The Gen Z gender gap was one of the biggest political storylines of the past few years.
In 2024, young women voted for Kamala Harris by a 17-point margin, while young men voted for Trump by a 14-point margin. That divide ignited a whole era of attention placed on young men in America, and it’s certainly still there.
But a week out from election day, young men and young women are looking more and more united around one core issue: economic anxiety.
In a New York Times Siena poll, 0% of registered voters under 30 strongly approve of Trump’s handling of the cost of living.
Tl;dr: the gender gap is shrinking as young men, frustrated with the state of the economy, move away from President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. But that doesn’t mean they’re suddenly identifying as Democrats — even if they vote blue in 2026.
Let’s take a look at the crosstabs of last week’s Harvard Institute of Politics’ youth poll…
When it comes to who Gen Z plans to back for Congress, young men and women under 30 are pretty even, though Democrats have a slight lead with young women.
Meanwhile, when you look at their political ideology, it’s still split by gender.
Young women are still 12 points more likely to identify as liberal than young men. At the same time, men are 5 points more likely to identify as moderate and 5 points more likely to identify as conservative leaning or conservative.
To be clear: Democrats have not solved their problem with young men yet.
But… both young men and women are united in the fact that since Trump took office for his second term, they’re worse off financially. And that could drive a much more balanced youth vote in 2026.
Nearly half — 51% of young women and 46% of young men — say their personal finances have gotten “somewhat” or “much worse” in Trump’s second term.
Make no mistake about it, these economic concerns are what is bringing young men and women closer together in their vote preferences this cycle. But it doesn’t signal a permanent situation for Democrats.
Noteworthy reads & watches
Reads: Can’t Afford a Home. Can’t Afford a Baby. Can’t Afford Life. This Is 30., Troy Closson for The New York Times, Gen Z has buyer’s remorse on Trump, Andrew Prokop for Vox (featuring quotes from me!).Entire worlds are hidden inside teenagers’ phones. We asked 5 to share their screen time diaries with us., Rainesford Stauffer for Yahoo News. The Art of the City Teen Side Hustle, Dina Cheney for The New York Times. Why Andy Cohen Thinks Gen Z is Too Precious, Myles Tanzer for the Wall Street Journal.
Watches: I finished The Diplomat Season 3 and it’s as good as everyone says it is… Kerri Russell is just great. I started Nobody Wants This Season 3. Stay tuned.