Illinois Parents and the 2024 Election

The 2024 election is quickly approaching, and it is a chance for adults to teach children about voting as a civic duty. Elections can place a spotlight on challenging topics for parents to discuss with children and for teens to discuss with their friends. Even if parents try to limit media, children and adolescents are likely to learn about candidates and ballot initiatives through signage, from friends and from pop-up ads. Talking with parents and trusted adults about elections can help children process the information they encounter.

In this month’s Voices of Child Health Report, we share parents’ responses to questions about the 2024 election. We cover topics such as child and adolescent health issues parents will consider when heading to the voting booth, and whether they plan to talk with their children about the election. We heard from over 1,000 parents from across the state of Illinois, from both urban and rural communities.

Report Highlights

• Seventy-two percent of Illinois parents planned to get their children involved in the 2024 election in some way, such as by talking with their children about the election, watching news coverage together or bringing their children along when they vote.
• Reducing the cost of healthcare was the most frequently selected child and adolescent health-related issue parents were factoring into their voting decisions.
• The next most frequent child and adolescent health-related issue was increasing access to mental healthcare for youth.

How are Illinois parents getting their children involved in the 2024 election?

There are many ways that Illinois parents plan to involve their children in the 2024 election. Talking with them about the election is the most common, with 54% of parents indicating that they plan to do this. In addition, 37% of parents plan to watch news programs or coverage of the election with their children, 21% of parents plan to bring their children with them to vote and 8% of parents plan to bring their children with them to drop off their mail-in ballot. Overall, 72% of parents planned to get their children involved in the election in some way; however, we observed differences by region. Parents in urban regions were more likely to involve their children in the election in some way (74%) than parents in rural regions (51%).

Top children’s health issues for the 2024 election

We also asked parents to select the top three child and adolescent health-related issues that are important to them when deciding who to vote for in the 2024 election. The top issue was reducing healthcare costs, with 45% of parents selecting this as one of their top three most important issues. Other top-rated issues were: increasing access to mental health care for youth (39%), making childcare more affordable (36%), reducing access to firearms (35%), promoting safety on social media platforms (33%), and dealing with climate change (23%). Some parents provided their own examples of child and adolescent health issues that are important to them and many centered around the cost of living, such as reducing the cost of groceries.

Tips to talk with children about the election

Parents.com provides age-by-age suggestions for talking with children about elections. For preschoolers, parents might simply communicate the importance of voting. Whereas for high schoolers, parents might talk about how they research candidates and issues. Ask children questions about what they think and listen to their responses. This helps children feel heard and valued. PBS Kids has a list of questions to help get the conversation started. Other tips for discussing the election with children and adolescents include:

• Keep it positive and model for children how to express differences of opinion in a respectful way.
• Be reassuring and listen to any concerns children raise about elections.
• Talk about civic engagement and the importance of voting.