Featured February 2, 2026 Americans are hearing claims about government spending, but many struggle to identify if they are true Back to Blog Partnership for Public Service surveys offer insights into how young adults see the federal government, federal cuts and civil servants Date March 17, 2026 Authors Hannah Sobran Tags Government Effectiveness The federal government is facing a major perception problem among young adults, according to a series of 2025 polls conducted by the Partnership for Public Service. Overall, just 36% of young adults ages 18 to 34 say they trust the federal government, according to the Partnership’s latest State of Public Trust report. Other survey results show that while young adults see the government’s impact as more positive than negative, they believe civil servants are not committed to helping people like them, have grown more supportive of greater presidential control over the federal workforce and are feeling the effects of the Trump administration’s recent federal cuts. Young adults believe civil servants are not committed to helping them Less than half of young adults believed that civil servants were committed to helping people like them, fewer than all other age groups, according to a spring 2025 survey. The same survey shows that only 46% felt favorable towards civil servants, compared with 56% of all respondents. Moreover, just over one-third of young adults were unsure if they viewed civil servants favorably or unfavorably. These attitudes may help to explain why young adults are more open to greater presidential control of the civil service While the Partnership’s data shows that Americans as a whole are becoming more supportive of increased presidential powers over the hiring and firing of civil servants, this change has been especially pronounced among young adults. According to a 2025 survey, 48% of people ages 18 to 34 said presidents should have the right to fill any federal government job with people that agree with their policies. In a similar survey conducted one year earlier, only 25% of young adults said the same. Yet despite support for more presidential control over the civil service, young adults have become increasingly unhappy with the management of the federal government In April 2025, 28% of young adults ages 18 to 29 said the management of the federal government was headed in the right direction, compared with 62% who said it was headed in the wrong direction. Six months later, however, 70% of 18 to 29 year olds said the management of the federal government was headed in the wrong direction, and only 12% said it was headed in the right direction. This dissatisfaction may stem in part from young adults feeling the impact of cuts to the government While cuts to government personnel and funding have affected all age groups, a disproportionate number of young adults have said the cuts impact them. About 60% of respondents ages 18 to 34 said they or someone they know had been personally affected by layoffs of federal employees or cuts to government funding, according to a September 2025 online survey. Only 33% of those aged 65 or older responded similarly. In fact, almost 30% of 18 to 34 year olds said they had been personally affected, compared with only 6% of those ages 65 or older. These findings show that the federal government is facing a perception crisis among young adults. This disconnect presents potentially long-lasting consequences for public trust and our democracy. When trust in government is low, it loses the ability to connect with, engage and serve the full range of public needs and interests across our nation. Moreover, young adults remain chronically underrepresented in the civil service, with the median age of federal workers sitting at 47. Understanding how to bridge the trust deficit among young adults is critical for recruiting the next generation of civil servants, which is essential to building a more effective and responsive government. The Partnership is working toward this goal through its Government for a New Era initiative, which is developing new reforms around the government’s most urgent management problems in collaboration with various stakeholders. Methodology The statistics in this blog come from a mix of Partnership surveys from the past year, including nationally representative surveys and online surveys using quota sampling. Specific data cited comes from a nationally representative sample unless stated. Young adults are defined as those ages 18 to 34 unless otherwise stated. Learn more about the Partnership’s work to examine and rebuild public trust in government.
