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According to CIRCLE’s data analysis, “many young people have not been taught about elections and voting; both the practicalities of registering and casting a ballot and the reasons why their voices and votes matter in democracy."

“I think the hope is that by putting civics in a broader assessment framework, it will get the attention and care that it deserves from the education community,” said CIRCLE Senior Researcher Kelly Siegel-Stechler.

CIRCLE research shows that Black and Latino young people created more content about the 2020 election and social issues in 2020 than their white and Asian counterparts.

“In places like Pennsylvania and Georgia and Arizona, we see that the strength of support from young people of color, in particular, can be enormously powerful on the state level,” said CIRCLE Deputy Director Abby Kiesa

Youth voter participation is generally trending upward, with 50% of young people ages 18-29 voting in the 2020 presidential election. That was likely one of the highest rates of youth electoral participation since the voting age was lowered to 18," according to CIRCLE.

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.

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.

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 people’s confidence in our system of government and the future of our country is already a major concern. We see this moment as a call to action for state and local policymakers, election officials, organizations and campaigns.