A Reason To Be Hopeful About The Future

The LA Times reports on a new study by the Pew Research Center, which shows that millenials (18-33 year olds) are less religious and more liberal than older generations:
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.

On the question of the role of government, the much greater racial diversity of the millennial generation plays a key role. About four-in-10 members of the millennial generation are non-white – a much larger percentage than in older age groups. Their generally liberal views shape the generation’s outlook although whites in the millennial generation also hold somewhat more liberal views on government than white members of older generations.
Read the entire piece here.