A new report from the Reason Foundation states that millennials' political views are, to put it generously, a little confused.
The study, which surveyed 2,000 voters aged 18 to 29, concluded that millennials are the "politically unclaimed generation." That would seem to be a fair assessment of a group that's still finding its way in the world, considering long-term careers, and forming ethics and opinions. But, it's a very small sample size.
The Atlantic summarized the full breakdown, tackling paradoxes that, though they may read as untenable, are not entirely unexpected. Such as this: Millennials are "for smaller government, unless budget cuts scratch a program they've heard of. They'd like Washington to fix everything, just so long as it doesn't run anything." Perchance to dream.
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This new report, when compared to a recent Pew study on the millennial generation reveals a wealth of even more curious findings. For example, it asserts that millennials are the most likely group to be single parents while simultaneously being most likely to disapprove of single parenthood. The group surveyed supported Obama's promised universal healthcare law during voting, but now overwhelmingly opposes it. This age group has the highest opinion of congress in the country, yet loathes the political party system more than anyone.
Millennials appear to be more socially liberal than any other group in the country, too, but as they make more money, they become fiscally conservative (no surprise there). Yet, this latest report revealed that, as a group, they have little understanding of economics. Here's the embarrassing cherry on top: "42% of millennials think socialism is preferable to capitalism, but only 16%...could accurately define socialism in the survey."
So, millennials — at least the ones surveyed in this study — still have some growing up to do. (The Atlantic)