as follows:
• Arab youths are confident about the prospects for economic recovery in 2010
• Nearly four out of five say they own a mobile phone.
• Young Arabs increasingly live online, but nearly half read a newspaper every day
• Two thirds of Arab youths spend their free time in front of the TV
• More than a quarter of Arab youths are in debt
• Arab youths are increasingly looking East in response to the shifting global economy
• Youths in the Middle East are evenly split on their preferences to work for the government or private sector
• Within the region, the GCC and Levant are the most popular travel destinations for Arab youths, who strongly prefer flying with their national airlines.
