Young people continue to face a series of structural and informational barriers to voting, but many youth were also disinterested in the election or dissatisfied with the candidates on the ballot, according to a new poll conducted by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life.
CIRCLE is the preeminent nonpartisan research center on young people’s civic learning and engagement. Its new poll of young Americans, ages 18-34, provides some of the earliest comprehensive data about the attitudes and experiences of young people who did not vote in 2024, when CIRCLE estimates that .
Key findings from poll include:
- Barriers to engagement remain: More than 1 in 3 young people, and 59% of youth who didn’t vote, were never contacted about the election by any organization or campaign
- Disinterest and dissatisfaction: 20% of youth who didn’t vote said it wasn’t important to them, and 24% said they didn’t like the candidates on the ballot
- Issues, not influencers: The top motivation among youth who voted was having an impact on the issues they care about, and less than 1% said they voted because of influencers or celebrities
- Economy key for voters and nonvoters: Inflation was the top issue, and young people who did not vote were even more likely to prioritize economic issues than youth who voted
- Diverse issue concerns: Healthcare, abortion, climate change, and immigration were cited as top-3 issues by more than 20% of young people
- Struggling financially: More than 40% of youth, and 62% of young nonvoters, sometimes or often find it difficult to meet basic financial needs.
The full initial analysis of CIRCLE’s data, which includes breakdowns by race/ethnicity, gender, and education, is available at the link below.
Youth Wanted Action on Issues, But Were Turned Off By Candidates
The CIRCLE data shows that young people choose to participate in elections for a wide range of reasons. Nearly half (46%) said one of their primary motivations was to take action on issues they care about. Forty percent said they feel a responsibility to vote, which underscores that many young people take their civic duty seriously.
Despite their interest in voting, some youth continue to face structural, informational, and logistical barriers to participating in elections. Fourteen percent of youth missed their registration deadline, and 12% said they didn’t know how to register or had trouble with forms. Among youth who didn’t vote, 14% said they didn’t have enough information about the process or the candidates, and 11% had trouble with absentee or in-person voting.
However, the most commonly cited reasons why youth did not vote were because it wasn’t important to them (20%) or because they did not like any of the candidates (24%). That suggests deeper issues with youth participation that go beyond whether they’re seeing campaign ads or getting phone calls from campaigns.
“This analysis makes clear that we’re still not doing a good enough job as a society ensuring that all young people understand the value and importance of their vote–and that they have the information, tools and access to exercise that right,” said Dayna Cunningham, Pierre and Pamela Omidyar Dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life. “And we must ask whether our political institutions are being responsive enough to young people’s interests and priorities so that they’ll feel excited about their options at the ballot box.”
The Economy Looms Large for Financially Struggling Youth
The economy, especially the cost of living and inflation, was far and away young people’s biggest issue: 64% named it one of their top three concerns. Other economic issues, like healthcare (27%) and jobs (25%) were also top of mind for youth, alongside abortion (27%), climate change (26%), and immigration (24%).
Economic concerns were key to motivating voters to cast ballots in 2024, but they were even bigger priorities for youth who did not vote. Seventy-five percent of youth who did not vote named inflation/cost of living and 40% named jobs/unemployment as top-3 priorities, compared to 61% and 22%, respectively, among youth who cast ballots.
Polling data suggests the economy may have also served as a barrier to voting for the significant percentage of young people who say they are struggling financially. Forty-three percent of all youth reported that they sometimes or often find it difficult to meet their basic financial needs. Among youth who didn’t vote, that number was 62%.
“Our recent research shows that when young people are struggling, mentally or financially, that can negatively impact their participation in our democracy,” said Kelly Siegel-Stechler, CIRCLE’s associate director for research. “We need to look holistically at young people’s lives and circumstances, and address some of these deeper challenges, if we want to support the civic engagement of all youth.”
CIRCLE will continue to publish findings based on this post-election survey throughout 2025, and to share insights with organizations in order to inform their efforts to reach and engage youth. CIRCLE experts, including the authors of this analysis, are available for interviews to discuss this research.
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