President Biden narrowly won the 2020 election with the surge of support from African Americans and young voters who came to his aid in the polls against incumbent President Donald Trump. Four years later, President Biden’s strategy no longer reflects that of a lesser of two evils, instead a centrist liberal who bends to the will of the center right-leaning Democratic Party to pass limited legislation. The surveys are saying it, the polls are proving it—the youth doesn’t want Donald Trump. But they don’t want Joe Biden either. 

Thanks to social media, the tech-savvy younger generation is able to take advantage of news sources from multiple perspectives and various countries. However, the sources that are perhaps most indicative of youth cultural and civic engagement are unexpected—teen magazines. While these news outlets are no longer in print, magazines like Teen Vogue and Seventeen digitally cover issues of politics with a focus on Gen-Z’s perspective. While Teen Vogue has published multiple articles analyzing the sense of urgency the young people of America feel over the presidential election, the lack of news coverage for politics in Seventeen magazine since 2021 signifies a shift in youth focus.

In 2020 multiple celebrities such as Noah Centineo, Taylor Swift, and Selena Gomez were caught at the polls voting for Biden or outright endorsing his presidency. Articles from Seventeen titled Where to Buy the $65 Top Selena Gomez Wore to Vote or Noah Centineo Wants You to Vote in 2020 highlight the height of Gen-Z’s superficial activism—if your favorite celebrities are voting, then you should too. Where is that support now? The short answer is simple: Gen-Z doesn’t want to vote for Biden anymore, and he was warned years in advance. 

Young Americans disillusioned by ongoing economic disparities and inequality are increasingly disappointed in a government that does not seem to address any of the issues they care about. As the average price of a house compared to the average family income in 1970 was $23,400 to $9,870, in 2023 it was $348,079 to $74,580. While the price of a home has increased by 1,608% since 1970, inflation has increased by 644%. The ratio of income to the average cost of a house increased by more than 20% without taking into account inflation and the consequent generally higher cost of living. Young Americans are not living in the same economy as their parents or their grandparents, and their income isn’t lining up. 

As the 2024 election nears, many people aged 18-36 have voiced their concerns that Biden no longer seems to embody the voice of America. The Harvard Youth Poll consisted of 2098 people aged 18-29, conducted from October 28 to November 6, 2023. Citing the Israel-Hamas war, inflation, and college debt as top issues, only around 41% of the youth plan to vote for Biden in the 2024 election compared with the 60% that showed up at the polls in 2020. 

The majority of the 41% of youth planning to vote for Biden claim it is due to their “opposition to Donald Trump becoming president again,” rather than “support for President Biden and his policies.” This stands the opposite for young Trump voters, 65% of whom plan to vote for him out of loyalty. Biden lacks the loyal foundation that Trump has, and his campaign is only being hurt more by the independent candidates that take away from his share of the vote. Many young people are opting to vote for independents like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West as they “struggle to see [their passion] represented in Washington,” and are increasingly upset by the lack of a “meaningful difference between the two parties,” according to IOP Polling Director John Della Volpe.

Youth voting initiatives have plummeted since 2020 when stopping Donald Trump from winning seemed to be the only option to save America from totalitarian ruin. This fear has not dissipated, yet statistically, there has been over an 8% decrease in people aged 18-29 who plan to vote from 2020 to 2024. As young people have not moved on from fear-based voting—continually opting to vote for the lesser of two evils, it is clear that Biden’s 11-point lead in the polls over Trump reflects young people’s growing dissatisfaction with the government. 

Despite Donald Trump seeming to garner more media attention than Biden, America has built some distance (4 years to be exact) from the ex-president who currently has 91 felony charges and is involved in 3 ongoing criminal cases, including one for treason, and the threat might not seem as imminent. But when we have Trump saying outrageous things like claiming he would be a dictator on “day one,” of office and that he and his team have “been waging an all-out war on American democracy,” Biden may need to pick up the pace to claim a victory.  

For young voters, the statistics still favor Biden, but the culture does not. We can continue voting for presidents we don’t like and let disillusionment be the dominant sentiment of American society, or, we can avoid mass youth existential crises and educate ourselves to be an active political force. This starts with increased civic education, the lack of which has caused the majority of young Americans to not believe that their high school education taught and prepared them to understand the practicality and importance of voting. However, those who have received civic education are much more likely to vote, pointing to future solutions to increase youth voter turnout. 

According to the Harvard survey, young people claim that to generate more positivity around voting, they need constant reminders. In a fast-paced digital age, this includes texts about voting deadlines and actively seeing candidates in real life. Conversations about voting with close friends and family members in addition to increased access to nonpartisan voting guides are also cited as helpful strategies according to the youth from the Harvard youth poll. 

The sense of urgency that carried the 2020 election is no longer the driving force behind political activism. As we have settled back into life post-pandemic, we now have jobs and responsibilities that keep those previously active community members from canvassing and taking time to explain the importance of civics to the youth. 
Biden has the youth vote, for now, but they aren’t happy about it. There are nine months until the general election in which the overall defeated and unconcerned attitude casts a shadow of discontent over the American youth. It’s going to take more than a Taylor Swift endorsement for Biden to win over young people, but that certainly doesn’t mean he won’t try.