Kyle Schroeder spent the days before the election knocking on doors and making phone calls. The number one issue he heard as president of the Young Republicans of Wisconsin: “I think it was grocery prices and gas prices.”

This is also on his mind when he starts his own family. “When we’re talking about $1 in gas prices here, that could mean a difference in the amount of baby food you can buy,” Schroeder said.

That’s the big problem for Jake Williams: “So I agree with him, the stuff is too expensive.”

William is president of the Young Democrats of Wisconsin. “As a college student, I struggle to grocery shop from week to week,” she added.

In recent years, young voters have traditionally supported Democratic presidential candidates. Pre-exit poll conducted by Edison Research He claims that they did it again this year, but not as much as before. When you break it down by gender, young male voters They were actually slightly more likely to vote for Trump.

We We’re talking about Generation Z here – a group that came of age in a pandemic, just experienced its first spike in inflation, and grew up in the shadow of the recession.

affordability problem especially difficult for young votersAccording to Corey Seemiller, a professor at Wright State University and an expert on Generation Z.

“My generation of middle-class people, Generation X, will have no idea what it’s like to be 18, 20 years old and make a living,” he said. “His much more depressing than it was for the elderly.”

A. The report published by ConsumerAffairs this year It says Gen Z pays 57% more for a gallon of gas than Baby Boomers did at their age. Generation Z’s purchasing power is also 86% less.

That may partly explain his research, which shows that this group once most concerned about climate change and gun control has recently chosen access to education, health care and the economy as their top issues, Seemiller said.

“So I think what this creates is a sense of urgency today. “If I can’t pay my rent, I can’t worry about whether the planet will exist in 200 years,” he said.

Clearly, Generation Z had different perspectives on which candidate would offer the best economic policies. This also goes for Kyle Schroeder and Jake Williams; one voted for Trump; the other for Harris.