Pew Research Poll: Millenials More Liberal Than Preceding Generations

A new study by the Pew Research Center provides reason for political optimism: Members of the so-called millennial generation, born after 1980, are more liberal than the preceding generations on a range of issues:

The millennials are also the only generation of adults with more people who identify themselves as liberals than as conservatives. Just less than one-third of millennials call themselves liberals while about one-quarter identify as conservative. And nearly half say they have become more liberal as they have aged, with 57% saying their views on social issues have become more liberal over time. [...]

The liberal views of the youngest adult generation show up on a range of issues. Nearly seven in 10 say they support same-sex marriage, for example, just more than half identify themselves as “supporters of gay rights” and they are twice as likely to see gay and lesbian couples raising children as a good thing for the country than as a negative, which puts them at odds with older generations. They are also far more likely to favor legalization of marijuana. Opinions on abortion and gun control, by contrast, show little generational difference.

Just more than half of millennials say they favor a “bigger government providing more services” rather than a smaller government – a polling question used for years as an index of people’s attitudes toward government’s role.

The greater racial diversity of the millennials is one reason for the generational shift. They've also come of age in an era of recession and student loan debt. Now we just need to get out the millennial vote, even in midterm years, and we'll be cooking with gas.