American’s youngest voters are overwhelmingly backing Hillary Clinton for president, as a majority also express fears about the country’s future, a nationwide survey released Wednesday by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics shows.

The Democratic nominee is backed by 49 per cent of likely voters ages 18 to 29, followed by Republican nominee Donald Trump at 21 per cent, Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson at 14 per cent and Green Party nominee Jill Stein at 5 per cent. In a hypothetical two-way contest between Clinton and Trump, the Democrat received 59 per cent support and the Republican was backed by 25 per cent.

Clinton is also tracking ahead of President Barack Obama’s 2012 polling numbers among women and whites in the age group, the survey found.

“After eight years of a complicated relationship with millennials, in the closing days of the campaign, Hillary Clinton is closing strong,” said John Della Volpe, the institute’s polling director.

“Her favorability with 18- to 29-year-old likely voters is up significantly since the summer and the combination of her strong debate performances, and failure for both Trump and the third party candidates to expand their bases gives her a lead of 28 points.”

Asked about the nation’s future, 51 per cent of those ages 18 to 29 said they feel “fearful,” while just 20 per cent picked “hopeful.” In responding to the question, which hadn’t been asked in previous polls, every demographic group felt more fearful than hopeful, the institute said, with white women exhibiting the most anxiety, at 60 per cent fearful.