Generations

Overview In the last four national elections, generational differences have mattered more than they have in decades. According to the exit polls, younger people have voted substantially more Democratic than other age groups in each election since 2004, while older voters have cast more ballots for Republican candidates in each election since 2006. The latest […]

Three-in-ten members of the over-65 Silent generation describe themselves as angry with the federal government. About a quarter (26%) of Baby Boomers also say they are angry at Washington.

The over-65 Silent generation is more likely than younger age cohorts to say that President Obama makes them angry. Four-in-ten Silents share this sentiment compared to 19% of Millennials.

More than eight-in-ten (86%) Millennials favor allowing younger workers to put Social Security taxes into private accounts.

Millennial voters favor President Obama by a 61% to 37% margin, while those over 65 –the Silent generation voters -- favor Mitt Romney by a 54% to 41% margin, creating a generation gap of 20 points.

Veterans of the post-9/11 wars found extra rewards as well as greater hardships stemming from their deployments. Six-in-ten said the experience of being deployed had a positive impact on their financial situation and nearly half (48%) said it put a strain on their marriages.

Driven by a single-year surge of 24% in Hispanic enrollment, the number of 18- to 24-year-olds attending college in the United States hit an all-time high of 12.2 million in October 2010.

Today’s 18 to 29 year olds – members of the so-called Millennial Generation – see parenthood and marriage differently than today’s thirty-somethings (members of Generation X) did back when they were in their late teens and twenties, according to a new analysis of Pew Research Center survey findings. Unlike their older counterparts, Millennials value parenthood much more than marriage.

Three-fourths of adults younger than age 34 own an iPod or another mp3 player.

Nearly as many American adults now own a laptop computer as own a desktop computer.