Understanding Gen Z: Barriers to Civic Engagement

This report focuses on civic engagement among Gen Z. We found that Gen Z shows high cynicism and low confidence in American institutions but trusts their teachers most. Unlike older generations, they prefer community-related civic activities over political ones and desire more civic involvement. However, they face barriers such as a lack of information and feeling their concerns are not shared among other generations. With 41 million eligible Gen Z voters in 2024, understanding and engaging this diverse generation is crucial for driving civic engagement and supporting democracy.

Key Findings

• Cynicism Is High and Confidence Is Low Among Gen Z. Gen Z exhibits low levels of confidence in many American institutions such as Congress, the Supreme Court, organized religion, social media, and traditional media. The group in which Gen Z has the most confidence is teachers.

• Gen Z Engages in Different Types of Civic Behavior Than Older Generations. Gen Z is less likely to engage in civic activities related to politics (e.g., voting) and more likely to engage in community-related activities (e.g., volunteering locally) than older generations.

• Gen Z Wants to Be More Civically Engaged Than They Are. More than any other generation, Gen Z expressed a desire for greater involvement in civic activity.
• Information and Attitudes Prevent Gen Z from Reaching Their Engagement Goals. The top three barriers to civic engagement Gen Z identified were (1) not knowing how to help, (2) believing problems in their local community are insurmountable, and (3) thinking others do not share their concern about particular issues.