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Roughly half of YouTube users say the platform is very important for helping them figure out how to do things they’ve never done before. That works out to 35% of all U.S. adults, once both users and non-users of the site are accounted for. And around one-in-five YouTube users (representing 13% of the total adult population) say it is very important for helping them understand events that are happening in the world.
Fully 81% of all parents with children age 11 or younger say they ever let their child watch videos on YouTube. And 34% of parents say their child watches content on YouTube regularly.
But even as many users are turning to content on YouTube to help them understand the world and learn new things, large shares say they encounter negative experiences with content on the platform. Around two-thirds of users (64%) say they at least sometimes encounter videos that seem obviously false or untrue while using the site, while 60% at least sometimes encounter videos that show people engaging in dangerous or troubling behavior. And among parents who let their young child watch content on the site, 61% say they have encountered content there that they felt was unsuitable for children.
Over the past two years, Americans have become more likely to say it is “stressful and frustrating” to have political conversations with those they disagree with. The change in opinions has come largely among Democrats: 57% now say that talking about politics with people they disagree with is stressful and frustrating, up from 45% two years ago.
By contrast, Republicans’ feelings about political conversations with people they disagree have changed very little. About half (49%) continue to find such conversations stressful and frustrating.
Overall, 53% of Americans say talking about politics with people they disagree with is generally stressful and frustrating; fewer (45%) say such conversations are usually “interesting and informative.” In March 2016, during the presidential primaries, slightly more found such conversations interesting and informative (51%) than stressful and frustrating (46%).
Majorities of Republicans and Democrats say talking politics with people whose views differ does not lead to more common ground
A majority of Americans (63%) say that when they talk about politics with people they disagree with, they usually find they have “less in common” politically than they thought previously. Fewer than a third of Americans (31%) say they find they have more in common with people they disagree with politically.
There is little division across the partisan and ideological spectrum: More than six-in-ten in each group say they find that when they discuss politics with people they disagree with, they usually find they have “less in common” politically than they thought.
Liberal Democrats are especially likely to use social media to mobilize others or find like-minded groups. Some 44% of liberal Democrats say they have used these sites in the past year to encourage others to take action on an issue that was important to them, while a similar share (43%) have taken part in a group that shares their interest in a cause. These shares fall to around a third or fewer among conservative or moderate Democrats and among conservative, moderate or liberal Republicans.
Large majorities of registered voters backing Democrats (77%) and those supporting Republicans (82%) expect their party to hold a House majority after the elections. But Republicans are more bullish than Democrats about Senate control: 87% of Republican voters expect the GOP to hold a Senate majority; 62% of Democratic voters expect their party to have the majority.
Two-thirds of Americans (67%) say everything possible should be done to make it easy for every citizen to vote, but Republicans – especially conservative Republicans – are less likely to hold this view.
Some 15% of U.S. households with school-age children do not have a high-speed internet connection at home, and this is particularly true in lower-income households. This aspect of the digital divide – often referred to as the “homework gap” – can be an academic burden for teens. Black teens, as well as those from lower-income households, are especially likely to face these school-related challenges as a result.
Younger adults in the U.S. are better able than older adults to distinguish factual statements from opinion statements, according to a survey conducted earlier this year in which respondents were asked to categorize five factual statements and five opinion statements. Younger adults are not only better overall at correctly identifying factual and opinion news statements – they can do so regardless of the ideological appeal of the statements.
A growing share of U.S. adults – including majorities in both parties – say drug addiction is a very big problem in the country today. Increasing shares of Americans also cite the affordability of college and sexism as very big problems. Partisans differ over the seriousness of many other problems, including the gap between the rich and poor and gun violence.
There were nearly 5 million English language learners in U.S. public schools in fall 2015, representing 9.5% of enrollees. These students are a diverse group from many different states and native language backgrounds. A new interactive shows Spanish is by far the most common language they speak at home, but other languages are common, too.
Spanish is the most common language spoken at home for ELL students, but not in all states. Roughly three-quarters of students with limited English proficiency in U.S. public schools (77%) said they spoke Spanish as their primary language at home in 2015.
Although only 2% of ELL students nationwide speak Arabic at home, the share is greater in some states, such as Michigan, where 24% speak it.
Ahead of presidential runoff, a look at Brazilian public opinion
Brazilians will vote Sunday in a runoff presidential election. In a survey conducted this spring, 9% of Brazilians described the current economic situation in their country as good, even lower than the share (15%) who said this in 2017. A plurality of 43% said the financial situation of average Brazilians is worse than it was 20 years ago, and about half (53%) said children in Brazil will be financially worse off than their parents when they grow up. Voting is compulsory in Brazil: It is one of a handful of countries where at least nine-in-ten people say they have voted in the past.
