Black Gen Zers: What They Believe, How They Engage, and Their Barriers to Voting
The experiences, priorities, and challenges young people face can vary dramatically depending on who they are and where they live.
Gen Z is often described as a generation driving change, but no generation is a monolith. The experiences, priorities, and challenges young people face can vary dramatically depending on who they are and where they live. For us, that raised an important question: If we’re serious about closing the race and age voting gap, what are Black and Latino young people experiencing that broader conversations about civic engagement often overlook?
That’s one of the reasons we launched Pass the Mic to Gen Z. Alongside our broader survey of this generation, we made a deliberate effort to listen more deeply to Black and Latino Gen Zers by oversampling both groups in our research. We wanted to move beyond assumptions and hear directly from young people about the issues shaping their lives.
Here’s what Black Gen Zers told us about their beliefs, how they engage with politics, and the challenges that can make it more difficult to participate in elections.
Black Gen Zers on What They Care About
To better understand what motivates young people, we asked them to tell us which issues matter most to them. Economic concerns topped the list of priorities, with cost of living and inflation ranking highest, followed by healthcare and housing costs across backgrounds. While Black youth ranked these top issues the same, the intensity of those concerns was higher. And although economic concerns dominated across Gen Z, Black respondents’ priorities reflected a broader set of challenges. In addition to issues like the cost of living, they were more likely than Gen Z overall to prioritize racism, student loan debt, gun policy, voting rights, and criminal justice.
BLACK GEN Z’S ISSUE PRIORITIES AND RANKINGS
| Issue | Black | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | Rank | % | Rank | |
| Cost of living and inflation | 71% | #1 | 65% | #1 |
| Healthcare | 58% | #2 | 45% | #2 |
| Housing costs | 57% | #3 | 45% | #3 |
| Racism | 54% | #4 | 28% | #9 |
| Jobs and unemployment | 50% | #5 | 35% | #4 |
| Education and childcare | 47% | #6 | 33% | #7 |
| Free speech and religious freedom | 38% | #7 | 34% | #6 |
| Student loan debt | 37% | #8 | 19% | #13 |
| Abortion and reproductive rights | 36% | #9 | 31% | #8 |
| Immigration | 32% | #10 | 34% | #5 |
| Gun policy | 30% | #11 | 24% | #11 |
| Voting rights and democracy | 30% | #12 | 24% | #12 |
| Climate change and the environment | 28% | #13 | 27% | #10 |
| Criminal justice reform | 25% | #14 | 17% | #14 |
| LGBTQ+ rights | 22% | #15 | 17% | #15 |
| Foreign policy and humanitarian crises abroad | 19% | #16 | 15% | #16 |
| Something else | 4% | #17 | 8% | #17 |
Beyond specific issues, we also asked Gen Z how they feel about the direction of our country. Overall, 62% believe we’re heading in the wrong direction, with only 7% stating we’re heading in the right direction. Black respondents felt even more strongly that the country is heading in the wrong direction at 67%, 5 points higher than Gen Z overall. When asked what worries them about our country, Gen Z most often cited the current administration, fascism, corruption, ineffectual government, racism, and hate. Black and multi-racial Gen Zers were more likely to emphasize worries about racism, division, and hate, in addition to expressing concerns about the current administration and costs.
Black Gen Zers on Taking Action
To understand the impact of concerns about how our political system is working on individual political engagement, we began by asking respondents: “Do you believe your vote matters?” A majority of Gen Z (56%) said yes. While a similar majority of Black Gen Zers believed their vote matters, young Black people were slightly more likely to report being unsure (27% vs. 22%). In terms of how that translates into action, Black respondents reported a slightly lower intention to vote in the November 2026 elections, with 71% saying they were likely to do so compared to 75% in the overall sample.
Pairing issues and civic engagement, we asked Gen Z what actions they feel motivated to take on the issues they care about the most. Overall, Gen Z reported being willing to take a variety of actions when they care about an issue, with the highest likelihood actions being voting (89%), talking to friends or family about the issue (88%), and signing a petition (78%). Black youth reported a similar likelihood for those three actions, but were more likely than Gen Z overall to protest or participate in a boycott (66%), register people to vote (62%), post on social media (61%), and reduce or cut off contact with those who disagree (54%). Looking more deeply at what motivated them to vote, Gen Z overall named making a difference and civic duty as the top motivators (45% selected each), while Black respondents paired their top choice of making a difference (47%) with “because people have sacrificed for my right to vote” at 46%.
Black Gen Zers and Their Barriers to Voting
Understanding civic participation also means understanding what prevents people from participating — especially for communities with historically lower turnout, such as young people and people of color. Half of young people reported experiencing at least one barrier to voting. The most frequently reported barriers were informational, with 28% citing a lack of information about candidates and 20% citing a lack of information about ballot issues.
But Black Gen Zers — who are as likely as all respondents to be willing to turnout and value voting — reported experiencing multiple barriers at higher rates than Gen Z at large, including information (with the lack of information about candidates at 32% and lack of information about ballot issues at 25%), transportation (12%), and registration challenges (11%). These barriers are a cause for concern because they can lead to lower turnout, despite deep engagement across multiple issues.
The challenges facing Black Gen Zers are real, and so is their passion for what they care about and willingness to participate to create the world they want to see. Through our national survey and listening tour, we are working to better understand what young people need, what is standing in their way, and how we can support them in making their voices heard. And this is just the beginning.
As we continue listening to young people across the country, we’ll keep sharing what we’re learning about the experiences, priorities, and perspectives shaping the next generation. Stay tuned for our next deep dive, where we’ll explore what we’re hearing from Latino Gen Zers and the issues that matter most to them.