Younger Americans' confidence in the job market has fallen sharply over the past two years, revealing a growing generational divide in economic opportunity and security, according to a new Gallup World Poll. In the United States, only 43% of those aged 15-34 said it is "a good time" to find a job in the area where they live, compared with 64% of those aged 55 and over—a gap greater than in any other country among the 141 surveyed.
A Historic Reversal in Economic Optimism
The share of younger Americans saying it was "a good time" to find a job plunged by 27 percentage points from 2023 to 2025, while older Americans' views have barely dropped. Gallup's Benedict Vigers called the trend "an incredibly new phenomenon" and said, "Has this happened in most other advanced economies? The answer is a resounding no." He said last year was the first time in Gallup's decades of polling that young Americans were more pessimistic about the job market than their peers in other developed countries.
Younger Americans ranked 87th in job market expectations among the 141 countries surveyed. The U.S. is one of only five countries where younger people are at least 10 points more pessimistic than older ones, along with China, Hong Kong, Norway, Serbia and the United Arab Emirates. Globally, the median share of younger people who say it is "a good time" to find work in their local job market is 48%, compared with 38% among older people.
Generational Disconnect and Mental Health Toll
John Della Volpe, a pollster who surveys U.S. youth for the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics, said young people are often frustrated that prior generations do not understand their current economic challenges. He said, "It's just another thing that drains their mental health — 'my parents don't understand that their pathway at this stage in life that I'm in was so much easier.'"
About 8 in 10 adults under 35 describe the U.S. economy as very or somewhat poor, according to an AP-NORC poll conducted in April, while only about 6 in 10 adults 55 and older say the same. The new poll found the most frustrated groups of young people are those who have not secured a first job yet, college graduates and young women, though the pessimism extends across all subgroups of younger Americans, including men and those who have not attended college.
Structural Advantages Protect Older Americans
Older Americans are more likely to be retired and not looking for work, and more likely to own their own homes. A separate Gallup survey found pessimism about U.S. job prospects emerging at the end of 2024 and continuing into 2025, coinciding with the beginning of President Donald Trump's second term and the rise of artificial intelligence, which many fear will transform the labor market and eliminate many entry-level jobs.
Political Promises Meet Economic Reality
Day-to-day financial concerns were a key issue in the 2024 election, particularly for younger voters, and Trump improved on his previous performance among this group as he ran on a platform of economic prosperity, fighting inflation and affordability. But recent AP-NORC polling found that about 8 in 10 adults under 35 disapprove of how Trump is handling the economy and the cost of living, compared with about 6 in 10 older adults.
The Gallup World Poll results were based on telephone interviews conducted among approximately 1,000 U.S. adults from June 14 to July 16, 2025, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points for the U.S. sample.
Why This Matters:
The unprecedented pessimism among young Americans about job prospects represents a fundamental shift in economic opportunity between generations, with younger workers facing barriers their parents did not encounter. This generational divide has concrete consequences for mental health, financial security, and the ability to achieve traditional markers of adulthood like homeownership. The fact that older Americans—who are more likely to own homes and have established careers—remain optimistic while young people struggle highlights structural inequalities in the economy. The concerns about artificial intelligence eliminating entry-level jobs and the disconnect between political promises and economic reality underscore the need for policies that specifically address barriers facing younger workers. When college graduates and those seeking first jobs express the deepest frustration, it signals that education and hard work alone are no longer sufficient pathways to economic security without stronger public policies to ensure fair opportunities and living wages.