Here’s what these young voters say are their top issues in the 2024 election

Young voters from across the country say the economy and the cost of living, abortion, immigration and foreign policy are some of the key issues motivating them to cast their ballot in November.

After graduating from high school in 2017, N’Dea Gordon entered the workforce. Deterred by the high cost of college and the prospect of thousands of dollars of student loans, her plan was to work her way up in the service industry, get promotions and gain skills that could help her build a career. But years went by, and the wages didn’t go up, leaving her with only one option: She had to go back to school and hope the investment would pay off. “I wasn’t able to get raises in my workplaces at all, and the minimum wage just wasn’t enough. I would kind of just go to jobs hoping that if I worked hard enough, they would see my efforts and at the very least they will train me to have new skills that I could carry into a different job so that I could get more income. But that just hasn’t been happening,” Gordon said. Gordon is one of the countless young voters who’ve cited the economy and cost of living as among their most motivating factors to vote this November in an election they have the power to help shape. Along with the economy, young voters also name abortion, immigration, foreign policy, climate and gun control as other priorities. Gordon, who is 25 years old and lives in Columbus, Ohio, is in her first year of a cybersecurity program at Western Governors University, an online school. As a student, she feels the pinch of rising food prices and the cost of housing and rent – which she said have gone up an “exorbitant amount” in the past year. She said she has been struggling to find even a studio apartment she can afford. “When you have a majority of the population struggling to take care of their basic needs, I think there needs to be a little bit of a reassessment,” she said.