It's the anxiety, stupid: What young voters actually mean when they say economic issues are top of mind
It's not just prices. It's the feeling that things won't get better.
Earlier this month, we hosted our first in a series of 2026 x Gen Z political focus groups.
The conversation featured 11 young adults ages 19-21, which means they’re all part of Gen Z 2.0, the younger half of this generation.
They flocked from across the country — Massachusetts, North Carolina, Arizona, New York, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Florida, and Indiana — to our little corner of the internet on Google Meet.
Here’s the TL;DR.
The young Americans on the call *many of whom can vote for the first time in 2026* are fed-up by what one described as the “roller-coaster” state of our country, where conflict feels inevitable both at home and abroad. We talked about the war with Iran, artificial intelligence, gun violence, and division within both traditional political parties (which most participants want nothing to do with).
Asked the #1 issue that should decide the 2026 midterms, there was a clear consensus: ECONOMIC ANXIETY.
That phenomenon will shape how young people vote in November. This obviously, isn’t new (helloooo 2024) — but the way it’s manifesting for this cohort is slightly different than how it may be for their parents or grandparents.
While the words affordability, inflation, and cost of living get thrown around on panels of talking heads and in tv ads ahead of the midterms, the young adults we spoke to are coming at it from a slightly different angle.
For them, it’s not just about current prices. It’s how the financial squeeze and pressure of today will impact their life trajectory down the line.
They’re working multiple jobs to try to pay their way through college, spending money to help their parents get by while they should be saving up for their futures, and pulling into savings accounts that are meant to support them throughout the rest of their adult lives. As this cohort tries to kickstart the rest of their adult lives, they’re sacrificing for a future that feels anything but guaranteed.
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They’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, a fear that things might not actually get better, but forced to double down regardless, because there’s no other clear path forward.
This boils down to anxiety — about the present and the future.
Nearly every participant shared just how their personal financial situation has deteriorated in the past year especially. That matters.
Here’s some of what we heard.
