16% of French people have already contacted their parliamentarians via social networks on development issues

At the national level, only 16% of French people have already contacted their elected representatives via social networks about poverty issues in the world.

For young people between 18 and 24 years old, this percentage rises to 23%. The usage of new communication techniques is therefore an important factor for this type of activism.

The same proportion (22%) is also found among left-wing supporters.
Combining the two factors (left-leaning voting and youth) results in the best likelihood for engaging political representations on poverty and development issues. However, women appear more less likely on the whole to engage in this way than men.

When French people are asked about contacting their elected representatives at the national level on development issues using more traditional techniques (excluding social networks), we find the same result: only 16% say they have done so.

On the other hand, the results appear more linear regardless of age, gender or political orientation.

This data comes from our survey conducted by the YouGov Institute and piloted by the research team at University College London and Birmingham University as part of the project Aid Attitudes Tracker which measures the evolution of opinions and behaviors on issues of international solidarity in four countries.