In 2005, 87% of 16-29 year-olds said they trusted their family “completely”; by 2017, this figure had fallen to 80.5%. Meanwhile, the share of over-50s who trusted their family completely remained unchanged at 86%.
Over the same period, the share of under-30s who trust people in their
neighbourhood completely has halved from 9.6% to 4.9%, while the level of over50s who trust their neighbours completely has barely changed, falling marginally from 29.7% to 27.7% in 2017. The net result is that while older generations were three times more likely to completely trust their neighbours in 2005, they are now six times more likely to do so. Our survey data suggests that this divide has further widened since the pandemic.
