HOME | BIO | MUSIC | JOURNEYS BY DJ | STUDIO BLOG | POLITICAL BLOG | BOOKING INFO | CONTACT

Via Andrew Sullivan... Pew has their latest survey of youth in America, and the results are absolutely fascinating. This is the first comprehensive survey that I've seen of the kids who came of age in a post 9/11 world. Leaving aside the whole "Generation Next" / Pepsi thing, here are a few things that jumped out at me:

First off, here's Pew's take on politics:

In their political outlook, they are the most tolerant of any generation on social issues such as immigration, race and homosexuality. They are also much more likely to identify with the Democratic Party than was the preceding generation of young people, which could reshape politics in the years ahead. Yet the evidence is mixed as to whether the current generation of young Americans will be any more engaged in the nation’s civic life than were young people in the past, potentially blunting their political impact.

I realize that BU isn't anything close to a representative sample of this group, but nevertheless, this finding doesn't surprise me in the least. There's a huge backlash growing in this generation, and Pew is right to suggest that it may reshape politics in the years to come. Here's something a bit more specific:

In Pew surveys in 2006, nearly half of young people (48%) identified more with the Democratic Party, while just 35% affiliated more with the GOP. This makes Generation Next the least Republican generation.

See? Backlash. But go deeper:

They are significantly less cynical about government and political leaders than are other Americans or the previous generation of young people. A majority of Americans agree with the statement: “When something is run by the government, it is usually inefficient and wasteful,” but most Generation Nexters reject this idea.

Anti-Republican. And maybe not pro-government, but at least not anti-government. And therefore, not conservative.

Deeper still:

It is not the case that young people have always been more Democratic. In fact, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, 18-25 year-olds were more Republican than older age groups. Some political science research suggests that voters make the connection to a political party relatively early on in their adult life and tend to stick with that party as they get older; Generation X continues to be the most Republican-leaning generation today. If Gen Nexters remain solidly Democratic and continue to become more politically engaged, this could have major consequences for electoral politics.

In addition to being more Democratic, Gen Nexters are more liberal than their older counterparts. When asked to describe their political views, 26% of Nexters say they are liberal; 36% describe themselves as moderate; and 29% say they are conservative. Fewer older Americans think of themselves as liberal and more identify themselves as conservative.

This is a very important and often very misunderstood point. It's simply not true that you grow more conservative as you grow older. I know that's the conventional wisdom, but commons sense should have always told you that there was something wrong with that idea. Generally speaking, people are less likely to change significantly as they get older. That's as true with politics as it is with anything else.

Now, let's look at some of the less obvious stuff.

First, I want to take issue with one of their findings on social neworks:

They are the “Look at Me” generation. Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and MyYearbook allow individuals to post a personal profile complete with photos and descriptions of interests and hobbies. A majority of Gen Nexters have used one of these social networking sites, and more than four-in-ten have created a personal profile.

I realize that the method people are using to tell others about themselves has changed dramatically, but please... the act of building a "personal profile" is nothing new. Back when I was in high school, we all used to cover the inside of our lockers with pictures precisely so that we could announce to the world who we were. And yes, just like MySpace and FaceBook, it often served as a way to meet others like yourself. Now granted, the method matters, and the shift for this generation is huge. But let's be honest about this - the underlying phenomenon is not new. The reason FaceBook and MySpace are so successful is that they are simply a new and much more efficient way of doing something very, very old.

Here's a bit on religion:

One-in-five members of Generation Next say they have no religious affiliation or are atheist or agnostic, nearly double the proportion of young people who said that in the late 1980s. And just 4% of Gen Nexters say people in their generation view becoming more spiritual as their most important goal in life.

Again, based on my experience at BU, I'm not terribly surprised. I wonder though what would happen if they dug a bit deeper. They may not be religious, but are they spiritual? Do they, for example, not belong to a church but nevertheless believe in God? This might begin to get at that answer:

However, 20% of today’s 18-25 year-olds say they have no religious affiliation or are atheistor agnostic. Only 11% of those over age 25 fall into this category. The gap between young and old has increased substantially over time. In the late 1980s, 11% of young people were non-religious, compared with 8% of those over age 25.

Gen Nexters are among the least likely to attend church regularly: 32% attend at least once
a week compared with 40% of those over age 25, and 16% say they never attend (compared with 12% among the older age groups).

On terrorism, here's a particularly interesting finding:

Gen Nexters show little sign of having been indelibly marked by the events of Sept. 11, 2001. In the months following the attacks, young people were slightly less likely than older people to say they worried about another terrorist attack in the U.S. Since 2001, Gen Next has actually become even less worried about another attack, and the gap between young and old has increased.

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, many suggested that it would be an event that marked an entire generation. No doubt it has. But not in the way most would have suspected. And in the end, I guess that makes sense. As a kid you are forced to make sense of the world as it occurs, adapting your view to make whatever occurs "normal." 9/11 happened. We survived. So to some extent, why worry?

I'd be curious to see if the pre- and post- nuclear generations exhibited a similar phenomenon. Sadly, I doubt if the survey data exists that would let us know.

Anyway, there's tons more in the full report for those interested.