While many Americans believe the country isn’t living up to its ideals, according to a new poll from Elon University in North Carolina, the data also shows that younger Americans seem to be more optimistic about the country.
Gen Z was particularly optimistic, the poll results showed. This generation was born between 1997 and 2012, so they’re between 14 and 29 years old. All 1,000 poll respondents surveyed between April 30 and March 4 of this year were over age 18.
Those in the “under 30” category had a more hopeful response to several questions compared to people in other age ranges. For example, 48% of Gen Z respondents said they believe celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the U.S. this year are more likely to bring people together than 10% who think the celebrations will deepen divisions. Just 40% of millennials age 30 to 45 said the celebrations will bring people together, and just 31% of adults age 46 and older think they will.
More Gen Z Americans also believe that the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be proud of the U.S. today than millennials or baby boomers do at 46% compared to 33% for millennials 25% for baby boomers.
Overall, most Americans ranked President Abraham Lincoln as the best president in U.S. history out of a list that included President Barack Obama, President George Washington, President Donald Trump, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and “other.” Gen Z, however, listed Obama as their top choice for best president.
Across generations, Americans gave negative scores to the current state of democracy in the U.S. Gen Z was the most likely to rank it as “excellent” but that was still at a mere 11%. At the other end of the spectrum, a 32% plurality of Gen Z rated the state of democracy as poor, compared to 46% of baby boomers. Similarly, more Gen Z said the U.S. is living up to its ideals “very successfully” at 14%, when under 10% all other age groups answered the same.
When it comes to concerns about the country, the poll also indicated that Gen Z is less likely than older age groups to worry that the U.S. is on the brink of a crisis on a daily basis. They are also more likely than older age groups to believe that the U.S. will become more unified politically by 2076 – 43% of Gen z believe this, compared to only 23% of Gen X (age 46 to 61) and boomers (age 62 and older). However, a 57% majority still expects the country to become more divided politically.
In other areas, Gen Z also has higher expectations for the U.S. than older generations. Nearly 60% expect the U.S. to be more globally influential in 2076, compared to 44% of baby boomers. More than 60% of Gen Z believe that the standard of living in the U.S. will be better 50 years from now, compared to 41% of baby boomers.
Elon University’s poll results also show that 57% of Gen Z believe that there will be more freedom for U.S. citizens in 2076, compared to 37% of baby boomers. They’re more optimistic about economic equality too, with 60% saying there will be more economic equality in 50 years, compared to 43% of baby boomers and 61% of Gen Z expecting technology to improve the quality of life, compared to 40% of baby boomers. Going forward, Gen Z was the generation most confident that U.S. institutions will make mostly good decisions in the future.
This optimism may be linked to Gen Z’s belief in their own ability to make America what it will be 50 years from now. They were the least likely to say they would have no impact on the nation and the most likely to say they would have either a great deal of or some impact on it.
One area where Gen Z and boomers have close to the same expectations is the climate, with 57% of Gen Z and 59% of baby boomers expecting more polluted air and water in the future.
“As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Americans have complex and diverse feelings about America 250,” said Jason Husser, director of the Elon University Poll and a professor of political science and public policy. “We found several points of optimism among Americans, including pride in being American and belief that the United States has a uniquely important role to play in world history. At the same time, many Americans expressed significant concern about the health of American democracy today, and the country is split on its outlook over the next 50 years.”
