Coming of Age in America
Edited by Irene Pedruelo
With 2021 in full force, we’re kicking off the year with a quick look at Gen Z’s take on the moment. As part of our ongoing surveys to understand how the pandemic and current events are impacting young people in real time — we recently surveyed 1,073 DoSomething members ages 13–24 on COVID-19, the election results, and January 6th attack on the US Capitol.
The connecting thread? Stress. 57% indicate they feel stressed about the ongoing pandemic and 46% said they feel stress over the current political situation in America.
“With the amount of stress I have had and society has had, we need a change and some reassurance that the former authority has not provided.” — 18-year-old, Michigan
“Everything happening is causing way too much stress on people.” — 19-year-old, Missouri
Feeling the weight of the pandemic.
With over 10 months since the pandemic began, its longevity continues to be top of mind. When we asked young people what their biggest concerns were about the pandemic, 62% said they were concerned over how long it might last. The health risk to family members (60%) and concern for their education (56%) follow, while half (50%) share they are concerned about the mental health impacts of social distancing for themselves and their communities. These are very present realities: the percentage of respondents who say they feel disconnected is nearly half (46%) — nearly as high as we saw last April (48%). And, notably, over one in five (22%) are concerned about the ability for themselves or their families to pay bills and afford basic necessities.
They are also thinking beyond the virus — nearly a third (29%) say one of their biggest concerns is that other problems in society are not getting enough attention or getting worse as a result of the pandemic. However, there are also signs of optimism. While over half (56%) believe the worst impacts of COVID-19 are yet to come, this is actually down significantly from when we asked the same question last July (72%). Today, 44% of Gen Z believe the worst of COVID-19 is behind us, up from 28% last July. Part of that hope lies in the vaccines and the new administration, as we know the pandemic response was a top issue behind Gen Z’s vote and top of mind for the majority (67%) of Gen Z moving beyond the November election.
“I just really, really, REALLY hate COVID 19.” — 13-year-old, Minnesota
“The biggest issue of 2021 will be societal recovery from COVID-19. Many people have lost their jobs and had to change their lives to survive. There has been an increased interest in social justice and those people will be looking to the new administration to make big changes.” — 16-year-old, Arizona
They want accountability on the agenda.
When we asked about the riots and attack on the Capitol on January 6th — it’s clear that young people are paying attention. The vast majority (70%) said they are following the news around the election results and Capitol attack either very or fairly closely, and 75% say they are concerned about the events that took place. While the top sources of news are news websites (43%), network news (40%) and cable news platforms (34%) — 28% say they are getting their news from Instagram, the top answer of any social apps (only 9% said Facebook). On whether or not Trump should be held accountable for the attack, either by Impeachment or by the 25th Amendment, 69% said yes. Only 12% said no, while 18% said they were unsure or indifferent. Of course, here we see a big split across party lines: 91% of those who identify as Liberal (28%) or Very Liberal (16%) sided with impeachment, while only 13% of those who identified as Conservative (9%) or Very Conservative (1%) agree. For those who identify as Moderate (24%) or unsure (21%): 57% agree, 12% disagree, and 28% said they were either unsure or indifferent.
“While the next administration can increase the effectiveness of American democracy, it is doubtful that they will do so without holding other people accountable.” — 21-year-old, Florida
“I hope that the assault on Capitol Hill will be a history footnote, and not be known as “the revolution of 2020,” the revolution of insanity, mob rule, and populism, the revolt of the fringes against the temple of our republic. I hope that Biden’s presidency will reverse this, but given the growing “superficial” divide between the Republicans and Democrats, his task is much harder than I can describe.” — 19-year-old, Texas
“I believe it will get better but right now we are so divided and there has been a lot of misinformation that has led people to believe lies and then stand by them. All the truth must be uncovered for trust to be restored to our democracy. People who have done wrong must also be held accountable. It’s not about political parties but about American people’s lives especially now.” — 18-year-old, Maryland
“Without acknowledging how systemic the issues that allowed the events at the Capitol and Trump’s antics are, I don’t think they’ll be meaningfully prevented from arising again in the future.” — 18-year-old, South Carolina
Brands cannot afford to stay on the sidelines.
