The generation game: The world our children will inherit

At the start of a year of instability, the <i>IoS</i> surveyed members of the Netmums website to find out what causes them most anxiety about the world their children will inherit. Have your say at the bottom of the page

Sharon Ford, 38, from Romford in Essex

"I'm worried that my sons [Ben, six, and Sam, three] will be tempted to join gangs. Even in my son's school there are little gangs forming already, which is frightening. Who will my boys get involved with? I want to move out of the area I'm in to protect them because I'm scared. If you look at the statistics it's terrifying; teenagers are being killed every month because of gangs."

Professor Esther Leslie, 43, from London

"I'm concerned that Iris, three, and Mordecai, one, will not receive a good enough education. To be educated is to be human because you're always exploring. But I don't have any faith in schools at the moment; they're just factories for churning people out."

Maxine Williams, 24, from Invergordon

"I worry that unemployment will continue to rise, leaving no jobs for my children [Summer, three, Elsie, two, and Mason, three months] when they grow up. A lot of my friends have been through higher education and are still unable to find decent jobs. There are a lot of people out of work here already, and I'm worried about what impact the recession will have later down the line."