Youngsters say caring for family most important 'moral issue'

In a survey, 59 per cent of the 16 to 24-year-olds polled said that 'looking after family' was the most important moral issue.

Participants were asked what they thought was the most important moral issue from a list of eight issues, the Daily Mail reported.

Just over one in ten (12 per cent) chose 'putting others first', 8 per cent said 'being faithful to a partner', and just 4 per cent opted for 'having religious faith or beliefs'.

The other options were caring for the environment, paying taxes, playing a part in the local community and buying ethical products.

More than half (51 per cent) said their peers were less concerned about morals than their parents' generation.

The poll, commissioned by BBC Religion and Ethics for the BBC Re:Think Festival in Salford, also asked the 585 young people to rank the eight issues in order of importance, with religious belief voted the one that mattered the least (32 per cent).

The survey found that more than a quarter of the youngsters (27 per cent) believed that as long as businesses were not breaking the law, they should not concern themselves with ethical issues, although 64 per cent thought that they should.