Young people belong to movements, engage in protests, and advocate for issues. But there’s a disconnect between their economic concerns and struggles, and their capacity to engage in democracy.
In several states, youth in rural communities participated at a higher rate than their urban / suburban peers in the 2024 election.
Lack of information, educational inequities, and financial struggles shaped youth participation in the past election.
On the other hand, social media companies, major political parties, and Congress are among young people’s least trusted institutions.
As young people increasingly get political information on social media, they need media literacy skills to help navigate what they read—and vote.
Major inequities in youth voting by state, race, gender, and age subgroups continue to plague efforts to build a representative democracy.
Our new study finds three distinct profiles of democratic attitudes among youth, with major implications for strengthening youth engagement and protecting democracy.
Initial findings from CIRCLE’s post-election youth poll highlight diverse barriers and a focus on economic issues among youth who didn’t vote
Young voters backed Harris overall but shifted toward Trump compared to 2020, especially white youth and young men
