4. The most common objection to the 16 year old vote is whether this age group has the political maturity, knowledge, independence and interest to do so. This wide ranging review concludes that they definitely do, and the developmental literature supports this. Ben Oosterhoff of Montana State University, Laura Wray-Lake of UCLA, and Daneil Hart of Rutgers, collaborated on this review..
5. Finally, documentation of how very worried young people are about climate inaction, and the catastrophe they will inherit - and in fact are already being impacted by - if things do not dramatically change. An international team of researchers reported in the Lancet in 2021 on this large study - 10,000 young people across 10 countries, developed and undeveloped.. (a summary is below)
“Respondents across all countries were worried about climate change (59% were very or extremely worried and 84% were at least moderately worried). More than 50% reported each of the following emotions: sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless, and guilty. More than 45% of respondents said their feelings about climate change negatively affected their daily life and functioning, and many reported a high number of negative thoughts about climate change (eg, 75% said that they think the future is frightening and 83% said that they think people have failed to take care of the planet). Respondents rated governmental responses to climate change negatively and reported greater feelings of betrayal than of reassurance. Climate anxiety and distress were correlated with perceived inadequate government response and associated feelings of betrayal”.
Evidence Base
The idea of lowering the voting age has been widely debated by researchers worldwide for several decades at least. Here are some of the most up to date findings, which underpin our case and the reasoning behind it...
1. Professor Judith Besant at RMIT Melbourne argues that the idea’s time has come, and addresses a serious injustice…
2. Professor of Law Faith Gordon of the ANU, along with Professor of Adolescent Health Susan Sawyer of Melbourne University, also make the case that young people need to have a say in decisions that already really affect them. And they are capable of doing so.
3. Young people themselves seek and want the vote - secondary school students - Arlo Foyn Hill and Qing Ng of the School Strike 4 Climate movement, wrote this excellent article…
All of the articles link to further underpinnings to the case for the teenage vote.
We are very grateful to everyone who helped compile this research. We hope you find it a compelling case, and an affirmation that we must act now to help this generation we love and care about.