Many Americans are reconsidering aspects of their lives as a result of Donald Trump's win in the 2024 presidential election. A post-election survey finds that more than one in four American adults say that the election has influenced each of the following: their news consumption (36%), purchasing decisions (28%), future voting plans (28%), investments/savings (27%), and health care decisions (26%).
For many major parts of life and types of decisions, Democrats are likelier than Republicans to say the results of the election have had an influence. Democrats are especially likely to have changed their news consumption due to the election: 43% say they have, compared to 30% of Republicans. Democrats also are more likely than Republicans to say that the election has influenced the state or the country they want to live in. Democrats also are more likely to say the results influenced their health care decisions and level of political activism.
30% of Democrats say the election has affected their relationships with friends or family, compared to only 18% of Republicans. Some Democrats say Trump's win has influenced their sex life or contraceptive decisions (17%), dating or marriage decisions (15%), and childbearing plans (15%) — in each case, greater shares than Republicans who say the same.
Younger adults are more likely than older ones to say that the election has influenced many aspects of their life — with especially large differences regarding their sex lives, contraceptive decisions, and childbearing plans.
Gender also plays a role. Among Democrats between the ages of 18 and 44, 33% of women say the election has influenced their sex life or contraceptive decisions; by comparison, just 14% of Democratic men in this age group say the same. Democratic men under 45 are more likely than women in the same age range to say Trump's win has affected their education decisions (31% vs. 15%).
The election also appears to have changed Americans' perceptions of the state of the country. In the days leading up to Election Day (November 1 - 5 , with the survey closing before polls closed), we asked Americans to assess the state of 40 aspects of American life. We posed these questions again just after the election (November 7 - 10) and found that assessments among Democrats and Republicans had changed: Democrats had become more negative and Republicans, more positive.
Roughly a month and a half after the election (December 19 - 23), these partisan shifts have mostly persisted. Since the pre-election poll, the share of Democrats saying each aspect of American life is very or somewhat good has decreased by 5 percentage points among Democrats, on average, and 6 points among Republicans.
The shares of Democrats rating freedom of speech, government accountability, democracy, and press freedom as good in the U.S. have declined by at least 10 points since the election. Republicans are now 16 points more likely to say that U.S. election integrity is good in the U.S. than they were just before the 2024 election. And the shares of Republicans giving good ratings to American political stability, job opportunities, the stock market, democracy, and national unity also have increased by at least 10 points.
While the gap has narrowed, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to give positive ratings to most aspects of life surveyed. The biggest exceptions to this are women's rights, race relations, and LGBTQ rights — all of which Republicans are likelier than Democrats to say are in a good state.
What do Americans overall think are their country's strengths and weaknesses? Many say U.S. military strength, religious freedom, and entertainment are very or somewhat good. The aspects of life in the U.S. included in the survey that are most likely to be rated as very or somewhat bad are cost of living, government accountability, and politics.
Related:
- After the 2024 election, voters share hopes and fears for a second Trump term
- How Americans have reacted to Donald Trump's 2024 victory
- Trump supporters hold a bleak view of the economy heading into the election
See the results for these YouGov surveys
— Carl Bialik contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from online surveys conducted among U.S. adult citizens. One was conducted among 1,107 respondents from November 21 - 24, 2024, and its margin of error is approximately 4%. The other was conducted among 2,183 respondents on two separate surveys from December 19 - 21, 2024 and December 20 - 23, 2024; its margin of error is approximately 3%. For each survey, respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican).
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