Young voters swing right, then back

Between 2020 and 2024, Gen Z voters swung right by more than 20 percentage points. Now they are boomeranging back away from President Donald Trump, mainly over cost of living and economic anxiety.

Inflation tops young voters' concerns

Inflation and prices are the top concern for voters under thirty in YouGov's most important issue tracker, far above civil rights and civil liberties.

Trump's economic approval is zero

The final New York Times and Siena national poll of the midterms reported zero percent of likely voters under thirty strongly approve of Trump's performance on cost-of-living issues.

A shift from 2020 priorities

In 2020, healthcare, environment, climate change and racism topped young voters' priorities. In 2022, Gen Z was the only age group naming abortion as their top concern, ranking it twenty-three points higher than inflation.

Identity politics feels like a luxury

Just two years ago, Trump returned to the White House partly thanks to anti-woke manosphere influencers popular with young men.

Young women prioritize inflation too

Young women were actually more likely than young men to say that rising prices and inflation constitute an urgent crisis requiring immediate action, in the spring Harvard IOP youth poll.

Housing becomes a generational flashpoint

Young voters feel locked out of buying a home, but what might help reduce prices for them could be seen as a plan to reduce property values for older voters sitting on a home they…

Young people frustrated with boomer policies

Young people describe frustration with candidates focusing on policies tailored to boomers or Gen X, such as raising taxes to fund Social Security, without attention on remedies for young Americans like bringing down rent or…

Student uses loans to pay rent

A twenty-one-year-old student in Pennsylvania said he uses student loan refunds to finance daily necessities.During the school year, he relies on refunds from school to pay rent, car payment, car insurance, phone bill and internet.

“During the school year, I am relying on my refunds from school to pay my rent, to pay my car payment and car insurance, phone bill, internet, stuff like that.”

AI threatens young workers' careers

Employment among workers ages twenty-two to twenty-five in AI-exposed occupations was nineteen percent lower than it would have been had it kept pace with their less-exposed peers.

Young adults far worse off than elders

Just sixty-three percent of adults eighteen to twenty-nine said they are doing okay or living comfortably, notably lower than the eighty-three percent of adults sixty and over who say the same.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

A twenty-six-year-old teacher from Illinois said the most important thing is putting food on the table, gas in the car and a roof over your head.

“Obviously cultural and those other issues are important, but at the end of the day the most important thing is putting food on the table, gas in the car, and the roof over your head.”

Non-voters prioritize economy more

Those who did not vote in 2024 were more likely than those who did to name inflation, cost of living, jobs and unemployment among their top three priorities.

Young adults are freaking out

When voters transition from voting on social and cultural issues to voting based on economic ones, it is often said condescendingly that they are voting with their heads rather than their hearts or growing up.

“I think they're freaking out.”