Half of Gen Z members have "very little" trust in the presidency and the government, poll shows

SEATTLE - People born from 1997 to 2012, commonly known as Gen Z, say they have "very little" trust in the presidency, according to a recent poll conducted by the Gallup-Walton Family Foundation.

A little over half of those surveyed (51%) said they have very little trust in presidency, a 4 point increase compared to 2023.

When compared to the other two branches of the U.S. government, Gen Z respondents trust Congress the least, with 53% saying they have very little trust in it.

Although the survey was conducted in April and May, before Kamala Harris announced her candidacy, researcher Zach Hrynowski said the poll revealed that voting-age members of Gen Z have less trust in most institutions than middle and high school aged members of the group.

When talking to the youth caucus at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Harris' running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said in a speech that the election "is going to be close." "It's going to be won in the trenches. It's going to be won by your demographic, for the most part, if we can turn you out and get you to vote."

Since announcing her candidacy, Harris has been significantly more popular among America's youngest voters than President Biden. Before Biden dropped out of the race, former president Donald Trump had appeared to make small gains with traditionally blue young voters.

During the 2020 election, Gen Z and millennial voters were key to Biden's victory, favoring him by 20 points according to a Pew Research Center analysis.

In a survey conducted by Axios/Generation Lab poll last month, 45 percent of young people said they have an extremely or somewhat favorable opinion of Harris, while only 34 percent of respondents felt the same with Trump.

In a Biden-Trump race, the split among 18- to 34-year-olds was 53 percent for Biden and 47 percent for Trump, giving Biden a 6-point lead. But in a Harris-Trump contest, the same respondents split 60 percent for Harris and 40 percent for Trump.

According to data from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), during the 2024 presidential elections, 40.8 million members of Gen Z (ages 18-27 in 2024) will be eligible to vote, including 8.3 million newly eligible youth (ages 18-19 in 2024).

"Gen Z is one of the most progressive generations that we've seen," said Charles Horowitz, a Florida delegate at the Democratic National Convention. "But Gen Z has not voted so we need to make our voices heard and make elected officials realize that they are accountable to us and that we are going to be the change we wish to see," he added.