Many of America’s young adults are unhappy and discouraged with the state of the nation – with the majority believing America’s democracy is in trouble.
President Joe Biden’s approval rating is below 50% with Americans aged 18-29, according to a Harvard Youth poll.
The poll, taken in December 2021, showed a 13% drop in Biden’s approval rating with young Americans from the spring, with a 10% drop among Democrats and a 14% drop among independents.
Biden continues to struggle with approval rates across the board as the COVID-19 pandemic surges, inflation rates rise and international conflicts loom.
However, some do approve of Biden, like Faith Wilson, a senior criminal justice major.
“I voted for Joe Biden with hopes of him protecting my rights as a woman, finding new ways to beat the student debt epidemic and opening up more opportunities for the generation above me as well as mine who are now graduating with thousands of dollars in loans, and really working to address problems that are important to me,” Wilson said.
One of the most important things to Wilson in her decision to vote for Biden was the protection of women’s rights.
“So many states are passing aggressive legislation that is meant to bar women’s access to medical care,” Wilson said. “I am more scared than I ever was before at what awaits our future as women, and I hope that there is something President Biden can do to help prevent this from worsening.”
But in terms of favorability, opinions are split – with 46% of young people viewing Biden favorably and 44% viewing him unfavorably.
Many college-aged students did not vote for Biden in the first place. But after Biden’s election to office, many have been unhappy with the lack of campaign promises that he has fulfilled, including Derrick Gernatt, a senior accounting major.
“Biden made a lot of promises he either could not deliver on or would ultimately prove unconstitutional,” Gernatt said. “Additionally, his promises that were possible have so far been not possible due to (COVID-19).”
Jon Sapienza, a sophomore criminal justice major, said he did not vote for Biden either.
“Trump was a better economic president, so it made no sense for me to vote into making less money and having less job opportunities,” Sapienza said.
Alexandra Briggs, a freshman criminal justice major, disapproves of Biden because of the number of “handouts” he gives to American citizens, which she said do not benefit the economy in the way Biden intends.
“He is increasing the cost of items as he is giving people more money,” Briggs said.
Many, including Gernatt, also disapprove of how Biden is handling the conflict in Ukraine.
“The Ukraine is rightful Russian territory and Biden should be working to return that territory to its rightful owner,” Gernatt said.
Biden’s highest approval rating among young people is for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wilson said that Biden’s plans for managing the pandemic were one of many reasons why she voted for him.
“I believe that Biden is doing a lot to help battle COVID-19 and make the hard and controversial decisions that are needed to get the country back on track,” Wilson said. “I think he is doing very well but I think he could do better without so many conspiracies and false media that impact people’s knowledge of the virus and the vaccine.”
However, Sapienza said he does not believe Biden is handling the pandemic properly.
“He literally said he had a plan for COVID, and it has only gotten worse,” Sapienza said. “Now, instead of people being sick from COVID, we have the government forcing you to have a vaccination in order to live life and people are still sick from COVID. COVID is an issue that has to play itself out and there shouldn’t be vaccination or mask requirements that infringe our American freedoms.”
Sapienza said he is tired of the COVID-19 restrictions Biden has imposed.
“I would like to see us return to some normalcy soon,” he said. “I am not wearing a mask for the rest of my life.”
Briggs said she has not seen Biden fulfill his promise to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are still wearing masks, people are still dying and COVID is not under control like he promised,” Briggs said.
While Biden is making efforts to reduce student loan debt, the issue is deeper than Biden has the ability to control, Wilson said.
“I also see loan forgiveness as a necessary first step but it won’t fix the problem,” Wilson said. “The more money the government pours into colleges and scholarships and grants, the more colleges and universities raise tuition and other costs. Having some sort of regulation federally to make colleges more so institutions of learning and less like businesses is one perspective/idea.”
Sapienza also said that the student loan crisis is beyond Biden’s control.
“The student loan crisis isn’t his fault,” Sapienza. “You shouldn’t have to go to college to get a good job so that’s the real root of the issue.”
Despite this, Gernatt said that Biden is actually doing the Republican party a service.
“I think that Biden is making a positive change by making the Democratic party look terrible, which will help Republicans in the next election,” Gernatt said.
However, while Biden’s approval rating with young people is dropping, 78% still say they are satisfied that they voted for Biden in 2020.

ANNA MALESIEWSKI

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