Gen Z Voters
This election cycle was expected to be a red wave; it wasn’t. Young voters (some of my grandchildren) ages 18-29 voted overwhelmingly for Democrats; they were + 28, and they turned out to vote at a higher rate than in any other mid term election other than the 2018 mid-terms. By comparison, baby boomers over the age of 65 (we came of age during Vietnam and Civil Rights) voted strongly for Republicans — an embarrassment to those of us who still treasure the idealism and commitment of our youth. https://mashable.com/article/gen-z-election and https://www.npr.org/2022/11/09/1135619172/how-young-voters-became-the-wall-for-the-red-wave
What were their issues? They included climate change, reproductive rights, gun safety, student loan debts, the right to vote and have your vote counted, and LGBTQ rights.
The researchers report that only 4% of Gen Z voters felt like they are living in a “healthy democracy”. https://www.npr.org/2022/11/09/1135619172/how-young-voters-became-the-wall-for-the-red-wave Rather than being apathetic and turned off, they decided to do something about it – i.e. vote –, and they have done so for three successive elections.
In 2024, Gen Z and the millennials will make up 45% of the voting age population. https://mashable.com/article/gen-z-election It would behoove all of us to pay much greater attention to the issues that they are bringing to the forefront. https://www.aecf.org/blog/generation-z-social-issues Elections are an occasion for changing the course of governments, but really it is changes in the ways we each live our every day lives that matter the most. I recommend looking at the Deloitte survey that chronicles the evolving priorities of Gen Z and millennials for changes in the nature of work and their priorities in the ways they seek to live their daily lives. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/deloitte-2022-genz-millennial-survey.pdf