{"id":1472905,"date":"2022-05-12T10:44:40","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T14:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1472905"},"modified":"2022-05-12T10:44:45","modified_gmt":"2022-05-12T14:44:45","slug":"not-your-grandsons-gen-z-5-surprising-findings-from-americas-top-poll-of-young-americans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/not-your-grandsons-gen-z-5-surprising-findings-from-americas-top-poll-of-young-americans\/","title":{"rendered":"Not Your Grandson\u2019s Gen Z: 5 Surprising Findings From America\u2019s Top Poll Of Young Americans"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnot-your-grandsons-gen-z-5-surprising-findings-from-americas-top-poll-of-young-americans%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1472905&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/05\/Harvard-scaled.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>The conventional wisdom says that young people in the United States are more progressive than their parents and grandparents \u2014 and that is likely still true on many issues. But America\u2019s younger cohorts have a few viewpoints that may take some by surprise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In a national poll of 18 to 29-year-olds from the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/iop.harvard.edu\/youth-poll\/spring-2022-harvard-youth-poll\"><span>Institute of Politics at Harvard University\u2019s Kennedy School<\/span><\/a><span>, young people still show a strong degree of support for left-wing policies and positions. Yet they also buck expectations on a wide variety of social and economic issues \u2014 everything from education to President Joe Biden.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Here are some unexpected positions that many young Americans currently hold.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Biden\u2019s Underwater Approval Rating<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span>President Joe Biden\u2019s approval rating among young people \u2014 as with other demographics in the United States \u2014 is abysmally low.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Harvard poll revealed that only 41% of young people approve of Biden\u2019s work \u2014 even though 46% approved of Biden as recently as the fall of 2021. Overall, Biden\u2019s approval rating among young people has plummeted 18% since the spring of 2021 \u2014 when it sat at a robust 59%.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While 70% of young Democrats support Biden \u2014 still down 5% since the fall \u2014 only 11% of Republicans view the commander-in-chief favorably. The largest drop was seen among independent voters, whose approval of Biden is at 33% \u2014 a 6% drop from just a few months ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Thirty-six percent of young people cite \u201cineffectiveness\u201d as their reason for disliking Biden, 14% believe he is \u201cnot following through on campaign promises,\u201d and 10% say he is \u201cnot sharing my values.\u201d Only 13% believe that America is on the right track, while 49% think the opposite.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Meanwhile, 40% of young Democrats and 21% of young Republicans \u201cwant to see and hear more from President Biden.\u201d Surprisingly, independents show the lowest desire to hear more from Biden \u2014 with only 18% affirming the statement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What could be driving Biden\u2019s low popularity among young people? While a slim majority approve of Biden\u2019s approach to COVID-19, 46% approve of his handling of the Ukraine crisis, and a mere 34% approve of his economic performance.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Critical Race Theory<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span>Even as young people find themselves with conservatives on parental rights, they still support the teaching of progressive views in government schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Half of the respondents were asked about their level of agreement with the statement that they \u201cwould vote for a candidate who supports K-12 public schools teaching that racism \u2014 intentional or not \u2014 is a fixture of American laws and institutions.\u201d The other half were asked if they \u201cwould vote for a candidate who supports K-12 public schools teaching critical race theory.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Even when considering the question\u2019s wording, the results remain the same as the parental rights question \u2014 a two-to-one split. On the former question, 46% agree and 22% disagree. On the latter \u2014 the question that mentioned Critical Race Theory \u2014 it was 44% against 22%.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The partisan divide was more significant with this question as well. On the Critical Race Theory version of the question, 63% of young Democrats agree \u2014 alongside 22% of young Republicans and 38% of young independents.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Student Loan Debt<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span>Almost all of the young Americans surveyed agree that something must be done about the student loan crisis. However, their preferred approaches vary dramatically.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A plurality of respondents \u2014 38% \u2014 favor outright cancellation of student loans, while 27% agree with the government offering \u201crepayment options without any debt cancellation.\u201d 21% favor \u201cdebt cancellation for those with the most need.\u201d Only 13% believe that the government should stick with its current policy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Overall, 83% of young people likely to vote in the 2022 midterms \u2014 as well as 79% of those who are not yet in college and without a degree \u2014 support government intervention on student debt. The partisan divide on the matter is noticeable, with 43% of Democrats favoring outright cancellation for all and only 13% of Republicans favoring the same.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Young people also had a surprisingly low view of college education. While 48% agree with the statement that \u201cgoing to college is worth the time and money,\u201d only 18% strongly agree and 26% disagree. A mere 62% of college students and 61% of college graduates agree that their education was worthwhile.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Parental Control Over Education<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span>Most would associate school choice with conservatives and a dogmatic love for government schools with liberals. In any case, young people broadly want parents running the show on the education of their own children.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Forty-six percent of poll respondents agree with the statement that \u201cparents should have more control over their children\u2019s education than they do now,\u201d while only 23% disagreed \u2014 a two-to-one margin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Young Republicans were far more in support of parents being in control of their child\u2019s education, with 64% agreeing and 14% disagreeing. But a plurality of young Democrats agree as well \u2014 with 35% approving the statement and 31% disapproving. Independent and unaffiliated young voters also show a high level of support for parental rights in education, with 44% agreeing and 20% disagreeing.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Poor Mental Health<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span>Sadly, American young people are most united according to education, race, and geography around their poor mental health.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The survey shows that 52% of young Americans reported feeling \u201cdown, depressed, or hopeless\u201d for several days or more in the past two weeks. At least 50% of every subgroup of the aforementioned categories indicated some level of symptoms. Young women, however, were more likely than men to report these symptoms \u2014 59% and 44%, respectively. Democrats were more likely to report the symptoms than Republicans \u2014 56% and 41%, respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The young Americans who were most likely to report wanting to hurt themselves or thinking they are \u201cbetter off dead\u201d were those identifying as \u201cLGBTQ,\u201d with 39% displaying such tendencies. Tied for second place \u2014 35% \u2014 were young African-Americans and people in a \u201cbad\u201d financial position.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Overall, 28% of young Americans expressed these negative sentiments \u2014 a slight improvement from the same time last year. Accordingly, 72% of Americans \u2014 including 76% of Democrats and 72% of Republicans \u2014 affirm that \u201cthe United States has a mental health crisis.\u201d Only 6% disagreed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>How do young Americans address their feelings of depression or hopelessness? Fifty percent spend time outside, 47% seek the support of family and friends, and 43% participate in sports or exercise. Thirty-eight percent were interested in professional help \u2014 followed by 29% interested in meditation, 26% in prescription medication, 18% in church or religion, 18% in alcohol or drugs, and 8% in support from authority figures.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The conventional wisdom says that young people in the United States are more progressive than their parents and grandparents \u2014 and that is likely still true on many issues. But<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":1482721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1472905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1472905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1472905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1472905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1482721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1472905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1472905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1472905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}