List of Figures Figure 1.1: Proportion of youth (15-34 years) to total population 20 Figure 2.1: Majority of the youth stay with their parents
25
Figure 3.7: Sikh youth most likely to visit their place of worship even when a festival is not on 47
Figure 2.2: Youngest cohort stay with their parents; the older ones mainly stay with their spouse
26
Figure 3.8: Sikh youth most likely to watch religious shows on TV followed by Hindu youth
48
26
Figure 3.9: Sikhs only community to have seen a rise in viewing of religious programmes on TV
48
Figure 3.10: Christian youth most likely to read a religious book followed by Muslim youth
49
Figure 3.11: Significant increase in Christian and Sikh youth’s tendency to read religious books
49
Figure 3.12: Christian youth were most likely to perceive both an increase and decrease in their religious participation compared to youth from other communities
51
Figure 3.13: Two-fifths of youth highly likely to seek advice of a priest or religious leader for fixing a marriage date
52
Figure 3.14: Likelihood of consulting a priest/guru/baba for marriage date
53
Figure 3.15: Likelihood of consulting a priest/guru/baba for date for purchasing property/valuable
53
Figure 3.16: Likelihood of consulting a priest/guru/baba for personal/family member’s distress
53
Figure 2.3: Two-fifths of the married youth stay only with their spouse Figure 2.4: Living arrangements across gender
27
Figure 2.5: Similar living arrangements across localities
27
Figure 2.6: For one-third of the youth, bond with their family has strengthened
28
Figure 2.7: Not much variation across age groups with regard to their bonds with their families
28
Figure 2.8: Bond with family has strengthened more among the unmarried youth 29 Figure 2.9: Bond with family has weakened among youth who live away from their families
29
Figure 2.10: Bond with family across localities
29
Figure 2.11: Bond with family strengthens with the usage of social media and smartphones
30
Figure 2.12: Proportion of youth’s bond with their friends
30
Figure 2.13: Bond with friends have strengthened the most for the youngest cohort 31
Figure 3.17: Muslim and Hindu youths are most likely to have consulted a priest or religious guru for good luck and health 54
Figure 2.14: Students’ relationship with their friends has strengthened from before
31
Figure 2.15: Bond with friends has strengthened more among the youth having higher educational attainment
Figure 3.18: High or moderate likelihood to consult a religious leader for fixing auspicious dates or for personal issues has declined among youths (18-34 year olds) in the last six years 55
31
Figure 2.16: A third of the unmarried youth have strengthened relations with their friends than before
32
Figure 3.19: Only one in every three youth emphatically expressed optimism about the state of religious harmony in India during the next five years
58 58
Figure 2.17: Bond with friends across localities
33
Figure 2.18: Social media and smartphone usage seems to strengthen bond with friends
Figure 3.20: Hindu and Muslim youth have opposite views on the future of religious harmony in India
33
Figure 2.19: People’s opinions identified as the biggest quality that the youth pays attention to while choosing friends
34
Figure 3.21: Over two-fifths of young Muslims claim to have experienced discrimination among friends because of their religion
60
Figure 4.1: Decline in the proportion of the married youth
65
Figure 2.20: Men focus more on the caste, economic status and their ability to speak in English while making friends compared to the women
35
Figure 2.21: Youth prioritize family over friends and career
36
Figure 4.2: Youth are marrying at a later age; a quarter of youth were unmarried in the age group of 18-24 years 66 Figure 4.3: Decline in proportion of married youth, more pronounced in young women
66
Figure 4.4: Educated youth more likely to marry late
67 67
Figure 2.22: Men give more importance to their friendships than women while women prioritize their family more than men do
36
Figure 4.5: Married youth across localities
Figure 2.23: Ranking of priorities across localities
37
Figure 4.6: Arranged marriages, a preferred choice of the youth 68
Figure 2.24: Youngsters affinity with their locality, state and country
37
Figure 4.7: Love marriage more prevalent among the better educated
68
38
Figure 4.8: Love marriage preferred by married youth living in big cities
69
44
Figure 4.9: More than 80% of the youth are married within same caste, religion and state
69
Figure 3.2: Christian and Muslim youth are most likely to pray frequently 45
Figure 4.10: Importance attached to caste, religion and state declines in love marriages
70
Figure 3.3: Of all major communities, sharpest fall in practice of praying seen among Muslim youth
Figure 4.11: Preference for an arranged marriage greatest among the youngest
70
Figure 4.12: Marital preference of unmarried youth by gender
71
Figure 4.13: Marriage choices by educational attainment among unmarried youth
71
Figure 4.14: Preference for love marriage greatest in big cities
72
Figure 4.15: Preference for arranged marriage greatest among marginal communities
72
Figure 2.25: Most of the youngsters witnessed greatest increased in their affinity with their village/town/city Figure 3.1: Not much change in observance of certain religious practices by Indian youth since 2016
45
Figure 3.4: Christian and Muslim Youth most likely to fast, particularly during festivals
46
Figure 3.5: Practice of observing fasts has gone up significantly among Christian youth
46
Figure 3.6: Muslim youth continue to be least likely to visit their place of worship
47
6 | Indian Youth: Aspirations and Vision for the Future
