ROME, Italy: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is losing support among younger voters, according to opinion polls, raising concerns about the future of her right-wing coalition ahead of Italy's 2027 national election.

The election is expected to be a close contest between Meloni's governing alliance and the center-left opposition. The growing dissatisfaction among voters under 35 could therefore become an important factor in deciding the result.

Meloni has been prime minister since 2022, but analysts say her government has not done enough to improve economic opportunities for younger Italians. At the same time, it has introduced a series of tougher security and law-and-order policies that have affected young people in several ways.

Lorenzo Pregliasco, head of polling agency Youtrend, said, "Younger voters are clearly leaning towards the center-left."

Meloni's coalition includes her Brothers of Italy party (FDI), Matteo Salvini's League and Antonio Tajani's Forza Italia. Together, the parties now receive less than 30 percent of the vote among voters under 35.

The main opposition parties perform much better among the same age group. Almost half of younger voters support the opposition bloc, which includes the Democratic Party, the 5-Star Movement and the Left-Green Alliance.

The figures represent a major decline for Meloni. In 2023, when her popularity was at its highest, her Brothers of Italy party alone enjoyed roughly the same level of support among young voters that the entire governing coalition receives today.

Political preferences among young Italians also show a clear gender gap. Research by Milan's Bocconi University, based on SWG polling, found that young men were more likely to support right-wing parties, while young women tended to favor the left.

Among men aged 18 to 29, support for FDI stood at 15 percent, compared with only 4.2 percent among women. The 5-Star Movement had support from 18 percent of women under 30, while only 5.1 percent of young men supported the party.

Lorenzo De Sio, a political science professor at Rome's Luiss University, identified the government's lack of major economic reforms as a key reason for the growing frustration among young people.

"Meloni has made no significant economic reforms," he said.

Italy continues to face serious challenges in youth employment and education. Eurostat data show that the employment rate for people aged 15 to 24 is the lowest among the 21 countries that use the euro. Italy also spends less on education than most of its partners in the euro zone.

Youth Leaving Italy for Greener Pastures

Economic differences with other European countries have also encouraged young Italians to leave. Bank of Italy figures show that young graduates in Germany earn about 80 percent more on average than their Italian counterparts. As a result, tens of thousands of young Italians move abroad each year in search of better jobs and career opportunities.

Youtrend data shows that only 25 percent of voters under 35 approve of the government, compared with 35 percent of the population overall.

Meloni is also losing some potential young supporters to the far right. National Future, a party formed in February by former army general Roberto Vannacci, is polling at around 7 percent. Its strongest support comes from middle-aged men, but it has also attracted some young people in cities who oppose immigration.

The government's tougher security policies have added to tensions with younger Italians. Measures have targeted rave parties, so-called "light" cannabis, disruptive protests, squatters and juvenile crime.

Thousands of students took part in a nationwide "No Meloni Day" protest last November. They opposed the government's security measures, reductions in education spending and Meloni's support for Israel during the Gaza conflict.

The government has also proposed tougher rules for juvenile offenders. Under a bill introduced last month, people aged 14 to 17 who commit crimes would be treated as fully responsible unless they could prove otherwise. The proposal would reverse the current system, under which judges must establish that minors understood the consequences of their actions.

A 2023 decree that increased penalties for juvenile offenses has already been linked to a 50 percent increase in the number of young people in juvenile prisons, according to prisoners' rights organization Antigone.

Meloni appeared to recognize the growing importance of younger Italians and joined an informal podcast hosted by a popular rapper days before the referendum to reach younger voters.

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