A new Gallup survey found younger Americans have become sharply more pessimistic about employment opportunities, with confidence dropping to levels not seen since the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Younger Americans are expressing significantly less confidence in the job market than older generations, according to a recent Gallup World Poll that found the United States has the widest age-based divide in employment optimism among 141 countries surveyed.
According to PBS, only 43% of Americans between the ages of 15 and 34 said it is “a good time” to find a job where they live. By comparison, 64% of Americans age 55 and older said the same.
Historically, younger adults have tended to express greater optimism about employment opportunities than older Americans, largely because of fewer family obligations and greater workforce mobility. The latest findings, however, showed a rapid reversal beginning in 2023.
PBS reported that confidence declined across all age groups after the post-pandemic economic rebound in 2021 and 2022, but the drop was steepest among younger adults.
“The divergence between younger and older Americans happened suddenly,” PBS reported. “Every U.S. age group registered a drop in confidence in the job market after 2023 — following a post-COVID rebound in 2021 and 2022 — but those 34 and younger saw the largest decline in recent years.”
The report stated that younger Americans experienced a 27-percentage-point decline in confidence between 2023 and 2025, a drop comparable to levels seen during the 2008 global financial crisis and the economic downturn that followed.
Unlike the Great Recession period, however, older Americans have not experienced a comparable collapse in confidence in recent years.
The findings also align with broader polling showing generational differences in perceptions of the economy.
According to PBS, recent polling conducted by Associated Press and NORC found that approximately 8 in 10 adults under age 35 described the U.S. economy as very or somewhat poor. Among adults age 55 and older, roughly 6 in 10 expressed the same view.
The report noted that concerns among younger Americans include rising living costs, housing affordability, wages, artificial intelligence, and uncertainty surrounding future employment opportunities.
PBS also cited a separate Gallup survey that found pessimism about job prospects increasing at the end of 2024 and continuing into 2025 during the early months of President Donald Trump’s second term.
The survey noted growing concern among younger Americans that advances in artificial intelligence could significantly alter the labor market and reduce the availability of entry-level positions.
“Younger Americans’ job market views now register close to the level they did in 2010, when the country was still deep in the Great Recession,” PBS reported.
The article also referenced broader financial concerns affecting younger adults, including inflation, cost-of-living pressures, and long-term economic uncertainty following the financial crisis of 2008 and subsequent recession.
According to PBS, about 8 in 10 adults under age 35 disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy and cost of living, while approximately 6 in 10 older adults expressed similar views.
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