New Poll Spells Trouble for US Military Recruitment Woes

A new Pew Research Center poll found that over half of adults under 30 years old have a negative view of the U.S. military, spelling trouble for already low recruitment numbers.

Last fiscal year, the military services collectively missed its recruitment goals by roughly 41,000 recruits, according to U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) official Ashish Vazirani. Vazirani, who serves as deputy under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, called the issues causing the recruiting challenges “complex and multifaceted” in a December 2023 article on the DOD’s website.

The Pew Research Center poll, which was published on Thursday, found that 53 percent of Americans ages 18 to 29 believe that the military has a negative effect on the way things are going in the country. Meanwhile, 43 percent have a positive view of the military. When looking at Americans ages 50 and older, seven out of 10 said that the military has a positive effect on the country. Additionally, 57 percent of those ages 30 to 49 also have a positive attitude toward the military.

The survey, which looked at a wide array of American trends, was conducted between January 16 and 21, and had a margin of error for the full sample of 5,140 U.S. adult respondents of plus or minus 1.7 percentage points.

Most of the causes of military recruiting challenges that were listed in the DOD article pertained to the younger population. The article said that Generation Z or Gen Z, which is the generation born between 1997 and 2012, “generally has a low trust in institutions.” Another reason for low recruitment is that Gen Z is less likely to follow traditional life and career paths. Young people also have more options because of a strong U.S. economy. Additionally, the younger generation has fewer family members who served in the military, which the article says, “decreases the propensity to serve.”

Newsweek reached out to the DOD via email for comment.

The number of young people who had never thought about serving in the military has doubled in the past two decades. Roughly 20 years ago, the number was just over 25 percent of youths, but in recent years, according to Vazirani, the number spiked to more than 50 percent of youths.

“While the picture of the current recruiting environment is acutely difficult, the Defense Department and the military services are working together to resolve issues, improve processes, and expand awareness of the many opportunities military service offers,” Vazirani said in the article.

To help combat the recruitment shortage, the DOD is trying to adapt to the “ever-changing digital landscape,” which includes social media.

Vazirani also said that America’s leaders need to “talk about military service with youth in their communities and ask them to learn about and consider serving in the military.”