America's young people are less interested in joining the military, the Washington Examiner quoted a Pentagon survey as saying Monday.

The Pentagon's periodic youth survey asks a straightforward question: "How likely is it that you will be serving the military in the next few years?"

Soon after the 9/11 attacks, the percentage of young males answering "definitely" or "probably" held constant for whites (18 percent), blacks (23 percent) and Hispanics (36 percent).

But the latest survey showed that those rates had dropped to 14 percent for whites, 13 percent for blacks, and 19 percent for Hispanics. The numbers mark the lowest point in five years.

The poll also found that parents and other "influencers" of young people have soured on military service.

The percentage of parents who are likely or very likely to recommend their children to join the military dropped from 40 percent to 28 percent and that of other "influencers" went down from 60 percent to 40 percent.

The Pentagon is combating the poor survey results with cash incentives for recruits.

Source: Xinhua