NBC Poll Shows 47% of Adults Aged 18-29 Prefer Living in the Past

An NBC News poll found that 47% of adults aged 18-29 would prefer to live in the past if given the choice. The survey, conducted online from March 30 to April 13, 2026, included 32,433 adults, with 3,009 respondents in the 18-29 age group. Among these young adults, 38% preferred the present, 10% chose less than 50 years in the future, and 5% selected more than 50 years in the future.

One-third of those favoring the past selected a time period less than 50 years ago, while 14% chose more than 50 years ago. The poll defined Gen Z as individuals born in 1997 or later. Overall, 62% of these respondents said they expect life to be worse compared to previous generations, 25% anticipated it would be better, and 13% said it would be about the same.

varied by race, with 33% of young Black adults preferring the past, compared to 52% of young white adults and 47% of young Hispanic adults. Eighty percent of respondents aged 18-29 stated that the United States is on the wrong track, the highest share among age groups in the survey. The margin of error for the 18-29 subgroup was 4 percentage points, NBC News reported.

Isaacs, a 20-year-old student in Colorado, selected less than 50 years in the past and pointed to the 1990s. He stated that the era offered a lack of phones, more personal experiences, and some ease of modern technology. >"A smartphone draws away from people’s ability to just look at each other, have a conversation, and exist outside of the realm of the phone and what happens on the phone," Isaacs said.

— @NBCNews Skyler Barnett, a 28-year-old construction worker in Missouri, cited the internet and smartphones as reasons for not choosing the present. He described the abundance of irrelevant online content affecting young people. Alex Abernathy, a 25-year-old part-time student in Michigan, preferred less than 50 years into the future to see more social and political progress.

She stated that it is important to get back to technology being made for one thing at a time, and not people having a supercomputer that they walk around with. Abernathy recently connected with a 67-year-old woman at a political protest who shared similar values and interests.

Clay Routledge, a nostalgia researcher and existential psychologist, stated that some members of Gen Z wish to live in an era right before social media and computers mediated life. He noted that yearning too far before the 1990s means losing advantages of societal progress, and that looking back to the 1990s offers a world before constant internet ties.

Routledge added that an increasing share of Gen Z recognizes detrimental mental and cultural effects of modern technology and has taken more agency for healthier relationships with it. He stated that Gen Z drives consumer retro trends that assert smartphones should not control users, without discarding them entirely.

The poll results align with trends in nostalgia for 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s culture, fashion, and technology, NBC News reported. Examples include resurgences in claw clips, baggy jeans, strappy tops, cassette tapes, iPods, and social media interest in 1990s figures like John F.

Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Routledge explained that disruptions like political divisiveness or worries about AI prompt nostalgia for comfort. He described it as a reboot to a time before unhealthy technological directions. Abernathy uses social media to find offline communities and events, emphasizing real community support and highlighting intergenerational connections.