This article was co-written by Joy Ashford and Henry Austin.
It’s hard to talk about politics with young Americans without hearing three words: “big, structural change.” While some pundits brush off young people’s frustration as adolescent rebellion or unrealistic idealism, their calls for change are in fact increasingly specific and the result of the tangible impacts failed policies have had on their lives
According to the Harvard Public Opinion Project’s most recent survey, less than 10% of Americans ages 18 to 29 believe that “our government is working as it should.” Particularly, young people express concern about debt and health care: 21% of them are already facing debt that “significantly affects important life decisions,” and 45% of them are anxious about their ability to access health care when they need it, figures that help illuminate which specific structures are at the forefront of worried young Americans’ minds. Young Americans don’t just want “structural change” because it’s a cool Twitter hashtag: They want their healthcare and college debt policies to change because their lives depend on it.
Health Care Access
The HPOP data is clear: Young Americans are worried about their health care. A startling 45% of poll respondents said they were concerned about accessing medical care during an emergency, and an equal percentage were similarly worried about access to mental health care. In contrast, only a third of respondents expressed no concern about access to health care. Confidence in the reliability of the current health care system certainly seems to be the minority opinion. It comes as no surprise, then, that many young people support large-scale overhauls of the system, including the implementation of a single-payer system like Medicare for All. A growing majority of young people see such policies as necessary to fixing a currently inadequate system.
Concern extends across party lines and differences in educational background; however, health care access itself is divided sharply across racial lines, making it apparent that our health care system fails minority youth communities the most. Young White Americans are split nearly evenly regarding worry over access to health care, in contrast to their Black and Hispanic counterparts, a 2:1 majority of whom expressed such anxieties.
Data from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic confirms that young Black and Hispanic respondents’ concerns were well-founded. Communities with large Black and Hispanic populations, from New York to Wisconsin, have both the highest concentration of COVID-19 patients and the highest rates of COVID-19 fatalities. Clearly, the pandemic is only exacerbating pre-existing problems of disparate health care access and equity.
It’s easy to see, then, why young Black Americans are much more likely (52% agree versus 20% disagree) to believe that their health will be impacted as a result of the state of politics than their white counterparts (39% agree versus 30% disagree), though a plurality of both groups share that apprehension. In other words, many young people feel that their health is on the line at the voting booth — and politicians seeking the youth vote should pay attention to both the prevalence of anxiety over access to health care and the particular communities who are worried the most.
Student Loan Debt
In addition to the current healthcare system, debt emerged as a key facet of young people’s concerns. Amidst a student debt crisis and lack of governmental action in recent decades, 57% of HPOP respondents said they were burdened by debt and one-fifth said it “significantly impacts their life decisions.” This burden must be immense, since 85% of young Americans agree that major government action on student loan debt alleviation — cancelling all or some student loan debt — is necessary. Individuals who reported being most impacted by debt were more likely to favor bold, transformative action, such as “cancelling student debt for everyone.” This finding shows that young people are driven to support bold action as the result of policy failures that impact their daily lives.
Like health care access, the impact of debt is divided along racial lines. Young Black Americans were more likely to have debt and have it impact their lives in significant ways (66% have debt versus 57% of White respondents). They were also more likely to support cancelling all student loan debt than their white counterparts (46% vs 30%). Governmental inaction has left communities of color more vulnerable in times of economic crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing economic inequalities, like disproportionate levels of student loan debt, will make widespread unemployment and economic recession all the more difficult for them to weather. Canceling student loan debt, then, feels imperative for many Americans.
Takeaways
The HPOP data reiterates an idea Amercians have heard often during the 2020 primary season: Young people are struggling. And among the 50% of respondents who agreed with that sentiment (double the number who disagreed), 60% also say we need to replace and create new institutions to address the challenges they’re facing.
When America’s youth say they need change, they have specific demands. Facing a health care system which they do not trust and burdened by restrictive amounts of student loan debt, they want action. And without it, crises like COVID-19 will leave many young Americans stranded without institutions they perceive as reliable, lacking confidence in systems on which their survival depends. In 2020, Millenial and Gen Z voters are poised to comprise nearly 40% of the electorate and will be a force to be reckoned with this November. Their concerns, dissatisfaction with the status quo, and calls for action must be taken seriously by policymakers and candidates seeking to earn their vote and represent them in office.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / kelly bell photography