Thinking Minnesota Poll: The kids are not alright in Tim Walz’s Minnesota
For the first time ever, the Thinking Minnesota poll exclusively surveyed young people and the results were shocking. Ninety percent of 18- to 34-year-olds in Minnesota said their generation is worse off economically compared to their parents. Minnesota young people are also pessimistic about the next generation, with 68 percent believing their children’s generation will be even worse off economically than theirs. That’s a lot of pessimism from a group that has their whole life in front of them in a state that Gov. Tim Walz brags is the best in the country.
The poll of Minnesota young people was conducted by Meeting Street Insights, a nationally recognized polling operation based in Charleston, S.C. Interviews were completed May 19-22, 2024, among 300 registered voters with a mix of cellphone and landline interviewing. The margin of error for the poll is ±5.66 percent.
The poll provides insight into why young people in Minnesota are so pessimistic about the future. The dream of homeownership, once a typical benchmark of adulthood, has now become a luxury item for many young adults. When it comes to housing, 84 percent of poll respondents are concerned about their ability to buy a house. That’s not surprising considering Realtor.com reports the median home price in the Twin Cities is $369,000, up 8.6 percent from this time last year.
“Young people in Minnesota are focused on pocketbook issues and very pessimistic about their future in our state,” said John Hinderaker, president of Center of the American Experiment. “Minnesota needs to change direction on policy soon, before an entire generation completely loses hope.”
In addition to housing, young Minnesota poll respondents are also concerned about paying back their student loans (60 percent) and making a monthly car payment (60 percent). A majority — 52 percent — believe health care is unaffordable, unsurprising in a state with a high number of health insurance mandates.
Sixty-four percent of poll respondents said they are concerned about public safety. Those concerns are likely influenced by personal experience, especially for recent graduates of the University of Minnesota, where violence has become a regular occurrence in the neighborhoods surrounding campus.
Turning to politics, the poll asked young people in Minnesota about the most important issue deciding their vote for the 2024 elections. The top two answers were inflation at 54 percent and jobs and the economy at 22 percent. No other categories even came close, with abortion notably seventh on the list at 14 percent. According to this poll, young people in Minnesota are focused on the more traditional pocketbook issues heading into the November election.
Young people are also pessimistic about the direction of the nation and Minnesota, with 81 percent dissatisfied with the direction of the country and 45 percent dissatisfied with the direction of the state. In a troubling sign for the Harris/Walz ticket, young Democrats in Minnesota split 25 percent satisfied to 75 percent dissatisfied on the direction of the country.
Young Minnesotans also have little trust in federal and state government. We asked respondents how much of the time they could trust the state and federal government to do what is right, and 89 percent replied only sometimes or never for Washington, with 57 percent saying only sometimes or never for Minnesota state government.
The poll results dispute the notion that young people today are self-centered and not paying attention to the world around them, with large majorities following national (72 percent) and state (67 percent) government and politics. Almost all respondents said they are likely to vote in 2024.
The information in this edition of the Thinking Minnesota Poll provided the basis for American Experiment’s summer tour, “False Promises: How ‘progressive’ policies betray Minnesota’s youth.” The poll clearly shows dissatisfaction and pessimism from Minnesota’s youth about their future. The presentation connected the dots between that pessimism and decades of progressive policies emanating from the State Capitol in St. Paul. Regulations drive up the cost of housing and childcare, and the legislature makes it worse every time they choose subsidies over reform. Monthly energy bills are artificially inflated by wind and solar mandates. Health insurance is more expensive than it has to be in Minnesota with St. Paul overregulating the private market while adding more and more people to the public rolls. Higher education costs are soaring as schools increase tuition to pay for DEI administrators and dead-end degree programs. Not to mention high taxes — on everything from income to gasoline, sales, businesses, cars, boats, marijuana, and home deliveries.
The full results of the poll were released in the Summer issue of Thinking Minnesota magazine.
