Most Singaporeans not upbeat on future of next generation: survey

Just under a third of Singapore residents in a recent survey by global communication firm Edelman believe that the next generation would be better off than the current one – a drop of 11 percentage points from last year’s findings.The Edelman Trust Barometer 2026 figures showed Singapore as being among four other Asian countries that registered a double-digit decrease, with the city state’s 31 per cent mark just under the global average of 32 per cent for those who responded positively to one of the questions in the survey on the next generation having better lives.The 26th edition of the annual survey, released on Monday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, covered 28 countries, including Australia, China, India and the United States, with more than 1,200 respondents per nation.The survey measures public trust in four key sectors – businesses, government, media and NGOs – and is aimed at providing insight into societal sentiment to guide policymaking. Singapore scored 64 in its overall trust index for 2026, down from 65 last year. The global average is 57.Observers who were not involved in the survey say the increased pessimism reflects mounting anxiety from geopolitical and economic tensions on the global stage.Businesspeople offer prayers for prosperity for their companies and the economy on the first business day of the year at the Kanda Myojin Shrine in Tokyo, Japan, on January 5. Photo: EPA“The uncertain economic outlook, geopolitical tensions, and simmering faultlines between some religious and ethnic communities compounded the challenge. Singapore – while remaining on positive high trust territory, is not immune to these global forces,” said Leong Chan-Hoong, senior fellow and head of the Social Cohesion Research Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.