A new poll has found that for voters under 30, the nation’s financial struggles remain the top issue heading into this election, with 31% naming inflation as a key factor in how they will vote.
The results come from the new NBC News Stay Tuned Gen Z poll, which also found that inflation was almost three times more of an issue than the next highest concern, “threats to democracy,” which received 11%.
Other top concerns shared by young voters include abortion at number three, with 9% selecting it as the nation’s biggest issue, followed by the Israel-Hamas war and crime and safety, both of which received 8%.
The poll highlighted the growing concern that young voters have with inflation, no matter their party affiliation.
About 7 in 10 young voters expressed that their debt has caused them to delay at least one major life milestone, with 38% specifically naming buying a home as that milestone.
The poll also found that 84% of young voters think buying a home is harder to achieve than it was for their parent’s generation, including 64% who said it was much harder.
Other major life milestones named by respondents included buying a car (36%), saving for retirement (33%), and moving out of their hometown (32%).
Another 25% said that their current debt has even put off their plans of starting a family.
Regarding how voters under 30 view this administration’s handling of the economy over the last year, only 20% say the national economy has gotten better, while 56% say it’s gotten worse. Around 22% say it’s stayed the same.
As for personal financial situations, 34% said they saw improvement compared to 36% who saw things get worse and 10% who saw everything stay the same.
The survey was conducted from Aug. 23-30 and included responses from 2,617 registered voters ages 18-29 years old. There is a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.