What issues determined the youth vote in 2024?
2024 just might be remembered as the election year–not just an election year and not just in the United States, but around the world. This year, more than 80 countries (representing approximately four billion people) held national elections. Here, in the United States, the voters returned former president Donald Trump to the White House by a significant margin. And the youngest eligible voters had something to do with that. Roughly 42% of 18-29 year olds voted in this election. That’s not a record. In fact, it’s down from a high of over 50% four years ago. But it’s how Gen Z voted that is most interesting.
Gen Z was more evenly split than ever, with 51% of 18-29 year olds voting for Kamala Harris and 47% voting for Donald Trump. That’s different from the 60%+ vote for the Democratic ticket from the age group that pollsters have come to expect. This could be a one-off or it could represent a fundamental change in the behavior of young voters. While it’s too early to tell which, what we can do is look back at the issues that fueled Gen Z to vote the way they did this year.
Here’s how a majority of youth voters ranked issues this election, and how that paralleled with our chapter discussions this year:
1. The Economy
40% of Gen Z voters said the “economy and jobs” was their top issue in 2024. Among those who said this, Donald Trump won a clear majority. This marks a significant shift: the fact that the number one issue for Gen Z was not a social issue reflects a major change from recent elections. It demonstrates that Gen Z has become a serious voting bloc with real political influence, and they are not unaffected by changing circumstances, such as the rising cost of living and the decreasing value of the dollar. Dozens of our chapters also hosted discussions on the economy throughout the 2024 spring and fall semesters.
2. Abortion
While economics dominated many youth votes, social issues weren’t entirely forgotten. Abortion ranked second highest in importance for 18-29 year olds. For the 13% who said this was their top issue, Kamala Harris was the overwhelming favorite. While it wasn’t enough to get her over the finish line, it’s important to know that Gen Z was the only age group for whom abortion ranked second. At BridgeUSA, we’ve seen an increase in discussions and events centered on abortion, underscoring the importance of creating spaces for civil, productive dialogue around deeply personal topics.
3. Immigration
Third on the list is immigration. About 11% of 18-29 year-olds said that immigration was their top concern. As with the other topics on this list, this is concurrent with trends of our BridgeUSA students who discussed the migration crisis at our southern border with great frequency. Our sample across campuses and in multiple states shows that young people were paying attention to issues that many previously assumed didn’t affect them. Donald Trump won the majority of young people who said this was their first concern.
What This Shows Us
At BridgeUSA, we believe that empowering young people to engage in civil dialogue creates more informed voters. At the very least, it gets them engaged. And we had a front-row seat from which to view their participation and gauge what issues were driving them to vote this year.
By creating spaces where students can discuss these pressing issues, we’re helping to bridge our divides, but we are also given the chance to examine and understand them.
Want to be part of this movement? Start a BridgeUSA chapter on your campus or donate to support our work!
