A new focus group conducted by the Manhattan Institute offers a more nuanced picture of young Americans than the prevailing narrative of economic despair.
The study’s author, Jesse Arm, spoke to the Deseret News about what he learned about how young conservatives view their high social media use and what they really think about cost of living in 2025.
Arm conducted two 90-minute focus groups with 10 Gen Z conservatives on Dec. 9 in Nashville, Tennessee. This study follows another Manhattan Institute study, which surveyed “new entrants” to the Republican Party, finding them to be an ideologically incoherent group.
A majority viewed politics as entertainment, liked President Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson, and named JD Vance as the ideal next president. One respondent, however, said he favored Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to lead the country next.
Though Cox’s name has been floated for the 2028 ticket, he has not expressed any ambitions to run.
Gen Z, the internet and Gov. Spencer Cox
In 2025, U.S. adults spent a significant percent of their waking hours looking at screens, averaging seven hours and two minutes per day, with Gen Z spending more than nine hours daily.
Gen Z’s age-group, those born between 1997 and 2012, is the first to grow up with smart phones and social media, and they currently spend the most time of any generation on screens.
When the study’s author, Jesse Arm, asked the group what they thought of controversial Rumble streamer Nick Fuentes, the conversation widened to internet politics more broadly. One focus group member, Jayden, described Fuentes’ content as “brain rot” and “misinformation.”
Alex added, “I feel like we’re in a time of social media where a lot of people like to rage bait, and I feel like that’s part of what he’s aiming for with some of the things that he says.
Another group member, George, added, “Yeah, I’ll admit my brain’s definitely getting fried. I try to delete the apps and everything, but I still find myself drawn to it.”
In a conversation with the Deseret News, Arm addressed these comments.
“George essentially acknowledges that brain rot is a problem and that he suffers from it. His brain is ‘being fried’ by his phone, and he can’t help himself,” Arm said.
The Manhattan Institute vice president of external affairs said this type of internet consumption is an addiction and “not terribly different than fentanyl.”
Intense internet usage, Arm added, “is having extremely bizarre, distorting effects on our politics, but it’s not just limited to our politics. It extends to relationships and lifestyle, and it’s corrosive for national identity.”
Arm added, Cox is “really on to something” in addressing how harmful social media and screens have been for Gen Z.
Is Gen Z really in an affordability crisis?
Catalyzed by Democratic wins in November’s off-year midterms, the media has been buzzing about Gen Z’s affordability crisis.
Shortly after winning New York City’s mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani wrote on X that the affordability crisis is what ultimately brought young people to his campaign.
“Young people came out to power our movement because ... they understand the cost-of-living crisis isn’t an inevitability,” Mamdani said. His affordability agenda included free buses, taxpayer funded child care, government-run grocery stores and rent freezes.
The Manhattan Institute’s study found a more nuanced view of Gen Z’s cost of living struggles. “It’s not to say that these people aren’t feeling economic stress and anxiety, but they’re feeling more of it because they’re told to feel more of it,” Arm said.
When Arm asked the focus group whether or not they believed they were going to be better off financially than their parents, “most of them told me, yeah, they thought they would.”
These Gen Zers still had concerns about housing, but they were less pronounced than their concerns about the cost of health insurance.
When asked if the economy was broken, focus group members pointed to health care as a clear failure.
Atticus said, “We’re busting our (expletive) just to pay rent and health care that we don’t even use.” Ashley agreed: “I’ve got kids. I can’t pay that.” Brice and Jayden added that they didn’t have insurance, because they couldn’t afford it.
Though the focus group members did have concerns about buying a home, “a lot of people cited reasons for not buying that didn’t have anything to do with cost,” Arm told the Deseret News.
Most of the focus group members were single and disenchanted with dating. “I think a lot of them just don’t want to buy a home before they’re married,” Arm said.