Majority of Young Voters in all Racial Groups say Immigration is making the Economy Worse
By Manzanita Miller
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Texas Insider Report) — The latest Harvard Youth Poll has some troubling news for Democrats, and reveals President Joe Biden has lost significant ground with voters under 30 – including a 20-point decline among young men – compared to four years ago. While young Americans give Biden low marks on foreign policy and economic issues – including inflation, housing, and the job market – immigration is a leading factor in young people’s movement away from the Democrat Party.
Biden leads Trump by 13 percent (50% to 37%) among Registered Voters under 30 in the poll, a slightly higher margin than he has led by in other recent polls that include young people as a subset.
Biden leads by just eight points (45% to 37%) with 16% undecided among Americans under 30 – with no screen for voter registration.Among those classified as "Likely Voters," Biden’s lead rises to nineteen points – 56% to 37%.
These numbers are significantly lower than Biden’s lead in the Harvard Youth Poll conducted in the spring of 2020, when Biden led Trump by 23 points among young people in general (51% to 28%,) and by 30 points (60% to 30%) among young likely voters.
The poll shows much of this decline in support for Joe Biden is concentrated among young men.
- Among men under 30, Biden went from a 26-point lead in 2020, to a mere 6% lead in the current poll.
- Young women’s support for Biden has remained fairly stable, with a 33-point lead today comparing to a 35-point lead in 2020.
Just 32% of men under 30 identify as Democrats, down from 42% in 2020, a ten-point decline. Over the same period, the share of young men identifying as Republican has increased 9% – from 20% in 2020 to 29% today. Among young women, Democrats gained six points.
According to the poll, young men shifting away from Democrats may have less to do with an objection to entitlement programs and government intervention, and more to do with a distrust of Democrats’ handling of issues like immigration.
While the press release for the poll mentions the gender gap, it also said that,
“While party ID and self-identified ideology show younger men shifting from Democrat to Republican, and from liberal to conservative — their views on the role of government have not changed as dramatically.”
The release goes on to indicate that a majority of young men still support government attempts to reduce poverty and subsidized healthcare.
Young men’s economic views may not have shifted significantly on certain entitlement programs, but they have shifted on a metric that may be more important to the average 20-something than it was in previous years – immigration.
Over half of young men (51%) say immigration is a more important issue to them than all others.The poll asked, “thinking about the major issues facing the United States today, please tell me which of the following two is more important to you: Immigration vs. All others” – and over half of young men said immigration was the most important.
Young men also say – by a margin of 37% to 10% – that immigration has made the U.S. economy worse as well.
Interestingly, young women agree by a smaller margin, saying 31% to 9% that immigration has worsened the economy.
Majorities of all racial groups among young voters say that immigration is making the economy worse:
- young whites saying so by a margin of 41% to 7%
- young Hispanics say so by a margin of 26% to 13%, and
- young Blacks say so by a margin of 24% to 7%
Democrats are losing double-digits with young voters – especially young men – and while polling young people on their views on Entitlement Programs may not explain the loss, polling on immigration does.
Biden’s border disaster has created strong pushback from young Americans, and young men say the border is more important than a slew of other prominent issues leading into November.
Manzanita Miller is an Associate Analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
