73% back youth protests as 82% say politics underserves young Germans

Broad sympathy with the protests

The latest ARD-Deutschlandtrend, carried out by infratest dimap, shows 73% of respondents understand the concerns of the demonstrators, while 22% reject them. Fieldwork ran from Monday, 2 November, to Wednesday, 4 November, with 1,297 eligible voters aged 18 and over interviewed by telephone and online. The results were published on Thursday, 5 November. The protests are led by the initiative "Gen Z regelt", which wants attention for school and education, high living costs and rising rents, and opposes the reintroduction of compulsory military service. In late October, demonstrations took place nationwide for the first time, with several tens of thousands of young people marching in more than 30 cities, largely peacefully.

Limits to the support

Support has clear limits. 89% consider taking part in registered demonstrations justified, while 32% accept road blockades and 29% accept occupations of schools, universities or offices. Only 3% justify the use of violence. Overall, 95% reject violence against people or property as a political tool, including 93% of under-35s. Among younger voters, approval and rejection of blockades are roughly balanced.

In some cities the protests were overshadowed by disorder. In Frankfurt am Main, several shops were looted and police officers were injured. "Gen Z regelt" distanced itself explicitly from the violence, and according to current findings the violent groups cannot clearly be attributed to the initiative.

Young voters feel unheard

A clear majority, 82%, say politics takes the concerns of young people into account less well or badly, while 13% see it differently. Among 18 to 34-year-olds, the Linke (29%) and the AfD (21%) are considered most likely to stand up for their interests. The Union (5%), SPD (3%) and Greens (12%) trail far behind. Across all age groups, the AfD and Greens (18% each) and the Linke (15%) rank as most competent on youth issues, ahead of the Union (9%) and SPD (8%). On social justice, young respondents pick the Linke at 32%, ahead of the SPD (17%) and AfD (14%). Doubts about upward mobility run deep too: 72% of 18 to 34-year-olds say their generation has a harder time building its own prosperity than earlier ones, and 58% of all eligible voters agree.

Linke29%

AfD21%

Greens12%

Union5%

SPD3%

Linke

29 %

AfD

21 %

Greens

12 %

Union

5 %

SPD

3 %

Data from the article text

Party standings and coalition arithmetic

In the national vote intention, the AfD leads with 27%, ahead of the CDU/CSU at 20%, the Greens at 16%, the SPD at 13% and the Linke at 11%. The FDP stands at 3%, and all other parties remain below the 5% threshold. Those values are unchanged from the early October poll for the parties listed. The governing coalition of Union and SPD would still lack a majority, and a CDU/CSU, Greens and SPD alliance would be arithmetically possible. All other parties rule out cooperation with the AfD, while the Union also rules out working with the Linke. Satisfaction with the federal government rose slightly to 11% (plus one point), with 87% dissatisfied (minus two). Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) recorded 12% satisfied (plus two) and 85% dissatisfied (minus three). The margin of error is given as plus or minus two to three percentage points.

AfD27%

CDU/CSU20%

Greens16%

SPD13%

Linke11%

FDP3%

AfD

27 %

CDU/CSU

20 %

Greens

16 %

SPD

13 %

Linke

11 %

FDP

3 %

Data from the article text

Planned state governments

Two possible coalitions drew strong rejection in the same poll. A planned Linke-led government in Berlin, a red-red-green arrangement, is seen as bad or less good for the capital by 62%, while 28% rate it very good or good. Linke supporters approve at 88%, Greens supporters at 61% and SPD supporters at 40%, while Union (10%) and AfD (5%) supporters largely reject it. For Saxony-Anhalt, 65% judge a possible AfD-led government under Ulrich Siegmund as bad or less good, against 29% who see it positively. 93% of AfD supporters back that scenario.

What comes next

The protest researcher Jannis Julien Grimm of the Freie Universität Berlin links the movement to a shared sense of political powerlessness.

“Young people will feel the long-term consequences of today's decisions particularly strongly, but at the same time have comparatively little political weight.”

A further protest day has been announced for 20 November.