High-profile social issues have been a major driver in youth engagement in recent election years, according to a May report from CIRCLE.

A poll by CIRCLE, a research group attached to Tufts University, found that a staggering 78% of Asian-Americans aged between 18 and 29 supported Mr Biden in 2020, 20 points more than young voters nationally.

Twenty seven percent, compared with 5% in 2016, of young adults indicated that they had participated in street protests, and more than half responded that they had actively worked to encourage their peers to vote. Eighty three percent said that they believe young people have the power to change the country.

In the 2018 midterms, 28.2 percent of Americans under 30 voted, according to a CIRCLE analysis. Democrats made broad gains in the House and in governor’s races that fall.

Young voters overwhelmingly cited climate change as one of their three top issues, said CIRCLE Deputy Director Abby Kiesa. And those who prioritized it exhibited what she called a “high civic readiness” — a likelihood to be involved in local and national organizations.

"We have seen two important election cycles in a row where young people have been leading," says Abby Kiesa, CIRCLE's deputy director.

"It is not remotely unusual for economic issues, debt, to be top of mind for young Republicans," said Abby Kiesa, who has been polling young Americans for over a decade and is the deputy director of CIRCLE.

Young voters proved pivotal for Biden in key swing states with narrow margins of victory like Arizona, Georgia and Michigan, according to Tufts University’s Tisch College Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

Pennsylvania tops the Youth Electoral Significance Index, given its above average youth voter registration and turnout rates. According to CIRCLE, President Biden garnered 127,000 more votes among the youth than Donald Trump in a race decided by fewer than 35,000 ballots.

CIRCLE Director Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg spoke on the anniversary of the January 6 Capitol insurrection about its effects on young people's political participation and views of democracy.

Half of young people ages 18 to 29 voted in 2020, according to research from Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts (CIRCLE).

“It’s become more normal or normative to have a political voice,” said CIRCLE Director Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg. “It’s an advantage for a candidate like Michelle Wu who really did build community and had a very young campaign team that wasn’t made of seasoned 50-year-olds.”