Feelings of patriotism are consistently sinking among young people, according to a Gallup poll conducted between June 1 and 22, 2023, and released at the end of that month.
Last year, Gallup noted a record low 38% of Americans who said they were “extremely proud” to be American. This year, that number is “essentially unchanged” at 39%. Sixty percent of Republicans say they’re “extremely proud” to be American, as compared to 33% of Independents, and 29% of Democrats, and all three numbers are similar to what they were last year.
Beyond party lines, the greatest differentiator in the data is age: Only 18% of 18 to 34-year-olds identify as “extremely proud,” as opposed to 50% of those 55 and older, who say they’re “extremely proud.” Based on “aggregated data” from 2020 to today, according to the Gallup report, “younger adults in all party groups are significantly less proud than older adults of the same political persuasion.”
Polling shows that patriotism has fallen steadily over the last few decades, after a spike in the early 2000s following 9/11, an era where “patriotism” was used to justify expansions of the military and state surveillance.
In a Poynter PolitiFact assessment after Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy mentioned the trend, Gallup senior editor Jeffrey Jones told Poynter, “All age groups have been less patriotic the past six years than before, but the declines have been larger among younger adults. As a result, the age gaps have increased, especially comparing 18 to 29-year-olds with those 50 and older.”
Teen Vogue’s own polling in 2022, of nearly 1,200 registered voters under the age of 35 in advance of the midterms, bore out similar findings of skepticism and disillusionment about the direction of America. Last spring, in the first survey, 90% of respondents told Teen Vogue they feel the country is “on the wrong track” and 74% said they feel “the American dream” is no longer a reality for them.
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