CNBC and Generation Lab’s “Youth & Money in the USA” survey highlights young Americans’ views on student debt, politics, work from home status, artificial intelligence, the stock market and the impact of the current state of the economy
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., November 7, 2023 — Exactly one year before the 2024 election, CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, and Generation Lab today announced the results of the “Youth & Money in the USA” survey that sheds a light on where young Americans stand on key economic and financial issues affecting them.
The survey, which polled over 1,000 Americans between the ages of 18 and 34, reveals what is top mind for young Americans and how they are preparing for the future financially. More than half (63%) of young Americans believe in building wealth through the stock market and two top stressors affecting young Americans financially are inflation and mortgage prices. Fifty percent of young Americans say inflation is “very negatively” affecting their financial well-being while thirty-nine percent say the same for mortgage prices. Even though the majority of young adults do not currently own a home (86%), more than half (55%) say it is much harder to purchase a home now compared to when their parents started out in the job market and fifty-one percent say mortgage and interest rates impact their decision to buy a home.
The CNBC|Generation Lab survey also finds that young employees are value-based actors with almost all (85%) saying it’s “quite” or “extremely important” to work for a company that aligns with their personal values and more than half (63%) saying they feel “quite” or “extremely loyal” to their employer. If they are faced with a 100% back-to-office mandate, most of them (78%) would “probably” or “definitely” accept the conditions and a third of them are already in-person 5 or more days a week.
Generation Lab uses different kinds of electronic communications to reach their sample and measure the attitudes and behaviors of the American youth.
Additional findings from the CNBC|Generation Lab “Youth & Money in the USA” survey include:
Other issues affecting young American’s future financial well-being:
- In addition to the impact of inflation and mortgage prices on young Americans, thirty-six percent say health care costs are “very negatively” impacting them.
- Following health care costs are increasing economic inequality (33%), stagnant wages (32%), student loan debt (31%) and effects on climate change (28%) all negatively impacting young Americans.
- A key issue that is affecting them in a positive way is artificial intelligence in the workplace with twenty percent of young adults saying it is impacting their work “somewhat positively” and forty percent saying AI “helps a bit.”
Young adults’ top choices for President to boost the U.S. economy:
- Almost half (42%) of young adults listed Michelle Obama in their top two for President to boost the overall American economy.
- Thirty-seven percent of young adults listed Donald Trump in their top two choices.
- Joe Biden & Kamala Harris are tied at twenty-five percent.
- Sixteen percent of young adults listed Robert Kennedy Jr. in their top two choices.
- Twelve percent of young adults listed Ron DeSantis in their top two choices.
Notable companies that young Americans favor:
- Amazon
- Apple
- Target
- Walmart
The results of the CNBC|Generation Lab “Youth & Money in the USA” survey will be revealed today, Tuesday, November 7 throughout the network’s Business Day programming. For more information on the survey including the full results and methodology as well as a link to the interview on “Squawk Box” with Generation Lab Founder, Cyrus Beschloss, go to: https://www.generationlab.org/cnbc-landing and
Methodology:
CNBC|Generation Lab’s “Youth & Money in the USA” study was conducted in October 25-30, 2023 from a representative sample of 1039 people aged 18-34 nationwide. The margin of error is +/- 3.0 percentage points. The Generation Lab conducts polling using a demographically representative sample frame of young people aged 18-34 nationwide.
For more information contact:
CNBC
Jennifer Dauble
201-735-4721
CNBC
Stephanie Hirlemann
201-397-2838
Generation Lab
About CNBC:
CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news, providing real-time financial market coverage and business content consumed by more than half a billion people per month across all platforms. The network’s 15 live hours a day of news programming in North America (weekdays from 5:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC’s global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of reality programming, CNBC’s highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries.
CNBC also offers content through its vast portfolio of digital products such as: CNBC.com, which provides financial market news and information to CNBC’s investor audience; CNBC Make It, a digital destination focused on making you smarter about how you earn, save and spend your money; CNBC PRO, a premium service that provides in-depth access to Wall Street; a suite of CNBC mobile apps for iOS and Android devices; Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Siri voice interfaces; and streaming services including Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Samsung Smart TVs. To learn more, visit https://www.cnbc.com/digital-products/.
Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc. For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com.
About Generation Lab:
Generation Lab built the largest database of young people in America (outside of the U.S. government) to help governments, corporations, journalists and the public understand and make decisions about young people, by tapping a database to conduct polling & research, that’s scientific enough for Stanford, quick enough for Axios, valuable enough for Walmart, and innovative enough for Andreessen Horowitz.
