'It was the first time I voted' Europe's austerity-hit youth are being lured by far-right

Lunching on a tuna sandwich in the central market of Volendam, a picturesque fishing port north of Amsterdam, Gerald, 24, was lucid about his choice in last month's Dutch election. "I voted for Wilders, and many of my friends did too," he said.

- Jon Henley and Pjotr Sauer 

"I don't want to live with my parents forever. I want my own home and to be able to provide for my family later on. Wilders wants to figure out the housing crisis and make healthcare better. Those are the most important topics for me." 

If everyone who voted in the election had been under 35, Geert Wilders, the far-right populist whose Party for Freedom (PVV) shocked Europe by winning the most parliamentary seats, would have won even more.

In last year's French presidential run-off, Marine Le Pen won 39% of 18-to 24-year-olds' votes and 49% of those aged 25 to 34. Before Italy's election last year, Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy was the largest party among under-35s, on 22%.

The image of the radical right voter - typically white, male, nongraduate and, above all, old - is changing, and studies suggest that in several countries, support for the far right is growing fastest among younger voters.

Several factors may explain the phenomenon, analysts say. "We really should be careful about assuming a cultural or ideological alignment between young voters and the far right," said Catherine de Vries, a political scientist at Italy's Bocconi university.

"We know in many countries young people are more proimmigration than older voters. They have not become xenophobic. But their lives are more precarious.  

These are often votes for what in this Dutch election was called 'livelihood security"," The Dutch bestaanszekerheid translates - roughly - as an existence with a sufficient and predictable income, a satisfactory home, access to education and healthcare, and a cushion against unexpected eventualities.