Job losses, insecurity, and expensive travel—is it any wonder millennials are conflicted about "Britishness"?

Identifying and explaining one’s cultural and national identity is easier for some, such as the Baby Boomer generation, than it is for others: Millennials. Why? Because identity was simpler to explain before the influence and explosion of 21st-century globalisation, mainstream access to the internet, normalisation of internationalism in everyday life and cheap, global travel.

Once upon a time, it was less complicated to assimilate a strong sense of British national identity. Whilst Britishness cannot ever be exclusively defined, nor should it be, its meaning is more complex to Millennials who have grown up in a country dominated by crisis, shaped by the prevalence of technology as well as a lack of rootedness due to the rise of precarious work and the high cost of living in the UK.

The rise of instant information and social media culture has come into conflict with the slow-paced and long-term nature of identity forming. This, in turn, has unsettled Millennials’ interpretation of what Britishness means in today’s society, and what it will mean in future.

It is common for many Millennials to perceive Britishness as a fairly fluid concept, wrapped up in images of old Britannia, British unity in times of national crisis, such as the second world war, and the British Empire—which Millennials are less proud of than the Baby Boomer generation. A Google search of “Britishness” reveals images of the Union Jack flag, British bulldogs and an amusing cartoon which depicts one British characteristic as “living in the past.”

According to a recent research report by Deloitte, Millennials, in contrast, think long and hard about life in the future with a sense of uneasiness and pessimism.

Britishness can also be a muddling concept to Millennials who are at odds with where they came from and where they are going in order to gain job stability, security and prosperity—can this be easily found in today’s Britain, or is it more achievable by emigrating elsewhere such in emerging markets where Millennials are generally more optimistic about economic growth and security?

Arguably, austerity has impacted the meaning of Britishness to Millennials who have directly suffered as a result. Cuts to local services, particularly those of a cultural kind, have played a role in fracturing local identity which has in turn been detrimental to wider British identity and unity.

This has not gone unrecognised by the outside world: the UN recently reported that the “compassion and mutual concern that has long been part of the British tradition has been outsourced.” Lack of investment in regional infrastructure, a decline in local well-paid employment and the normalisation of over-priced and reduced public transport have been critical in the process of undermining Britishness.

Why is it cheaper to travel to a foreign country than to take the train to another nation within the UK, many of my millennial contemporaries have asked, even when armed with their discounted 26-30 railcards? This should be a wake-up call to the UK Government which wants to “level up” the UK and reduce regional inequality, but cultural connectivity between the nations and regions is of equal significance if the UK is to survive in the future for the benefit of Millennials and Generation Z.

Britishness to Millennials is also defined by educational circumstances. University-educated and mobile Millennials in the UK are more likely to identify with multiple levels of identity such as English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, British and European.

This is something to be cherished and embraced for its cultural richness and collaboration. However, this may not necessarily be the case with their non-university educated counterparts who are less likely to encounter other students from different parts of the UK, thus reducing their opportunity to broaden their cultural understanding of the country.

In a recent interview, the British rapper Stormzy explained how his two-year engineering apprenticeship gave him an invaluable insight to meet other students from across the country and learn from and alongside them. His sense of Britishness is strong, and in this sense, he is an exception—how many millennial icons can speak with such conviction about their sense of Britishness?

People across the UK must be able to readily access and be excited by other parts of the country, whether they be a village, town or city. If not, what’s so great about “Great Britain”?

The prospect of the UK re-joining the EU at some point in the future is not an unusual idea for Millennials and Generation Z who overwhelmingly voted in favour of Remain. However, the importance of British solidarity in the post-Brexit world is one to be reassessed, particularly with the risk posed to the future of the Union, the outcome of another Scottish Independence referendum (if and when that happens) as well as the interrelationship between the nations, cities, towns and villages.

Who we are as a nation and what we want Britain to become are questions that will enable Millennials to take ownership and pride in the meaning of Britishness in today's world as well as tomorrow's.