Who are worried about the future?

Life in post-modern societies is exposed to a range of risks and challenges in different dimensions: people face environmental threats and societal risks at the same time. These issues contribute to rising uncertainty and concerns in the population. Our investigation aims to explore the level of worries about different potential risks in the future of both environmental and social nature. The survey was conducted in Szeged, Hungary in spring 2024 with a sample of 577 respondents representative by sex and age. People were asked to indicate the level of worries on a 0-10 scale about climate change, pandemics and epidemics, wars and armed conflicts, environmental pollution, widening gap between rich and poor, conflicts between different cultures, the rise of artificial intelligence, deepening inequalities between men and women, and overpopulation. The relationship with different socio-demographic and socio-economic factors has also been analysed. Our results suggest that the level of worries about environmental and social risks is significant in adult the population of Szeged. Women, elderly and people with lower socio-economic status tend to be more concerned.