From the Harvard Youth Poll, Spring 2021:
In the fall of 2017, only 31% of young Americans said they were hopeful about the future of America; 67% were fearful. Nearly four years later, we find that 56% have hope. While the hopefulness of young whites has increased 11 points, from 35% to 46% — the changes in attitudes among young people of color are striking. Whereas only 18% of young Blacks had hope in 2017, today 72% are hopeful (+54). In 2017, 29% of Hispanics called themselves hopeful, today that number is 69% (+40). By a margin of nearly three-to-one, we found that youth agreed with the sentiment, “Americans with different political views from me still want what’s best for the country” — in total, 50% agreed, 18% disagreed, and 31% were recorded as neutral. In a hopeful sign, no significant difference was recorded between Democrats (53% agree, 18% disagree) and Republicans (52% agree, 20% disagree).
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Over the last decade, the number of young Americans who see politics as partisan, and politicians as selfish, has risen sharply. Seventy-six percent of youth (83% Democrats, 70% Republicans) agreed with the statement, “We need more open-mindedness in politics,” only 4% disagreed.