America This Week Wave 236

Gen Z Voters Awaken, Our Love/Hate Relationship With Billionaires, Student Loans Go Unpaid and On The Border With Kamala.

The latest trends in society and culture from The Harris Poll

Ever tire of doing one thing or being in one place for too long? Well, you’re not alone. America’s GNR (Gross National Restlessness) is rising: In our America This Week survey, August 29th to 31st, among 2,105 Americans, half (50%) are interested in living a more “flexible lifestyle” (e.g., renting over owning, switching jobs frequently, moving around the country, etc.) This is especially true of Gen Z and Millennials (67% and 64%), whose mobility is hampered by high interest rates and rents/home prices.

Highlight: The Harris Poll helped the MacArthur Fellows Program with its strategy review process, highlighting how a fellow’s narrow field, when collaborating openly, can inform research and creativity. In one instance, a biologist collaborated with a choreographer on a performance integrating elements of dance and theater with scientific dialogue.

This week, we have four new Harris polls that caught our interest:

• Gen Z tells politicians, “Ignore us at your peril.”
• Americans have a love-hate relationship with billionaires.
• Here’s a novel strategy for student loan forgiveness: stop paying them back.
• Harris fares better on the border than Biden.

Hey, Are We On Mute? UNICEF-Harris Poll

In a new Harris study with UNICEF, we asked young Americans aged 14 to 22 about their views before the November election.

• Over half (53%) feel excluded from the U.S. political process, with (73%) saying their opinions don’t matter to elected officials or (81%) feel people in positions of power don’t care about what young people have to say.
• Young people say the cost of living/housing crisis (60%), immigration (39%), and global conflict (35%) are the most important issues facing the country today. Yet, half or more say politicians should be paying attention to these top problems.
• And (80%) of youth think people their age can make a difference, and (64%) are engaging politically in some way.

Takeaway: “For me, [the most surprising survey result] was that the majority of young people thought their opinion didn’t matter but also thought they could make a difference,” says Sophia, a UNICEF USA National Youth Council member. “I’ve had so many experiences where school administrators sometimes don’t listen to students, but at the same time, students won’t stop talking. It’s not at all unique to our generation. As long as people still believe they can make a difference even if they aren’t represented, it’s hopeful.”

The Call For Conscious Wealth: The Next Big Think!

In their latest post for The Next Big Think!, our Harris colleagues CSO Libby Rodney and Managing Director Abbey Lunney explore Americans’ complex relationship with billionaires.

• Context: The number of billionaires has swelled from 66 in 1990 to 748 today, with over $6 trillion in wealth.
• Billionaires should be helping out: Over seven in ten (71%) Americans feel that billionaires should leverage their vast resources to better society.
• And (68%) say, “Billionaires have an ethical responsibility to address humanitarian crises happening around the world,” showcasing a demand for significant contributions beyond mere wealth accumulation.
• The government could step in: Over half (58%) agree that the government should impose a mandatory philanthropic involvement for those who accumulate significant wealth (Gen Z: 70%, Millennials: 69%)—a (9%-pt) increase from 2022.
• Despite the criticisms, the aspiration to achieve billionaire status remains strong, with (60%) of Americans still harboring this dream.

Takeaway: “The persistent wealth inequalities in America are a complex challenge that cannot be resolved by the philanthropic gestures of a few billionaires,” details Rodney and Lunney. “The data underscores a dual narrative: a profound resentment towards the concentration of wealth and a persistent desire among many to one day join the ranks of billionaires. This dichotomy highlights the enduring allure of immense wealth, even as it elicits significant public scrutiny and demands for accountability.” Subscribe to their substack here.

The Student Loan Borrowers Living In Denial: NerdWallet-Harris Poll

About 43 million Americans have federal student loan debt. But according to our latest survey with NerdWallet in Newsweek, some may be forgoing their repayments in hopes of loan forgiveness.

• Nearly one in three (31%) student loan borrowers have slowed their repayment of their loan(s) because they hope the federal government will reduce or forgive their loans.
• And nearly one in four (23%) have stopped their student loan payments altogether for the same reason.
• Hoping for the best, but worried about the worst: A quarter (25%) say they are concerned the courts will reverse recent student loan forgiveness efforts.
• It’s even an election issue: More than one in five (22%) say that student loan forgiveness is one of the most important issues when choosing a presidential candidate.

Takeaway: Despite the Supreme Court blocking the Biden Administration’s broad plan to cut up to $20,000 in student loan debt, the White House has forgiven roughly $168.5 billion over the last four years. The president’s current “plan B” student loan forgiveness plan would reduce or eliminate loan debt for a more targeted group of individuals. There’s no guarantee that this plan or anything resembling it will go into effect. Just as legal challenges derailed the administration’s first, broader push for debt relief, lawsuits could force the administration or its successor to further scale back this set of proposals” (NerdWallet).

Harris Beats Biden On The Border: Axios Vibes By The Harris Poll

Among Latinos, Vice President Kamala Harris is performing the same or better than President Joe Biden regarding how she’ll tackle border security in our latest Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll.

• Context: Axios, Harris, and Noticias Telemundo created an in-depth look at Latino voters for the RNC and DNC over the summer.
• The Way Back Machine: In March 2021, Biden tapped Harris to lead the administration’s coordination with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, where much of the illegal immigration crisis originates.
• A few months back, Americans believed the situation at the U.S. southern border is a real crisis (64%), not just a politically driven media narrative (36%), including (65%) of Hispanic GOP voters and (51%) of Hispanic DEM voters.
• The economy still matters more: Nearly a quarter (23%) of Latino voters say immigration issues most influence their choice of candidate in an election (v. economic: 58%, reproductive: 18%). Yet by a 2 to 1 margin, the border is a more significant issue for Republican Latino voters than Dems.
• By the numbers: Over half (55%) of Latino voters said Harris is the same or better than Biden on border security, compared with (39%) who said she’s just as bad or worse.

Takeaway: Harris is also seen by Latino Voters as better than Biden on (58%) setting a vision for the future, (57%) fighting for the working class, (55%) abortion rights, (55%) healthcare/Social Security/Medicare, (53%) union rights, and equal to Biden (50%) on fighting inflation. Look for the border to take center stage in next TTuesday’sdebate as Trump will attempt to tie Harris back to the incumbent role on border security; something’s so far escaped.