New data suggests that unlike previous generations, millennials are not becoming more conservative as they age – and people are ecstatic.
By studying voting surveys from both the UK and the US, The Financial Times’ John Burn-Murdoch found that millennials are actually defying historic patterns about how personal politics change.
They are less right-wing than previous generations and have shown no indication of copying their parents and grandparents by shifting on the political spectrum.
Burn-Murdoch suggested that it is not just the lack of house affordability making millennials more liberal, nor the after-effects of Liz Truss’s mini-budget which rocked the whole of the UK’s economy.
He explained: “That was a brief shock whereas we’re looking at a multi-year trend, and it can’t explain the same pattern in the US.”
Instead, he pointed out that most millennials came of age in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, which could explain why they are more in favour of redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor.
Brexit may also “now come back to bite” the successful conservative parties who championed leaving the EU, as well as may other culture wars – especially as millennial and Gen Z voters may outnumber their older peers at the next UK election.
It’s worth noting that more than 50% of Brits regret Brexit now, according to a YouGov poll from November – the first time there’s been more people against the drawn out EU exit than for it.
And Twitter, for once, was delighted with his findings.
Although, of course, plenty pointed out that the millennial generation is the first in history to be poorer than their parents.