A new national poll finds young people under enormous economic stress, with little faith that government, elections, or national leadership will serve them. The 52nd Youth Poll run by the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School, reveals most 18–29-year-olds feel the nation is heading in the wrong direction, with low approval for President Trump and Congress. Young people lean Democratic ahead of the November midterms, but just a third believe elections will be conducted fairly.
We share key takeaways from the poll below; they capture young Americans relatively bleak political and economic outlook in challenging times.
- Low hope for the nation, low trust in government: Just 15% of young Americans trust the government to do the right thing all or most of the time—the lowest recorded level in more than a quarter-century of polling. Just 13% feel the country is headed in the right direction, and just one in four young Americans feel hopeful about the nation’s future (down from 55% in 2021).
- Low approval for President Trump and Congress: Just one in four young Americans approve of President Trump, and approval is low for both Congressional Democrats (26%) and Republicans (25%).
- Distrust of politicians and low agency: Young Americans believe both Democrats and Republicans care more about elites than people like them (Republicans by 41 points, Democrats by 11 points), and two thirds of youth say elected officials are motivated by selfish reasons. Half of young Americans agree that “people like me don’t have any say about what the government does” (an increase of 15 points from 2017).
- Democratic leaning, but little trust in fair elections: Many young people indicate support for Democrats in a generic congressional ballot, but just 35% say they will “definitely” vote, and just 33% trust elections will be conducted fairly. Democrats are far more likely to say they’ll vote (55%) compared to Republicans (35%) and independents (25%).
- Economic crisis: Roughly half of young Americans say that inflation is an urgent national crisis (46%) that personally affects them “a lot” (50%). A full 45% of youth say they’re either struggling to make ends meet or have little financial security. Just 29% of young Americans expect to be better off economically than their parents.
- Disapproval for the war in Iran: Most youth felt that military action in Iran is not in the best interest of Americans, feel uneasy about such action without Congressional approval (63%), and worry it will escalate into a larger war (72%) or impact the cost of living (71%).
- Clear preferences on U.S.-international alliances: When asked if partnerships with other countries were a benefit or a burden, young Americans described neighboring countries and economic allies as beneficial and relationships tied to military conflict as burdensome. Young Americans felt positively about the United States’ relationships with Canada (53% benefit), the European Union (45% benefit) and Mexico (40% benefit), but less so about the United States’ relationship with Ukraine (31% burden) and Israel (46% burden).
- Concern with executive power: When a neutral national leader declares something a national emergency, 28% of young Americans feel that represents an urgent crisis—but when President Trump declares a national emergency, that number drops to just 12%. (Young people are more likely to name rising prices, inflation, and the cost of housing as urgent national crises.) Even in the case of a national emergency, most young Americans resist expansions of executive power. A majority say it would be unacceptable for the president to bypass Congress (53%) after declaring a national emergency, to defy or ignore a court order (62%), to revoke a person’s citizenship (56%), or to override state and local decisions (51%) during that time.
These results represent the views of over 2,000 young people; ahead of the November midterms, they reveal a cohort that is focused on economic challenge, distrustful of government, and unconvinced that their voices matter in politics. The full results of the poll are available on the IOP website.
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