Latino 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 Latino 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.
Latino Gen Zers on What They Care About
To better understand what motivates young people, we asked them which issues matter most to them. Economic concerns topped their list of priorities, with cost of living and inflation ranking highest, followed by healthcare and housing costs. Latino youth ranked these top three issues the same, although they selected healthcare at a higher rate than Gen Z overall. Looking beyond the top three issues, issue priorities began to diverge more, with young Latinos ranking immigration fourth (fifth for all of Gen Z) and racism sixth (ninth for Gen Z overall).
LATINO GEN Z’S ISSUE PRIORITIES AND RANKINGS
| Latino | Overall | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | Rank | % | Rank | |
| Cost of living and inflation | 66% | #1 | 65% | #1 |
| Healthcare | 51% | #2 | 45% | #2 |
| Housing costs | 48% | #3 | 45% | #3 |
| Immigration | 46% | #4 | 34% | #5 |
| Jobs and unemployment | 37% | #5 | 35% | #4 |
| Racism | 36% | #6 | 28% | #9 |
| Education and childcare | 36% | #7 | 33% | #7 |
| Abortion and reproductive rights | 34% | #8 | 31% | #8 |
| Free speech and religious freedom | 33% | #9 | 34% | #6 |
| Climate change and the environment | 29% | #10 | 27% | #10 |
| Voting rights and democracy | 27% | #11 | 24% | #12 |
| Gun policy | 26% | #12 | 24% | #11 |
| Student loan debt | 22% | #13 | 19% | #13 |
| Criminal justice reform | 19% | #14 | 17% | #14 |
| Foreign policy and humanitarian crises abroad | 18% | #15 | 15% | #16 |
| LGBTQ+ rights | 17% | #16 | 17% | #15 |
| Something else | 7% | #17 | 8% | #17 |
In addition to identifying their key 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. Latino Gen Zers felt even more strongly that the country is heading in the wrong direction at 69%, 7 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. Latino and multi-racial Gen Zers were more likely to emphasize worries about racism, division, and hate, in addition to also expressing concerns about corruption and the current administration.
Latino Gen Zers on Taking Action
To understand how the concerns shared in response to the above questions may be impacting young people’s political engagement, we asked respondents: “Do you believe your vote matters?” A majority of Gen Z (56%) said yes. Young Latinos responded similarly to Gen Z overall, with 58% stating their vote matters. It is, however, important to note that this still means that 42% of Latino Gen Zers are either unsure or do not believe their vote matters. Despite a varied sense of efficacy, when asked about their intention to vote in the November 2026 elections, young Latinos reported being likely to vote at the same rate as Gen Z overall, at 75%.
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%). Latino Gen Zers reported a similar likelihood to vote and talk to those close to them, but were more likely than Gen Z overall to sign a petition (82%), protest or participate in a boycott (62%), post on social media (59%), and reduce or cut off contact with those who disagree (46%). Looking closer at what motivates them to vote, Gen Z overall named making a difference and civic duty as the top motivators (45% selected each), while Latino respondents paired their top choice of making a difference (43%) with “to support candidates I believe in” (40%), followed by civic duty (38%).
Latino 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, with Latino Gen Zers slightly more likely to experience at least one barrier at 53%. The most frequently reported barriers across Gen Z were informational, with 28% citing a lack of information about candidates and 20% citing a lack of information about ballot issues. Latino young people reported experiencing those informational barriers at comparable rates, but were also slightly more likely to report not knowing where to vote at 13%. These barriers are a cause for concern because they can lead to lower turnout, despite deep engagement across multiple issues.
Like Gen Z at large, Latino GenZers have real concerns about our political system and remain challenged by its realities, but are passionate and informed about a variety of issues and are willing to take action to create change in their world. 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 explore what Gen Z told us about how they get news and stay informed.