Report shows Generation Z may be most liberal demographic yet
Generation Z – the cohort of post-Millennial youths ages 13-21 – are poised to be the most liberal generation in history, according to a new report.
Also on track to be the most well-educated generation, Generation Z is growing up in an era of dire climate change, gender-neutral pronouns and unprecedented racial diversity – factors that inform and shape their world view, according to a new survey of 11,602 Americans by Pew Research Center.
‘They’re overwhelmingly the most racially and ethnically diverse generation we’ve seen,’ said Kim Parker, Pew’s director of social trends research, in an interview with The Hill.
Generation Z is most in line with the beliefs of Millennials (ages 22-38), but their opinions diverge significantly from those held by Baby Boomers (ages 54-73) and even Generation X (ages 39-53).
Roughly three-in-ten Millennials and Generation Zers approve of Donald Trump’s job performance (29 percent and 30 percent, respectively).
By comparison, 38 percent of Generation X, 43 percent of Baby Boomer and 54 percent of the Silent Generation believe the president is doing a good job.
Generation Z diverges from Millennials more significantly when it comes to the role of big government.
While more than two-thirds (64 percent) of Millennials strongly feels that the government should intervene to solve problems, a full 70 percent of Generation Z shares that belief.
Older generations were much less likely to take a positive view of government intervening, with 53 percent of Gen Xers agreeing the government should do more, compared to 49 percent of Baby Boomers and 39 percent of the Silent Generation.
Generation Z was the most likely (35 percent) to personally know someone who prefers to be referred to using gender-neutral pronouns, followed by Millennials (25 percent).
Those numbers drop off considerably among Generation X (16 percent), Baby Boomers (12 percent) and the Silent Generation (7 percent).
In addition, 59 percent of Gen Zers believe that forms and online profiles should include gender options other than ‘man’ or ‘woman’ – 9 percentage points more than Millennials.
The 13-21-year-old set was also less likely to view more people getting their news from social media as a bad thing – 39 percent, compared to roughly half among all other generations.
Even Republican Gen Zers are skewed more to the left – and more likely than older Republicans to say that black Americans aren’t treated fairly.
That extends to the protests by NFL players to kneel during the national anthem – a statement that Trump has vehemently opposed.
Six in 10 Generation Zers (of all parties) approve of the kneeling – and roughly the same amount of Millennials agree.
A majority of the younger generations also believe that increasing racial and ethnic diversity is good for society (62 percent of Generation Z and 61 percent of Millennials).
By comparison, 52 percent of Generation X feels that way, followed by Baby Boomers (48 percent) and the Silent Generation (42 percent).
Written by Valerie Bauman for The Daily Mail ~ January 17, 2019