Young Americans’ apathy toward the Republican Party is not ideological; it comes from the simple fact that they can no longer afford to dream. They were raised on a basic American covenant: work hard, graduate, land a good-paying job, buy a home and start a family. But the gateway to that dream is a stable income, and for millions that’s no longer attainable. Youth unemployment is at 10.4% — more than double the national average — and housing costs have exploded by 47% since 2020. A generation that did everything we told them would lead to the American Dream now confronts an economy where the math does not add up.For millions of Gen Z voters, economic participation is becoming aspirational rather than achievable. They are building advanced skills shaped by AI, working longer hours in a volatile labor market, yet facing stagnant wages and financial insecurity far worse than their predecessors. And the problem is not their work ethic; it’s the economic rules written in Washington.The Republican Party is dead wrong if it assumes young voters are rejecting conservatism. They reject a system they believe is working against their ability to achieve the American Dream. Before the 2024 election, 58% of Gen Z and younger millennials were unsure they would vote because they believed neither party understood their economic reality or offered younger candidates. Youth turnout ultimately fell below 2020 levels. YOUNG AMERICANS GIVE BIG THUMBS DOWN TO DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS, TRUMP: POLLThe newest Harvard Youth Poll reinforces why: 56% of young Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction. They look at Washington and see a political class governing like it’s a senior center while they’re trying to survive in the most expensive economy of their lives.When a hardworking 26-year-old with a degree and two jobs still can’t afford an apartment without a roommate, they don’t blame capitalism — they blame the policymakers and executives who engineered an economy they can’t enter. They see corporations lobbying to expand the H-1B pipeline under the false claim of a "worker shortage," knowing it suppresses wages and slows innovation. They see fewer openings, lower pay and no entry point on the career ladder. And they watch multinational firms distort the housing market and drive prices far beyond what entry-level wages can sustain. They no longer see a free market.FAITH IN AMERICAN DREAM DWINDLES AMID SOUR ECONOMIC SENTIMENTS, POLL FINDSGen Z men supported Trump by a 14-point margin in 2024. They rejected identity politics and believed in an America First vision where hard work would finally pay off again. They still believe in that vision, but they are losing patience with Republican leaders who talk about culture while ignoring wages, affordability and the economic hardships defining their lives. Too many in our party dismiss these concerns as entitlement, forgetting they were elected to represent the American worker.The housing crisis has become its own form of disenfranchisement. The average first-time homebuyer is now 40 years old, an age when previous generations were already building stability.Young Americans are either delayed or denied the chance to begin their path to the American Dream. And if conservatism claims to stand for that dream, then it must build the economic conditions that make it possible. Otherwise, it’s lip service and we’ll lose an entire generation.CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONAnyone calling Gen Z entitled should try entering today’s housing market on a $48,000 salary while competing with foreign labor and cash-rich corporate buyers. The deck is stacked against them, and it’s obvious it’s exclusionary.The Republican Party has a choice: lecture young Americans about resilience while ignoring the economic crisis in front of them, or deliver a realignment that gives them a path back to the American Dream. That means putting American workers ahead of foreign labor by tightening H-1B abuse and incentivizing companies to invest in domestic talent; reopening entry-level access through apprenticeships; restoring wage growth by ending loopholes that allow corporations to bypass American labor; and reclaiming the first-home market from corporate and foreign buyers so young Americans can finally buy in. It means making AI an engine of opportunity rather than displacement and cutting the regulatory barriers that shut young entrepreneurs out before they begin.Republicans won this generation once. And we can do it again only if we are willing to rebuild an economy worthy of their ambition. If we refuse to confront the forces crushing young Americans, we will lose them for decades. This generation is ready to work hard, build and dream. The real question is whether Republican leaders have the courage to build a country that finally believes in them.CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM MEHEK COOKE