WHAT THE DATA SAY: 55% say high school did not prepare them for higher education

By: Ray Day

CONTACT:

Ray Day
ray.day@stagwellglobal.com 

We wanted to share our latest consumer and business insights, based on research from Stagwell and Allison Worldwide. Among the highlights of our weekly consumer sentiment tracking:

FAILING HIGH SCHOOL GRADES

High school graduates are not realizing the workplace or higher-education success that society promises, according to our Harris Poll research with Agency, Inc. 

• Less than half (48%) of high school grads finish a four-year degree.
• Similarly, only half (49%) have landed full-time employment.
• 19% are still looking for work, and 18% are working part-time.
• Recent grads are more likely to land a job in a shrinking sector than a growing one: 24% in service and customer-facing roles – where AI likely will replace the most jobs – compared with 19% in the growing field of healthcare and caregiving; 16% in skilled trades and labor; 12% in office and professional services; and 12% in STEM jobs.
• How prepared are students after high school? Slightly more than half of recent graduates (53% at public districts, 55% at charter schools) report that their high school did not prepare them for postsecondary education.
• While 70% of graduates from public-district schools report earning good grades, only a quarter say, “high school was academically challenging.”
• 24% of recent high school graduates own their own homes, and 41% live rent-free with family or friends.
• See also: Two thirds of Gen Z rely on self-taught skills to find a job

HEALTH MISINFORMATION CRISIS

Our Harris Poll research with Bayer underscores a growing concern about the impact of health and science misinformation in America.

• 88% of Americans are concerned with false or misleading information about science and health in the media and online.
• 80% blame social media, and 71% blame online content creators for science and health misinformation.
• 83% feel angry when encountering false or misleading information about science and health.
• 82% worry about their family’s wellbeing due to misinformation.
• 51% of young adults rely on social media as their primary source.
• 1 in 5 of young adults distrust doctors and scientists for science and health information.
• 33% believe the U.S. is falling behind in science.

TIRED OF TARIFFS

Americans’ frustration with tariffs continues to grow, based on our Harris Poll survey with The Guardian. 

• 7 in 10 say tariffs have led to higher prices.
• Americans are experiencing the most sticker shock at the grocery store: 57% say tariffs have negatively affected grocery prices.
• 67% say tariffs aren’t the right solution for improving the economy.
• See also: Good Credit Gets a Second Date

ICYMI: In case you missed it, check out the thought-leadership and happenings around Stagwell making news:

• Gen Z pulling back from social media, except TikTok (Harris Poll)
• Faith, Storytelling and Its Influence on Modern American Audiences (HarrisX)
• Masculinity and the pressures shaping young men today (National Research Group)
• Data security, privacy and IP are single biggest tech risk factors (Harris Poll)
• While every lab races to erase ‘artificial’ from AI, that’s exactly what brands should be doubling down on (Code and Theory)
• What social media trends reveal about baseball and hockey’s popularity in Canada and the U.S. (The Harris Poll)