Report: Generation
Next More Confident
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, January 9, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The young adults
of Generation Next are more optimistic, more tolerant and more likely Democratic
voters than their predecessors, according to a new study.
The group's tilt toward the Democratic Party is far different from the previous
younger generation, known as Generation X, who grew up during the Reagan
administration of the 1980s and was more inclined to support Republicans.
''This portends a significant political impact as they get more engaged,'' said
Scott Keeter, a researcher from the Pew Research Center. ''If they carry
their party leanings with them, that will make a big difference.''
Forty-eight percent of young adults age 18 to 25 said they were Democrats or
leaned that direction while 35 percent said they were Republican or leaned that
way in 2006, according to Pew polling.
The study also found a great acceptance for same-sex marriage. Forty-seven
percent of those age 18 to 25 favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry while 30
percent of those 26 and older favor gay marriage.
While they are a generally optimistic group, large majorities think that casual
sex, binge drinking, illegal drug use and violence are more prevalent among
young people today.
Asked about their generation, most say getting rich and being famous are top
goals.
The study found that the young adults:
-- Are less inclined to vote than older generations, though young voter turnout
was up significantly in 2004. About 54 percent of those from 18 to 24
voted in 2004, and 74 percent of those 25 and over voted, Keeter said.
-- Have more liberal views than other generations on questions of race and
homosexuality and immigration.
- -Read the newspaper and follow the news on television and radio less than
those in older generations.
-- Keep in close touch with their parents, both for advice and for financial
help.
-- Are inclined to use online social networking sites like Facebook and My
Space. More than half had used one of these sites.
-- Tend to most admire people they personally know rather than the famous.
Entertainers were twice as likely to be named as political leaders.
-- Have often gotten a tattoo, dyed their hair an untraditional color or had a
body piercing.
The study, a collaboration of the Pew Research Center and MacNeil/Lehrer
Productions, is based on Edison-Mitofsky exit polls, past Pew polls and a Pew
survey of 1,501 adults, including 579 people from ages 18-25, taken Sept. 6-Oct.
2. The study had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5
percentage points, 5 percentage points for the young adults.
On the Net: Pew Research Center --
http://www.people-press.org
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