Young people and culture in Luxembourg: Numbers & Trends 2025
The liser (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research) on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, carried out a study on cultural practices from the six to 21 year olds on behalf of the Ministry of Culture. Audiovisual and digital practices, reading behavior, art and leisure activities, sporting preferences as well as the visits to cultural institutions were asked.
Conclusion of the study: With age, cultural independence increases. Girls are often more active and versatile than boys. However, the biggest differences are in the social background: young people from privileged families use a broader spectrum of cultural, leisure and sports offers, while those from less favored milieus fall back on television and social media more often. And so at a young age there are social inequalities in access to culture and with long -term consequences. This is exactly where cultural policy will have to start its lever.
The more detailed look into the study
The study shows a leisure behavior of the Luxembourg youth, which is primarily shaped by digital media, whereby there are clearly clear patterns along age, gender and social background.
Access to digital devices and the Internet is almost universal. Nevertheless, there are social disparities. Children from less privileged households use media more intensively and consumer-oriented, while young people, who are close to education, show a more differentiated media use-for example based on an increased access to VoD platforms or educational content.
Streaming platforms are no longer everyday medium.
Dwindling relevance of television: 93 percent indicate to see away, but only 45 percent do this every day. Temporary look dominates, classic live TV loses importance-except for young and socially disadvantaged groups. Television consumption also decreases significantly with the age of the young people.
Video-on-demand, but especially YouTube
Video-on-demand is the preferred format: 84 percent use corresponding platforms regularly. Use increases with age and is particularly common in girls and adolescents from academic households.
The relevance of the radio drops sharply from the age of twelve. Only 14 percent hear radio every day. Music programs remain attractive, while information content (e.g. news, politics, sport, culture) is only interesting for a minority – especially for boys.
The study shows that Music is an everyday companion of youth. Two thirds listen to music every day, and the proportion of girls is even higher. Age and gender-specific differences in the taste of music are clear: girls prefer pop, young urban sound, rock and electronic music. Streaming platforms are standard.
The social networks are omnipresent, but above all age -dynamic.
With 93 percent use, social media presence is omnipresent among young people – YouTube dominates. Tikok and Instagram are particularly common in socially weaker milieus. The service life on the weekend is significantly higher and correlates negatively with the educational level of the parents. The higher the formation of the parents, the more social networks are slowed down.
Reading: Falling relevance, except for daily newspapers
While 73 percent read books, the proportion decreases significantly when reading. Comics and magazines lose even faster. Daily newspapers, on the other hand, only gain relevance from the late youth. Reading competence and interest are also closely linked to the parent and family’s backgrounds. Here, too, the theory of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu is confirmed: by passing on cultural capital, the family background significantly shapes the educational and cultural opportunities of young people and thus contributes to the reproduction of social inequality.
Attention: Both cultural and sporting activities are socially selective.
Art and leisure activities (48 percent) and sports (70 percent) are popular, but decrease with age. Girls prefer creative activities, boys more technical or strategic hobbies. The choice of sports is clearly gender -specific. Socially privileged young people are art and sport in both areas – disproportionately represented.
« New Deal » for culture
Music training in turn for privileged families: A third plays an instrument, usually according to professional guidance in music schools. Access to musical education is also very socially selective. Young people from academic households take part above average.
Culture yes, but where? Theater, museums, festivals?
The leisure activities of young people in Luxembourg are diverse, with cinema, libraries and concerts among the most popular cultural offers. At the same time, there is a clear social selectivity in less popular offers such as museums, art galleries or theater.
The cinema benefits, because access is lower.
While cinema and concerts represent relatively accessible cultural forms, there is a clear social exclusion in more complex, educational formats – museums, galleries, performing arts. Overall, girls are more cultural actively, especially in the classic and literary area, while boys focus more on sport and digital media. Age courses and educational background shape the cultural access of young people fundamentally in Luxembourg.
The school definitely has a mission to promote young people in the practice of culture: « Kolléisch in Concert », a project of the Athenaeum with musical, dance and music. Photo: Christophe Olinger / LW archive
Cinema as a cultural leading medium: The cinema is the most visited cultural facility among young people, followed by libraries. It seems to act as a low -threshold access to culture, especially since it is used relatively broadly regardless of age and social origin. Girls visit the cinema more often than boys.
Libraries have a long range, but their use decreases with the age of the young people.
Three quarters of the young people visit libraries, with school libraries dominate. Use decreases with increasing age and is very educational: children from privileged families are clearly overrepresented, especially in facilities such as the National Library. The most common activities are the borrowing of books, school research and reading on site, which is perceived much more frequently by girls.
Searching for cinema are becoming increasingly rare
Social and age -related selection also in the museums: 55 percent of young people visit museums, with the visit decreasing with age and especially with the social background. Children from educational households are represented twice as often as children from the educational milieus. Parental accompaniment plays a central role in the museum visit – especially in privileged families.
The theater has really hard
Representative arts: While theater, dance or street theater are rarely visited, concerts from around 16 years of age are enjoying growing popularity (45 percent). Music festivals reach a quarter of this age group. There are also clear differences here depending on the level of education: children of educational families take part much more frequently.
Fairs & discos are socially embedded: Fairs in particular attract younger children (60 percent), the number of visitors decreases slightly from adolescence. Access is also socially selective here. Discos, on the other hand, are visited by 43 percent of young people aged 16 and over, especially by young people from higher social classes. Dance events, on the other hand, remain marginal at 10 percent, but are perceived somewhat more often by girls and young people from disadvantaged milieus.
The report and its summary are on the Website of the Ministry of Culture available for reading and downloading.
