Worries about the state of democracy, climate change and the pandemic have taken a hit on young people’s well-being, the survey found. Over the previous two weeks before being interviewed, 51% reported at least several days of feeling “down, depressed or hopeless,” and a fourth said they had thoughts of self-harm or of feeling “better off dead.” More than half said the pandemic had made them a different person.
In addition to the grim view of their own country’s future, the young people interviewed cited school or work (34%), personal relationships (29%), self-image (27%), economic concerns (25%), and the coronavirus (24%) as top factors on their mental health.
The sense of despair is a common theme in other polling of American adults, especially as the pandemic continues to take lives. But the deep unhappiness and pessimism displayed in the IOP poll was a startling turn in an age group that might be expected to have more hope at the early stage of their adult lives.
“It is so toxic to be a young person at this time,” Jing-Jing Shen, a Harvard junior and student chairwoman of the Harvard Public Opinion Project, told reporters in a conference call. They see that climate change is here, and or coming,” but don’t see elected officials doing enough about it, she said.
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The concerns about the future are not just “about the survival of our democracy but about our very survival on the planet,” Shen said.
Young people turned out in record numbers in 2020, IOP polling director John Della Volpe noted. Now, “young Americans are sounding the alarm,” he said. “When they look at the America they will soon inherit, they see a democracy and climate in peril – and Washington as more interested in confrontation than compromise.”
Biden’s 46% overall approval rating still slightly outweighs his 44% disapproval rating.
When young people were asked specifically about the president’s job performance, Biden was underwater, with 46% approving of how he’s doing the job as president and 51% disapproving. That compares with a 59% job approval rating Biden enjoyed in the spring 2021 poll. But he still fares better than Democrats in Congress (43% approve of their job performance and 55% disapprove) and Republicans in Congress (31% of youth approve of the job the GOP is doing and 67% disapprove).
And despite the dim view of the future of the nation’s democracy, a net 41% said Biden had improved the standing of the United States on the world stage, with 34% saying he had worsened it.
With the exception of Sen. Bernie Sanders, Vermont independent who lost the Democratic primary to Biden in 2020, the sitting president fares better than other leading political figures and potential rivals. Former President Donald Trump has the approval of 30% of youth, with 63% disapproving of him. Vice President Kamala Harris has a net favorable rating of 38%, with 41% disapproving of her; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, has a 26% approval rating and a 48% disapproval rating.
Sanders, a favorite among young voters, has the approval of 46% of 18-to-29-year-olds, with 34% disapproving of the self-described democratic socialist.
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Young people haven’t given up on Biden, the poll suggests, as 78% of Biden voters said they were satisfied with their 2020 ballots. But he has the approval of a majority of youth on just one issue: his handling of the pandemic, Shen noted. The poll found 51% approve of Biden’s approach to dealing with the health care crisis.
But on a wide range of other issues – from the economy to gun violence, health care and national security – Biden’s marks are lower.
“Young people are disappointed in how he’s done,” Shen said.
Tags: Joe Biden, polls, young voters, politics, elections, United States
Post time: Dec-02-2021
