VOICES OF THE FUTURE: Young People’s Perspectives on Political Inclusion - A Review by Victor P. Karunan

Editor's note: Last week we published "Are We On Mute?", a survey of youth attitudes to politics conducted by UNICEF USA and the Harris Poll. We asked Victor Karunan, as our expert on youth issues, to review the study, as we felt that the findings could be important not just for readers in the US, but also for other countries.  Many thanks to Victor for his keen insights and expert advice.

A Review Prepared by UNICEF USA by the Harris Poll

by Victor P. Karunan, Bangkok, Thailand

This is a short review of the UNICEF USA sponsored Harris Poll conducted in May 2024. The overall purpose of this research was to poll young people’s views and perspectives on the political process in the USA leading up to the Presidential Elections in November 2024. The survey was conducted between April-May 2024 among 3,194 teens/young adults – including 1,598 aged 14 to 17 years.

The online poll covered the following key topic areas: ♣ Issues of greatest importance and concern ♣ Attitudes toward and expectations for the future ♣ Degree to which young people feel represented ♣ Degree to which young people have engaged in the political process ♣ How well young people feel their experiences are reflected ♣ Identifying the ways which system change is needed to be more representative of young people.

Reviewing the survey report, the following are some of the Key Messages that I feel are important and needs attention:

STATE OF THE COUNTRY

Young People in the USA are growing up in a state of “stacked crisis” – including, among others, inflation and economic recession; crime rates; political divisiveness; losing jobs, etc.

Young people say issues spanning the “cost of living/housing crisis” (60%), to “immigration and global conflict” (39% and 35% respectively) are the most important facing the country today – yet half or more say politicians are not giving enough attention to any of these top problems.

CHILDREN AND POLITICS

A majority of young people (81%) say “people in positions of power don’t really care about what young people have to say” and 73% say their “opinions don’t matter to elected officials”

53% feel “excluded from the US political process”, inspite of the fact that 52% are making efforts to talk to adults about how they should vote

Only 27% say “adults in their community think about their needs when voting or that local leaders think about the issues impacting them when making decisions”

Only 38% feel like “people in political power are invested in their future”, and only 31% agree that “people in power are making decisions with their best interests in mind”.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS – NOVEMBER 2023

Nearly a quarter of young people who say they aren’t voting (or wouldn’t) in November 2024 say it’s because “they don’t think their vote matters, people running don’t have their best interest in mind, or they don’t trust the people running for office” (23% each)

GENDER

Only a quarter of young women (27%) feel included in the U.S. political process, compared to one third (33%) of young men. 78% of young women think the country is on the wrong track and 70% have a negative outlook for society in the future (vs. 71% and 64% young men

RACE/ETHNICITY

Few young people feel included in the U.S. political process, however multiracial respondents are less likely to feel included than any other respondents of a single race/ethnicity (16% multiracial vs. 25% white, 28% Black, 31% Hispanic, 27% Asian).

Majorities across race/ethnicities believe that their opinions do not matter to elected officials, with significant agreement from Multiracial (80%) and white (76%) respondents compared to 71% Asian, 65% Black, and 64% Hispanic respondents

Most young people say the most important issue facing the country is cost of living/housing crisis (60% white, 54% Hispanic, 64% Asian, 75% Multiracial), however gun violence is the top issue for young Black people (58%). The order of the top issues varies across race/ethnicity, however young Black people are the only group to report identity-based discrimination (45%) in their top 5, while Asian and Hispanic young people note climate change (43%, 50% respectively).

YOUNG PEOPLES AS CHANGE-MAKERS

A majority (80%) of young people agree that they “think people their age can make a difference and that they wish there were more young people in positions of power” (79%)

Two thirds (64%) of young people engage politically in some kind of way, with most utilizing social media to be politically active.

The impetus behind young people’s engagement lies in the impact it has on others and their community (53%), while civic duty (55%) and the opportunity to make a difference (39%) are top motivators for wanting to vote.

A few comments on the demographics and the implications of this survey.

The survey sample of children and young people surveyed is comprehensive and well selected across the geographical, political and ethnic landscape of the USA. However, I did note that in relation to the breakdown of survey participants in relation to race and ethnicity – more than half (50%) were white, followed by Hispanic (25%), Black (14%), Asian (6%), Native American Indian/Alaskan Native (1%) and multi-race (5%). The low rate of participation of Asian and Native American Indian/Alaskan Native and multi-racial young people is noteworthy, including the reasons for the same.

In terms of “political leanings” more than half of the total young people survey were either Democrat (29%) or Republican (28%). The rate of Independent (29%), Other (whatever that means???) (4%) and I’m not sure (16%) is also striking. This implies that the political divide among young people in the USA is more-or-less equally divided between those who support traditional political parties (Democrats and Republicans) and those that remain independent, “other” (?)”, or not sure.

The timing of this youth survey is excellent given the political developments of the past weeks in the USA and the euphoria generated by Kamala Harris’ nomination and acceptance of the Democratic nomination for the Presidency of the USA. One only hopes that whatever may be the outcomes of the Presidential elections in November, these views and concerns of young people in the United States today will be respected, listened to and taken into account in shaping the future of US politics. Perhaps a new generation of politicians are in the making and a new era of political morals and ethics inspired by the young voices will shape US politics in the future. The looming dangers of “going back” is just too alarming to imagine, not just for the USA, but for the entire world. It is time that US politics crosses the threshold of “one step forward – two steps back” which has been the norm over so many years. One can only hope that “common sense” will prevail.