IOP Releases Results of Nationwide Survey of Young Adults

A nationwide survey administered by the Institute of Politics found a decrease in young voters’ participation in and enthusiasm for the upcoming midterm election.

The results of the web-based poll, released yesterday, were based on 2,004 responses collected from young adults between the ages of 18 and 29.

Conducted from Sept. 24 to Oct. 4, the survey revealed that only 18 percent of the age group—dubbed the Millennial generation—consider themselves to be politically active and engaged. This represents a six percent drop from an IOP poll conducted eleven months ago.

“We’re trying to reach out to other political groups on campus, talking about how to get the Millennial generation involved,” said Eric Lu ’12, who helped create the survey.

During a conference call yesterday morning, IOP Director of Polling John Della Volpe said he found declining interest in political participation among young people surprising.

“Several times we’ve seen an increase in political participation as an election draws near,” Della Volpe said. “I was surprised by the drop of activity levels of this generation.”

The survey found that 27 percent of Millennials said they would ‘definitively be voting’ in the upcoming election—a nine percent decrease from those planning to vote 11 months ago.

This decrease did not apply to those enrolled in a four-year college, where about 35 percent of students plan to vote in the upcoming election—about the same number that pledged to do so in a 2006 survey.

The findings also showed that the majority of Millennials continue to support a Democrat-controlled Congress, though their approval of President Obama has waned. Overall, 49 percent of Millennials polled approve of the current presidency.

Lillian A. Nottingham ’13, another student involved in creating the survey, said she thought the change in attitude sprung from unmet expectations of the 2008 presidential election.

“In 2008 the change Obama talked about was extreme change,” Nottingham said. “Although he has pushed efforts with health care reform, that’s change that hasn’t affected the majority of 18 to 29 year olds,” she said.

The IOP also polled young adults’ views on the Dream Act, former President Bush’s 2001 tax cuts, and other hot-button issues.