Children and young people: behavior, attitudes, and future projects: scientific use file

In 2021 Istat carried out the survey “Children and young people: behavior, attitudes, and future projects” with the support of the Ministry of Education. The general aim of the research was to collect information about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the daily lives of children and young people, in order to highlight the vulnerabilities and strengths of the country’s youngest citizens.

The sample was representative for foreign and Italian students and it was also possible to disaggregate data for students that have acquired Italian citizenship. The research involved a sample of around 41,000 students attending secondary schools in Italy and focused on various topics. The sample represented the first five most frequent foreign citizenships and several citizen groups.

Some of the questions dealt with the pandemic (distance learning, relationships with peers and family, the use of social media); other questions were more general and collected information about behaviors, opinions and expectations of the students about several aspects of everyday life, including the environment, future plans and the use of internet. Finally, some questions were focused on students with a foreign background: migrant history, language use, citizenship, etc. The survey was administered using computer-assisted web interviewing with students filling the survey at home – or where they preferred – since they could also use the smart phones to fill the form.

In 2023, Istta carried out the survey “Children and young people: behavior, attitudes and future projects” with the aim of collecting information on some fundamental aspects of the daily life of children and young people aged between 11 and 19 living in Italy. The sample was randomly drawn from the Istat population archives. The sampling strategy allowed us to build a statistically representative sample of the Italian population between the ages of 11 and 19 with both Italian citizenship and foreign citizenship (with particular attention to the most numerous citizenships).

The research involved a sample of around 39 thousand children and young people and focused on various topics: citizenship and identity, relationships with friends and family, the use of social media, experience at school, free time, satisfaction with some aspects of life, fears and difficulties and future plans. Furthermore, in this latest edition of the survey, an entire section was dedicated to opinions on women and men. The survey was administered using computer-assisted web interviewing with students filling the survey at home – or where they preferred – since they could also use the smart phones or tablets to fill the form.