For Hungarians aged 15–39, the family environment constitutes their primary source of security—this is the principal finding of a recent study conducted by the Youth Research Institute. Based on a survey of 1,000 respondents, the research indicates that young people’s sense of security diminishes as they move further away from their homes, with the lowest levels of perceived safety reported in social media environments. According to the findings, a stronger sense of security could be fostered by increased financial savings, experienced political leadership, and the cessation of war.
In its latest study, conducted with a sample of 1,000 participants, the Youth Research Institute sought to determine where Hungarian youth feel most secure and how their sense of security might be enhanced. The results show that young people feel safest in their homes (86%), followed by the locality in which they reside, as well as their school or workplace (both 68%). The responses clearly suggest that perceived security declines as physical distance from the home increases; in other words, the further individuals are from their home environment or similarly familiar settings, the less secure they tend to feel. In contrast, in the location-independent online sphere—particularly on social media platforms—respondents report the lowest levels of perceived safety (37%).
At the same time, younger respondents tend to regard the online environment as safer than older participants. Notable gender differences also emerge: while 48% of males report feeling secure in the realm of online content, only 31% of females do so. More broadly, gender differences are a defining feature of the findings: females consistently report lower levels of perceived security than males across all examined contexts, including the home, local community, workplace, Hungary itself, the European Union, the online sphere, and social media. Males, by contrast, report higher levels of perceived security in all settings.
A majority of respondents (70%) believe that improving their sense of security would primarily require greater financial savings. A substantial proportion (47%) also consider that security would be strengthened if the country were governed by experienced politicians. Additionally, many respondents (42%) identify the end of the war in neighbouring Ukraine as an important precondition for enhancing security.
The research conducted by the Youth Research Institute examined young people in the autumn of 2025. Data collection was carried out, using self-administered online questionnaires supported by interviews (CAWI methodology). In total, 1,000 Hungarians aged 15–39 were surveyed using a representative sampling procedure.
Budapest, 19 March 2026
