Young Americans fear AI, economic instability: Harvard Kennedy poll

MASSACHUSETTS, UNITED STATES — A Harvard Kennedy School poll reveals a generation entering the workforce under a cloud of profound economic anxiety and technological apprehension, with a majority viewing artificial intelligence (AI) as a direct threat to their future job security and career meaning. 

The Fall 2025 Harvard Youth Poll, surveying 2,040 Americans aged 18 to 29, found that financial instability and pessimism about AI’s impact are central to young adults’ bleak outlook on their professional futures.

“Young Americans are sending a clear message: the systems and institutions meant to support them no longer feel stable, fair, or responsive to this generation,” said John Della Volpe, Director of Polling at the Institute of Politics.

Economic instability defines Gen Z’s daily life

Forty-three percent (43%) say they are either struggling or making ends meet with little or no financial security, which is disproportionately affecting Black and Hispanic young people and those who have not attained a college education.

This working-level stress is evident in the pessimistic long-term prognosis, in which only 30% expect to be more economically successful than their parents, highlighting a crisis of generational confidence.

This economic instability controls their politics and policy. A query asked which economic problem the government should address, with inflation receiving 37%, a significantly higher count than for healthcare, housing, and taxation.

Rising costs seem to be a rare topic on which the two parties agree, though the level of agreement varies: 48% of Republicans but only 36% of Democrats make it a priority.

The statistics eloquently describe the situation: for young adults, a high-cost economy is the most pressing issue affecting their stability and darkening their outlook.

“Their trust in democracy, the economy, and even each other is fraying — not because they are disengaged, but because they feel unheard and unprotected in a moment of profound uncertainty,” Della Volpe explained.

“Listening to them, fully and without precondition, is essential if we hope to rebuild that trust — one of the defining challenges of our time.”

Most young Americans see AI as a threat to jobs

In addition to direct expenses, the emergence of AI is viewed by young Americans as an enormous challenge to their career path, as it is likely to reduce opportunities, job security, and the purpose of employment.

Over three-quarters of them believe AI will take jobs rather than create them, and 44% believe there will be a greater job reduction of over 14%, compared with 14% who think it will create more jobs. It is not an isolated situation; this is common across genders and educational backgrounds, indicating a cross-generational problem that challenges competition in an AI-based economy. 

These are practical and career-focused issues. Most (59%) feel that AI is a threat to their future jobs, one of the perceived threats that is more serious than immigration or outsourcing. Furthermore, 41% of respondents are certain that AI will reduce the meaning of work, whereas only 14% are certain that it can give it meaning.

Even though young adults report trusting AI to handle some aspects of their lives (52% for schoolwork), they do not claim to trust it to provide complex professional or personal advice, suggesting an instrumental yet remote connection to the technology they believe is replacing their working lives. 

“Now is not the time to mince words: Gen Z is headed down a path that could threaten the future stability of American democracy and society. This is a five-alarm fire, and we need to act now if we hope to restore young people’s faith in politics, America, and each other,” said Jordan Schwartz, Student Chair of the Harvard Public Opinion Project.

This culture of perpetual fear and institutional alienation, solidified by economic precarity and technological anxiety, will compel employers and policymakers to engage in a challenging, fundamental reckoning with what security, fairness, and shared prosperity entail in the future of work.