In small towns and rural communities, young voters say they feel unseen by leaders

Andrew Tait has a long workday. He bookends shifts as a warehouse supervisor for a nearby factory with early morning and late night chores on his family's small farm in rural Shenandoah Valley, Virginia.

He's quick to call himself lucky. But no matter how much the 36-year-old father of two young girls works, he says they barely scrape by — and the goalposts for success keep moving.

"I have a mortgage, and it's paid every month. But the thought of my children's birthdays or holidays terrifies me," Tait said. "What if the grocery bill goes up again? I mean, I'm on a shoestring."

Kirsten Luce /

He's among a generation of young Americans confronting a daunting reality: one of inflated prices and growing concerns about their financial futures. It's an experience facing Gen Z and millennial