Are you concerned about the future of our country? If so, you’re not alone.
More than two-thirds of young adults in the United States say that they are more fearful than they are hopeful about America’s future, according to a new poll out of Harvard University.
The Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics (IOP) released this week it’s Fall 2017 youth poll, a national poll of America’s 18- to 29-year-olds.
The poll is part of the Harvard Public Opinion Project, which has conducted two polls a year of young Americans since 2000 in order to understand their public opinions, voting trends and views on public service.
Not only are young adults fearful of the America’s future, they actively think the country is headed on the wrong track. More than fifty-percent of those polled said the country is headed in the wrong direction, compared to 14 percent of young Americans who say we’re on the right path.
Making a turn to the right track might mean changing congressional leadership. Less than a year before the 2018 midterm elections, 65 percent of young Americans said they would prefer to see Democratic control of Congress, versus 33 percent who prefer Republicans to be in charge.
“American political institutions are at a tipping point,” said John Della Volpe, IOP polling director, in a statement. “Millennials are now the largest generation in the electorate. This poll and the Virginia election show that they are becoming more motivated — and I believe the fear that exists today about our future will soon be turned into the fuel that will reform our government. The only question is whether this comes from inside or outside the traditional party structure.”
The poll also found that President Donald Trump’s approval rating has taken a dive: Trump’s job approval rating sits at 25 percent, a 7-point decrease since Harvard’s Spring poll.
That disapproval isn’t limited to Democrats, either. Among young Republicans specifically, two-thirds approve of Trump’s presidential performance, which is a 12-point drop since the spring.
Young adults also weighed in on what they see as threats facing America, but according to 67 percent of them, the greatest threats come from inside our country, rather than from international forces.
When asked about the biggest threats, the top answers included President Trump, “ourselves,” and racism.
See more of the poll’s findings at iop.harvard.edu/youth-poll/fall-2017-poll.
