Global Courant 2023-04-25 07:38:06
About 75 percent of young Americans think homelessness can happen to anyone; 40 percent are concerned about being a victim of gun violence.
The Spring 2023 Harvard Youth Survey included responses from 2,069 American youth and was conducted last month. (AP Archive)
Concerns about the epidemic of gun violence in the United States and the possibility of losing their homes are affecting young Americans more and more, according to one survey.
Highlighting the instability among 18-29 year olds, nearly half of all young Americans — 48 percent — said they felt insecure in the past month, according to research from the Policy Institute (IOP) at Harvard Kennedy School. Nearly 40 percent reported being concerned that they might be the victim of gun violence amid repeated grisly mass shootings in the United States.
About three-quarters — 73 percent — said they agreed that homelessness can happen to anyone. Thirty-two percent said they believed this could happen on their own, and above-average responses came from Latinos — 43 percent — and Black respondents — 39 percent.
The Spring 2023 Harvard Youth Survey included responses from 2,069 American youth and was conducted last month.
“The data collected in this survey clearly demonstrates not only the increasing levels of political participation among young people, but also the urgency of addressing serious issues such as mental health, gun violence, housing and more,” IOP Director Setti Warren said in a statement. .
“The results of previous Harvard Youth polls have had a direct impact on public policy, and I expect this trend to continue,” he added.
‘feeling bad, depressed or hopeless’
Nearly half of those surveyed — 47 percent — reported feeling “bad, depressed, or hopeless,” and 24 percent said they thought they would “better die” or have thought about harming themselves at some point. last two weeks
About 45 percent said they were bothered by feelings of loneliness, while 55 percent reported feeling “tense, anxious, or nervous.”
“From fears of mass executions to fears of being homeless one day, the current state of millennials may perhaps best be summed up in one word: worried,” said Ethan Jasny, student chair of the Harvard Public Opinion Project. “Young Americans turned that fear into action and started voting as if their rights and lives depended on it.”
READ MORE: More than 1.5 million students left homeless in the US during 2017-2018
Source: AA
