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Data: Harvard Youth Poll, Fall 2026; Chart: Emily Peck/Axios Nearly two in three U.S. adults younger than 30 who plan to vote in next month's congressional midterm elections say their main motivation is to oppose President Trump and his policies, according to a newly released Harvard Youth Poll . The big picture: Seventy-seven percent of respondents disapprove of the president's handling of the economy, including about half of young Republicans. And just 9% say the U.S. is headed in the right direction — the lowest in the survey's history. Why it matters: Economic populism is driving emotions, along with concerns about war, AI, billionaires, deportation tactics, social policies and corruption. Majorities of respondents support Medicare for All, a wealth tax and bans on congressional stock trading. What we're watching: Just one in three Americans ages 18-29 say they'll definitely vote — a substantial drop from 40% who said so in 2022. Notably, most of that drop is driven by Republicans. Only 34% of Republican respondents said they'll definitely vote, down from 46%; 50% of young Democrats say they'll definitely vote, essentially unchanged. Just 22% of independents they'll definitely vote, down from 26%. Data: Harvard Youth Poll; Chart: Emily Peck/Axios Zoom in: Topping the list of what young people consider serious threats to their long-term financial security: rising prices and the cost of living (79%), followed by the power of large corporations (68%) and trade wars (68%). Nearly half said their household is struggling to make ends meet or getting by with limited financial security. By the numbers: 63% say their votes for U.S. House or Senate will be cast in opposition to Trump, while 14% say they're motivated by support of the president and 17% say he's not a factor. Two-thirds disapprove of the job Democrats are doing in Congress; 74% disapprove of congressional Republicans' performance. Stunning stats: For the first time in the poll's history, the share of young adults who said they expect to be worse off than their parents (27%) slightly exceeded the share who said they expect to be better off (25%). The difference was within the poll's margin of error, but the longer-term trend is striking. In fall 2021, 39% expected to be better off than their parents, while just 17% expected to be worse off. When Harvard first asked the question, only to college students, in 2003, 74% believed they'd be better off than their parents. In this recent poll only 28% believed it. When asked if they're more hopeful or fearful about America's future, fear (69%) outweighs hope (26%) by more than two to one. What they're saying: "At the beginning of adulthood, younger people should be able to see a path from hard work to a secure life, and the big question is whether that promise still holds," John Della Volpe, director of polling at Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics, said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday. Methodology: The Harvard Youth Poll was conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 7, 2026, by the Harvard Public Opinion Project (HPOP) with Ipsos' KnowledgePanel®. It is based on a probability-based sample of 2,024 18-to-29-year-olds. The margin of sampling error is +/-2.61% for results based on the entire sample of adults; +/- 3.19% for the sample of registered voters; and +/-4.30% for the sample of those who plan to "definitely" or are likely to vote.

Independents are now the largest bloc of American voters, and their views on immigration, energy costs and AI don't fit either party's platform.