YMRP Releases May 2025 Survey Results
Young Men Research Project (YMRP) recently fielded a nationally representative survey of 1,079 US men aged 18-29. We explored a range of topics, from politics and identity to personal aspirations and economic outlook.
Young men support after school programs and housing deregulation. But they aren’t wedded to traditional party ideology.
Among the subset of young male registered voters (about 60 percent of the sample), inflation and cost of living top the list of concerns, followed by a second tier of issues that include crime, income inequality, climate change, and immigration. Partisanship shapes issue salience: Republicans are more concerned about crime (33 percent selected this as a top issue) while Democrats place higher priority on climate change (34 percent) and income inequality (33 percent).
Among various proposals, the most favored was increased funding for high school afterschool programs like sports and theater. 70 percent of young men supported this policy, with backing across the political spectrum, even when explicitly reminded it would require higher tax expenditures.
The next most popular policy (66-21 support) was to “reduce zoning regulations to allow more housing units to be built in places where it is in demand.” Considerable shares also voiced support for school voucher programs (51-35).
Young men with strong partisan identities generally have weaker “ideological commitments” than other voters. For example, among “very politically interested” Democratic men ages 18-29, just 44 percent support the idea of a voucher program. Similarly, young Republicans support increased funding for afterschool programs by a 66-28 margin.
Young men across the aisle reject political profiteering via cryptocurrency:
56-21 support banning politicians from owning or selling meme coins.
53-26 support more crypto regulation.
Majorities of Democrats (+51), independents (+26), and Republicans (+25) oppose the president holding a financial stake in memecoins.
Family, relationships, and prosperity are key motivators and aspirations.
When asked what it means to be a man, allowing respondents to select three options from a larger list, young men prioritized:
Providing for your family (47 percent),
Honesty (34 percent),
Confidence (29 percent),
Helping those in need (28 percent).
The least popular options included “being sexually active” (6 percent), “winning and being the best” (5 percent), “public service” (4 percent), and “being wealthier than those around you” (2 percent).
Most 18-29 year old men are currently in or have previously been in some kind of relationship, with only 27 percent saying they haven’t had one. Conservative-identifying men were slightly more likely to report being in a relationship, whether a serious one or a “situationship.”
Young men of all political affiliations view relationships as deeply important.
By a +38 margin, young men agree that “getting married is important to me”,
By a +20 margin, they want to get married in the near future,
+63 agree owning a home is important to them,
+37 value having children
Nonetheless, a majority (54-39) also report that they “often feel lonely.” Young men are seeking connection and cherish the idea of becoming a husband and father.
Young men have divided career and economic outlooks.
Our results show that while young men admire a range of professions, no single path stands out. When asked which careers they admire most:
17 percent said “I don’t really admire any careers in particular,” the highest among any option.
14 percent chose entrepreneurship,
11 percent chose “people who work with their hands, like carpenters or welders,”
10 percent chose “creators such as artists or musicians.”
Young men are divided by a 45-46 margin as to whether they “generally feel financially stable,” and economic uncertainty looms large. From a battery of issues, large shares said inflation (44 percent) and the cost of housing (38 percent) remained their biggest worries. Young men remain pessimistic about the economy, with 47 percent saying it is “getting worse” and just 22 percent saying it is “getting better.”
Many young men express a sense of malaise about life compared to how they perceive things were in the past. When asked whether they believe they are better or worse off than their grandparents, 44 percent said they were “worse off,” 22 percent said “about the same,” and just 22 percent said “better off.” White and Latino men were most pessimistic: 46 and 48 percent respectively said they were worse off, compared to 31 percent of Black men. Additionally, just 22 percent of White men, 25 percent of Black Men, and 20 percent of Latino men said they are better off than their grandparents.
The GOP is associated with strength, the Democratic party with weakness. But there is broad skepticism of both.
Young men were more prone to associate words like “feminine” and “weak” with the Democratic party. Words like “masculine,” “powerful,” “strong,” and “vulgar” had the strongest attachments to the Republican party. The terms “corrupt,” “honest,” “wants me to prosper,” and “snobby” were applied relatively similar to both.
Specifically, when shown a series of traits and asked whether each best described “The Democrats,” “The Republicans,” “Both,” “Neither,” or “Not sure,”
41% said “feminine” described Democrats (+33 vs Republicans),
32% said “weak” described Democrats (+15),
40% said “masculine” described Republicans (+27 vs Democrats),
35% said “powerful” described Republicans (+18)
34% said “strong” for Republicans (+16),
32% said “vulgar” for Republicans (+14).
While Republicans have a stronger reputation among traditionally “manly” traits, Democrats are more credible on gender equality: they’re more trusted to promote the interests of women (42-17) and trans people (53-11), while Republicans are trusted to promote the interests of men (18-39).
Neither party enjoys broad favorability. A plurality (31%) agreed both parties are “corrupt,” and the highest share of respondents said neither party is “fun” (36%), “honest” (35%), or “funny” (33%). Despite speculation that Republicans enjoy a reputational advantage, young men are skeptical of both parties and don’t associate humor or likability strongly with either.
Most Democratic hopefuls lack name recognition. Opinion is split on Trump.
Looking ahead to the 2026 midterms, Democrats hold a narrow lead among young men: on the generic ballot, 36 percent say they’d vote Democratic compared to 30% for Republicans. However, one-third are still undecided.
This gap is driven by highly engaged voters. Democrats lead 55-37 among young men who say they are “almost certain to vote,” but are virtually tied (29 to 30) among those who are “50-50” on voting. Among those not planning to vote, Democrats trail 11-15, with most choosing “neither.”
If the 2028 Democratic primary were held today, young men wouldn’t recognize most of the candidates. Majorities are unsure or have no opinion of Wes Moore, Pete Buttigieg, Josh Shapiro, JB Pritzker, and Gretchen Whitmer. Of those who do know them, net favorability is mostly positive across the board:
Wes Moore (+8), Pete Buttigieg (+5), Josh Shapiro (+4), JB Pritzker (+3), Gretchen Whitmer (+1).
AOC has better recognition (60% have an opinion) and a +9 favorability.
Bernie Sanders has the highest net favorability (+22)
JD Vance is well-known with net negative opinion (-1)
Chuck Schumer (-9) and Joe Biden (-18) rank lowest.
Donald Trump is evenly split (44-44 favorable/unfavorable).
Among highly likely voters, the most popular 2028 candidates include Wes Moore (+21), AOC (+20), and Pete Buttigieg (+18).
Survey methodology
This survey is based on 1,079 interviews conducted by YouGov on the internet with U.S. men aged 18-29. The sample was weighted to reflect national distributions by race/ethnicity, education, and U.S. Census region, using voter registration lists, the U.S. Census American Community Survey, the U.S. Census Current Population Survey, as well as available results for the 2020 and 2024 Presidential votes. The weights ranged from 0.13 to 3.55 with a mean of 1 and a standard deviation of 0.53.
The margin of error (a 95% confidence interval) for a sample percentage p based upon the subsetted sample is approximately 3.4%. It is calculated using the formula:
where CV is the coefficient of variation of the sample weights and n is the sample size used to compute the proportion. This reflects sampling error but does not account for non-sampling errors, including potential selection bias in panel participation or in response to a particular survey.
Please contact us here with any questions about the survey.
