With the presidential election rapidly approaching and early voting beginning in some states, attention is growing on how Gen Z voters, who make up one in 10 eligible voters in this fall’s election, will influence the outcome.
Gen Z voters, ages 18 to 23, are a more racially and ethnically diverse group than previous generations. The majority (55%) are non-Hispanic white, but a notable 22% are Hispanic, according to a Pew Research Center analysis based on Census Bureau data. About 14% of Gen Z voters are Black, 5% are Asian, and 5% are other race or mixed race.
The percentage of Hispanic Gen Z voters is significantly higher than the percentage of Millennials, Gen X, Baby Boomers, Silent Generation, and older voters.
Gen Z is the fastest growing generation of US voters. Since 2016, approximately 4.3 million citizens have turned 18 each year, increasing the ranks of Gen Z voters. The profile of this electorate is as follows: Current Population Survey The Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC), conducted each March, is a monthly survey conducted jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics that surveys approximately 60,000 households and is the source of the nation’s official statistics on unemployment. The March ASEC survey has a large sample size. Income and poverty data from the ASEC survey are the basis for the Census Bureau’s well-known unemployment rate report. Income and poverty In the United States.
CPS represents non-institutionalized civilians.
COVID-19 outbreak Influenced data collection The limitations of U.S. government research efforts, especially in-person data collection, 10 percentage points Decreased response rate for the CPS in March 2020. Some measures of the electorate and its demographics may be affected by these changes in data collection.
The CPS microdata used in this report is the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) from the University of Minnesota. IPUMS assigns uniform codes, whenever possible, to data collected in the CPS over the years. For more information about IPUMS, including variable definitions and sampling error, see the following website: http://cps.ipums.org/cps/documentation.shtml.
Gen Z voters are less likely to be foreign-born than previous generations: 4% were born outside the U.S., compared with 9% of millennial voters, 15% of Gen X voters, 12% of baby boomer voters, and 13% of Silent Generation and older voters. This is consistent with the Center’s previous research, which surveyed broader segments of Gen Z, not just voting-age citizens, and found that Gen Zers are more likely than millennials to be the children of immigrants. In 2019, 22% of Gen Zers ages 7 to 22 had at least one immigrant parent, compared with 14% of millennials of the same age.
Related: Gen Z is very similar to millennials on major social and political issues
In actual numbers, there are more than 23 million Gen Z voters eligible to vote this year, about 16 million more than were able to vote in the 2016 election. However, Gen Z voters make up a significantly smaller percentage of the total electorate than other generations, as many are not yet eligible to vote. For comparison, there are more than 63 million millennials eligible to vote this year.
Gen Z’s impact on elections will depend heavily on voter turnout. Voter turnout tends to increase with age, so younger voters typically turn out at lower rates than older voters. In the 2018 midterm elections, three in 10 Gen Z voters voted, lower than millennial voters (42%) and well below the overall electorate (53%).
How Pew Research Center defines a voter
Pew Research Center defines eligible voters as all U.S. citizens over the age of 18. It doesn’t take into account people who live in certain states but have lost the right to vote, such as those convicted of a felony, or people who can vote outside the U.S., such as citizens living overseas or members of the military stationed in another country.
Source: Generation Z – Research and data from Pew Research Center – www.pewresearch.org
