A 2025 CBS survey shows falling confidence in politics for 25–35-year-olds, rising interest among some younger cohorts, and an overall increase in protest participation across all ages.
Teenagers aged 15 to 18 remain the most trusting, at 62%, while the least trusting are 65 to 75-year-olds, at 31%.
Students and people with a university or college degree were the most likely to have demonstrated, the CBS said.
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# What the CBS survey measured
The national statistics bureau (CBS) ran its annual survey on social cohesion and wellbeing in 2025. The poll covers people aged 15 and over and records measures such as confidence in politics, interest in politics, and participation in protests and demonstrations.
# Main shifts in trust by age
At the other end of the spectrum, people aged 65–75 reported the lowest trust levels at 31%.
# Interest in politics vs trust
Older respondents show higher interest in politics despite reporting lower trust. Some 64% of people aged 65–75 said they were fairly or very interested in politics. By contrast, only 37% of 15–18-year-olds said they were fairly or very interested, although political interest among teenagers and young adults rose for two consecutive years.
# Protest and demonstration participation
Participation in protests and demonstrations increased across every age group in 2025. The most active age group was 25–35-year-olds: 9.5% said they had taken part in a protest or demonstration in the past five years. That compares with 8.6% for 18–25-year-olds and 2.4% for those over 75.
Students and people with a university or college degree were the groups most likely to report having demonstrated.
The survey was conducted during 2025, a politically eventful year that included the collapse of the Schoof cabinet and a general election in October. CBS also notes that trust in politics peaked in 2020 during the Covid pandemic: then 78% of teenagers and 71% of 18–25-year-olds said they had confidence in politicians. Since that peak, trust has fallen back to roughly the levels recorded about ten years earlier.
# What these figures show for audiences
Short-term: Trust among young adults (25–35) has declined noticeably, coinciding with rising protest activity across age groups.
Structural patterns: Teenagers report the highest trust but relatively lower political interest, while older adults show the reverse pattern—lower trust but higher interest.
Behavioural note: Demonstration activity is concentrated among younger adults, students, and higher-educated people, indicating that political engagement is taking place through protests as well as traditional interest metrics.
# Bottom line
Those suspicions extend to the results of the upcoming midterm elections.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are more skeptical of government information than they were a few years ago, with majorities now saying they have little or no trust in federal government information about elections and politics, foreign affairs or the environment, a new poll finds. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC
Those suspicions extend to the results of the upcoming midterm elections.
A new AP-NORC/USA Facts poll finds that Americans are more skeptical of government information than they were a few years ago, with majorities now saying they have little or no trust in federal government information about elections, foreign affairs or the environment.
Younger people in the Netherlands have become more engaged with the politics in recent years.
Kiezers zijn ontevreden over het kabinet-Jetten, in aanloop naar Prinsjesdag over ongeveer anderhalve week. Volgens een enquête van onderzoeksbureau Ipsos I&O is 18 procent te spreken over het beleid van het kabinet. Dat is het laagste punt sinds Jetten (D66) in februari aantrad als premier.
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