What is clear is that Gen Z still expects brands to take a stand — even when it comes to the messy work of our democracy. Only 1 in 5 (21%) respondents say that brands should not get political and thus have no role in response to the Capitol attack. Meanwhile, nearly half (49%) said brands should use their platforms to take a stand on the issue and demand accountability. As we see time and time again — words alone won’t cut it. 47% said they want brands to take actions to strengthen our democracy by getting involved in voter registration and other pro-democracy efforts in future elections and 41% said they want them to stop donating money to support members of Congress who tried to overturn the election results. When we asked if any brands came to mind for taking actions in line with their values following the Capitol attack, Ben & Jerry’s stood out the most among young people both for their boldness and their consistency on this issue.
Of course, part of the impetus to see brands take action is because young people have seen and know full well the power brands have to make change on key social and political issues. The WNBA mobilized their influence to help flip an election, after all.
“If these companies make efforts to positively affect these issues in the future, this will resolve a lot of conflicts that are connected to each other.” — 15-year-old, Illinois
Looking ahead with cautious optimism.
The top challenges Gen Z believes face America in 2021 are consistent with what they’ve been telling us throughout 2020: COVID-19 (76%), systemic racism and racial injustice (67%), mental health (67%) and climate change (56%) come out on top. However, we also asked “What issues are you hopeful that our society (including brands, organizations, government, and individuals) can make progress on in 2021?” and found Gen Z remains relatively optimistic that we can address these top challenges. The hope is largely found in an acknowledgement that it’s going to take an all-hands-on-deck effort to address these challenges — and they are seeing it in action.
“I believe that societal change is inevitable, and I hope that the momentum sparked in my generation does not fade out.” — 17-year-old, Texas
The biggest gaps between the perception of a challenge and hope that we can make progress on it are illuminative: there’s much less hope that we can address political polarization and misinformation. While 53% say political polarization and division in society is a challenge to America, only 30% share hope that we can make progress here in 2021. And while 50% say misinformation and the spread of conspiracy theories are a problem, only 33% have any hope of progress on the issue. Savvy as they are yet far from immune from the tangle of misinformation — issues like these could be less obvious by increasingly meaningful ways for brands and organizations alike to make an impact.
“To spread truthful information about the steps people can take to better their community rather than trying to divide people in a right or wrong category. Businesses and brands should encourage open discussion.” — 19-year-old, Texas
When we asked how would you rank your current trust in US democracy following the 2020 election? Only 32% indicated some degree of trust. However, when we asked about the future, and if trust that US democracy will improve with the next political administration, that number rises to 58%. While the majority of respondents express a sense of relief and optimism with President Biden and Vice President Harris now in office — it’s clear many are still treading cautiously, and some with outright skepticism. They know the challenges ahead are great and there is much work to be done to achieve the kind of big, transformative change they want across key issue areas. Moving forward, we know that young people will continue to be paying attention and demanding action — not only of the administration, but also of brands, organizations, and leaders across society. Young people have and will continue to raise the bar.
“I’m hopeful because Trump was voted out of office, but I cannot trust the new administration until they start making meaningful change.” — 20-year-old, Florida
“I feel that as a society we can do better and I feel COVID-19 has made us slow down and realize that.” — 16-year-old, Utah
“I just hope in 2021 we can look back on the events of 2020 and realize that, wow, we need to do something to change. We can make progress on everything we refused to see last year.” — 18-year-old, Oklahoma
“I feel like we’ve seen some of the worst versions of political extremism and general craziness from said extremists. So much so, in fact, that I think well-minded people are fed up with it and want genuine, long-lasting change to happen and are willing to put in the effort to fight against it and work towards a better United States.” — 21-year-old, Nebraska
Methodology: Survey of 1,073 DoSomething members in the US ages 13–25, with responses taken Jan. 13, 2021 — Jan. 19, 2021.