Half of U.S. Latinos say their situation in the country has worsened over the past year, up from 32% in the weeks after the 2016 election and the highest level since the Great Recession. More say they have serious concerns about their place in America today and a majority worry that they, a family member or close friend could be deported.
Many blame the current administration for what they see as the worsening situation of Hispanics, the nation’s largest minority group. Two-thirds (67%) say the administration’s policies have been harmful to Hispanics – a much higher share than during the administration of either Democrat Barack Obama (15% in 2010) or Republican George W. Bush (41% in 2007). Overall, six-in-ten Hispanics (62%) say they are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country today, up since 2017 and the highest level since the Great Recession a decade ago, when 70% of Hispanics said they were dissatisfied with the nation’s direction.
And yet, attitudes among Latinos are not monolithic. Slightly less than a quarter of Latinos (23%) identify as Republican or describe themselves as leaning Republican. Among this group, six-in-ten (59%) approve of President Trump’s job performance, compared with just 8% of Latino Democrats who say the same.3 In addition, half as many Latino Republicans as Latino Democrats (28% vs. 57%) say the Hispanic population’s situation has grown worse over the past year.
Notably, partisan differences do not extend to voting. In each partisan camp, about six-in-ten (59%) registered voters say they are more enthusiastic about voting in the upcoming midterms than in the last congressional elections. This year, more than 29 million Latinos are eligible to vote, up from 25 million in 2014.
The movement for a $15-an-hour minimum wage got a boost earlier this month when Amazon – which has drawn criticism for its pay practices and working conditions – announced it would raise its base pay for all U.S. workers to $15 an hour. The new minimum wage takes effect Nov. 1 and will affect some 250,000 full- and part-time employees, as well as the 100,000 or so seasonal workers Amazon expects to hire in the next few months, according to the company. (The raises will be offset, at least in part, by the phasing out of bonuses and stock awards for hourly workers.)
How much of a real improvement those workers will see in their daily lives, however, depends very much on where they live.
More than 29 million Latinos are eligible to vote nationwide in 2018, making up 12.8% of all eligible voters – both new highs.
The pool of eligible Hispanic voters has steadily grown in recent years. Between 2014 and 2018, an additional 4 million Hispanics became eligible voters (U.S. citizens ages 18 and older). Much of this growth has been driven by young U.S.-born Hispanics coming of age. Since 2014, around 3 million have turned 18. Other sources of growth include Hispanic immigrant naturalizations – among Mexicans alone, 423,000 became U.S. citizens from 2014 to 2017 – as well as residents of Puerto Rico moving to one of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, especially Florida.
The Latino voter turnout rate in midterm elections has declined since 2006. In 2014, the turnout rate among Latino eligible voters dropped to a record low of 27.0%. (White and Asian eligible voters also had record-low turnout rates.) Despite this, a record 6.8 million Latinos voted.
Young Latinos have contributed to this low voter turnout. In 2014, just 16.0% of eligible Latinos ages 18 to 35 voted, compared with 36.2% of Latinos 36 and older. At the same time, younger Latinos make up a large share of the Hispanic electorate. About 43.5% of all Hispanic eligible voters in 2018 are 18 to 35 years old, compared with 30.6% of all U.S. eligible voters. Hispanics also account for a significant share of young eligible voters nationwide. Hispanics make up about a fifth (18.1%) of all U.S. eligible voters ages 18 to 35, but just 10.4% of eligible voters ages 36 and older.
America’s global image today is complicated. On balance, people around the world continue to give the United States favorable ratings and say it respects the individual liberties of its people. More countries also prefer the U.S. as the world’s leading power over China. At the same time, many express frustration about America’s role in the world and say they have little confidence in President Donald Trump to do the right thing in world affairs, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of 25 nations.
Here are nine charts that show how people in these countries see the U.S. and its president:
Western Europeans have strikingly negative views of Trump. In the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Spain – four nations the Center has consistently surveyed over the past 15 years – there is a clear pattern in public perceptions of U.S. presidents. People in these countries generally had little confidence in President George W. Bush to do the right thing regarding world affairs. Their confidence was much higher in Bush’s successor, President Barack Obama, but it plunged following Trump’s election in 2016. This year, confidence in Trump remains low in Germany, France and Spain – but it is up slightly in the UK. Of the 25 countries surveyed, a median of 70% lack confidence in Trump to do the right thing regarding world affairs.
Views of the U.S. are favorable on balance, but concerns are evident. Across the 25 countries surveyed, a median of 50% have a favorable opinion of the U.S., while 43% have an unfavorable view. Likewise, a median of 51% say the U.S. respects the personal freedoms of its people, compared with 37% who say it does not. However, there is international concern about America’s role in world affairs. Large majorities say the U.S. doesn’t take the interests of other countries into account when making foreign policy decisions. Also, a global median of 37% believe the U.S. is doing less to help address major global problems than it used to.
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