> The younger generation (18 - 35) aren't in a position where the EU membership effects them in any tangible way

You mean the age group which actually travels, studies abroad, looks for new jobs which right now they can choose from all over the EU, has more international contacts than previous generations, etc. ? I'm sure they're more affected in very practical ways than older generations.

I'm affected in at least 3 ways, and I'm not even in Europe anymore.

> the age group which actually travels, studies abroad, looks for new jobs which right now they can choose from all over the EU, has more international contacts than previous generations

Oh yeah, rich people stuff.

I don't know many people who've done that. I know one guy who left for the USA, I know one or two older people who go on a regular holiday out of the UK each year. 90% of my friends have been abroad once or twice, but it's not an influence on their current EU debate.

Not only rich people. 8 people from my first university class did a year abroad on EU programs. (some couldn't afford it otherwise) At my last university, most of the year was not from the UK, which was funny when a GCHQ guy tried to recruit people - most of them not the right nationality to hire.

Or from another side, I expect most people from Poland are not going to work in the UK because they're rich and can afford it. They move where the work is and suddenly two parts of the family have a reason to travel internationally. Exactly because they're not rich.

I've done 4 year course at UK university and very few of the EU students were from rich families. For most it was their first time in UK and maybe 2-3rd time on a plane. My own circle of friends includes a lot of people from all over EU who now live in UK and every single one of them would be negatively affected by Brexit, and again, they are by no means rich.

bang on - I often ask my friends who are going through hard times with work or life, if they would consider moving to europe or further afield, among the poorer ones (aka 93% of the UK population) it's not even an option they would consider

Or the group that doesn't remember life before the EU.

That's a good point. I wonder if it matters though. I mean, 1) depending on how you count it, it could be either Schengen ('85), late '90s, or early '00s; 2) world was completely different before the EU - Europe was still dealing with WWII results / USSR issues - whatever happens, UK is not going to what was the pre-EU reality.

its also the generation with the lowest cost of travel and highest disposable income. their ability to travel won't be affected by leaving the eu.

Is it already certain that all benefits of Schengen remain? (likely) Visa-less work in the rest of EU? Visa-less study? Are travel costs going to remain the same? Will the UK have to renegotiate tourist visits with countries which had deals with EU, rather than separate countries? These are factors that could change as far as I know.

i would be surprised if we didnt get visa-less travel to shengen and visa-versa. visa requirements for study are generally pretty easy (can you afford it) and for work are a good thing. most eu countries already require some form of work permit (for tax purposes), they are easy to obtain and amount to the same thing as a visa. travel costs are based on market forces and government policy, we could make travel even cheaper if we left by reducing taxes if we chose to. the costs of operation are otherwise the same

But why would they choose to make things easy for us if we are essentially giving them the middle finger? We can't pick and choose what we fancy from the EU while simultaneously walking away..

I'd be surprised too. But right now it's an unknown, right? Also, there are multiple EU-related programs for scholarships which could go away for the UK people. Work... we'll see.

From speaking to people both 18-35 and in older age brackets, I've actually found it's the opposite - the younger generation is relatively impassioned about staying (or mostly indifferent but can't really see why we would leave), and older generations are much more on the fence. In fact, I don't know anyone under 35 who is in favour of Brexit. The older generations, however, start talking about their distrust of Europe, of Germany in particular, and seem to have some vestigial jingoistic pride and feel that Britain is still, or at least can be again, a great nation which can manage perfectly well by itself, thank you very much.

(Obviously I've not canvassed everyone in Britain - just about ten or fifteen people I know reasonably well.)

I've observed the same, it's mostly the late-middle-aged xenophobes who are in favour of leaving.

This is an exact mirror of my experience. I know one person under 35 wishes to leave.

Anyone I speak to over 50 is desperate to leave because they perceive the shared sovereignty as redline that should never be crossed irrespective of the consequences.

Nuances between EU, EEC, Council of Europe, European Court of Human Rights and how leaving the EU does not mean extraditing ourselves from the others, thus stymieing the sovereignty issue so that it is mute is completely lost. We may leave the EU and still be subordinate to the other bodies (including most EU rules to maintain trade compatibility) making the entire exercise a dangerous experiment.

One of the things I hate about the "leave" campaign is how it keeps repeating that European Court of Human Rights is a problem for the UK and how somehow leaving EU is going to help.

Guess what, leaving EU has no effect on the membership in the European Court of Human Rights, all countries which are part of the Council of Europe, which UK is the member of, will remain in it regardless of their EU membership.

Our membership of the ECHR is a condition of being part of the EU. Without the latter the former becomes optional and we can apply or overrule their findings as necessary. Ultimately the British courts should have final ruling in Britain not the ECHR.

"Ultimately the British courts should have final ruling in Britain not the ECHR."

I disagree. ECHR should have the authority to rule against human rights violations in member countries, this extra level of protection is absolutely necessary.

I get the exact opposite impression. The older generation doesn't give a crap about EU, it's not affecting them or their jobs in any way. They are the ones influenced most by the scaremongering of the media. It's the younger people who know that they will lose friends and jobs if Britain leaves, they are connected in the world and understand that implications for the people around them.

Maybe it's different in cities? I can't talk for those people, but in the smaller towns and villages no one really cares much about our government, let alone the EU. Hackernews audience is a different set of people to those Sun and Daily Mail readers.

"[Older] Scared shitless of change"? Evidence? Judging by the Observer's online poll - April 2016, results show that those aged 55 years old and over were more in favour of a Brexit with 54%, compared to 30% that wanted to remain part of the EU.

It seems your post symbolizes everything that's wrong with most people, they don't know crap about EU 101 and pretty much don't want to

> The younger generation (18 - 35) aren't in a position where the EU membership effects them in any tangible way

I'll take that as a joke or as proof that a lot of people have no idea on what they're talking about.

Hackernews has a different audience to 99% of real people. Talk to a plumber or an electrician under 35 and ask them about the EU. No clue.

Yeah, what they probably know is that some Polish electrician is "taking his job" (probably by doing it better) because that's what they said on the Daily Mail or something