About the Yale Youth Poll

The Yale Youth Poll is an undergraduate-led research organization. During the 2024-2025 academic year, the Yale Youth Poll received funding from the Democratic Innovations Program at Yale’s Institution for Social and Political Studies. For the 2025-2026 academic year, the Yale Youth Poll has received funding from the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism and programmatic support from Yale’s Institution for Social and Political Studies.

However, the Yale Youth Poll operates with complete editorial and methodological independence. All polling activities, including questionnaire development, data collection, analysis, and interpretation of results, are conducted entirely by the undergraduate students behind the Yale Youth Poll. The findings and conclusions presented on this website and on our Substack reflect solely the work and analysis of the Yale Youth Poll and do not constitute an official position of, nor are they endorsed by, the Democratic Innovations program, the ISPS, the Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism, or Yale University.

Polling is our most powerful (albeit imperfect) tool for understanding public opinion. Democracy is about translating public opinion into policy — as Lincoln said, “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Politicians promise a better future for young people in the hopes of winning our votes. However, there is a relative scarcity of high-quality survey data on young voters’ opinions. Elected officials can’t represent young people’s interests without accurate data about what young people think. We provide unbiased, non-partisan data to guide policymakers, advocates, and journalists. In particular, we focus on attitudes towards democracy, comparing the opinions of young voters to the views of the electorate overall.