Young Voters Say They Disapprove of Biden’s Performance by Nearly 2-to-1 Margin

President Joe Biden’s approval ratings have undergone a significant drop since the start of his tenure, especially when it comes to young voters.

An Economist/YouGov poll published this weekOverall, Biden’s approval rating is 41 percent. 50 percent of Americans are disapproving his job performance as President. Among voters between the ages of 18 and 29, however, there’s an even wider gap — 50 percent within that age bracket also disapprove of Biden’s job performance, but only 27 percent say they currently approve.

Although some other age groups in the poll had a lower disapproval rating, the poll found that the net approval/disapproval rating of voters under 30 was the highest of all age brackets.

The plunge in Biden’s approval rating among younger voters over the past year is drastic. From the time he first entered office in January to this week’s poll, Biden’s approval rating in that age group has gone down by 50 points.

Biden’s ability to secure the votes of young people was driven in large part due to their disdain for former President Donald Trump, The Economist noted. Indeed, Biden led Trump by 24 points in the 2020 presidential race among voters 18-29 years old.

However, according to The Economist, Biden’s failure to impress young people while in office may pose a threat to his presidency.

“The precise reason for the decline is hard to nail down,” said G. Elliott Morris, a data journalist for The Economist. “It’s most likely that there’s a confluence of factors that make Biden appear as not progressive enough for young adults (which is probably true?) that have driven down their views of him as the contrast vs Trump wanes.”

Biden’s failure to deliver on key promises he made to young voters during his 2020 presidential campaign may be one of the reasons his poll numbers are plummeting.

“If only young voters were telling Biden exactly what they want that he could do without congressional action,” the People for Bernie Twitter account wroteConcerning the numbers.

In other words, Biden’s refusal to provide debt relief to tens of millions of Americans with outstanding student loans — which According to economists, he could do it right now, without congressional approval — may be a major reason behind his declining support. While Biden has delivered some student loan reliefHe has largely ignored a campaign promise he made last ye to people with disabilities and those who have been defrauded or cheated by creditors to cancel at least $10,000 of student loans per person

Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary said that Biden would wait for congressional action when she was asked about the promise. The president would be “happy” to reduce loans by that rateShe said that a bill will be sent to the desk of the president as soon as it is passed by Congress. As long as the Senate filibuster continues to be in place, there is a very low chance that this will ever occur.

It’s also possible that Biden faces heat from young voters due to his plan to end the student loan payment pause that was implemented early in the pandemic. The administration has announced that payments will resume in February. It has been met with overwhelming enthusiasm; the White House recently went as far as to call restarting student loan payments a “high priority.”

“I’m angry at Biden backtracking on a key pillar he ran on: cancellation [of student debt], Wen Zhuang, Debt Collective member. “I’m fearing what the end of [the] moratorium will do for so many people.”

It’s also possible that Biden’s “Build Back Better” initiative is influencing his low approval rating among young people. The original idea of the initiative was to transform spending, but it has been drastically diluted. The proposal originally included a number of programs that would help young families — including free universal pre-K, programs to make childcare more affordable, a national paid family and medical leave program, and an extension of monthly child tax credit payments. In the last few months, however, many of these items were removed or significantly reduced.

The House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better bill, which would have included medical and family leave. Right-wing Democrats in Senate have refused support for the proposalUnless other essential elements of the bill can be cut,

The Build Back Better bill’s delay may also be a factor influencing Biden’s low approval rating among young families. December is the final month for child tax credit payments to be issued — but unless the reconciliation package is passed sometime in the next week, it’s unlikely that those payments will continue at the start of the new year.

Biden’s low approval ratings among young voters may have a significant impact on the 2022 midterm elections. In the same Economist/YouGov pollYoung voters were divided on who they wanted next fall. 33% said they would vote to elect a Democratic candidate while 33% said they would vote for the Republican candidate. Twenty percent of respondents said they were unsure.

Biden and Democrats might not have the support of young voters if they are to retain control of Congress after the midterm elections.