The numbers of millennials and Gen Xers in the U.S. House of Representatives have increased slightly since the start of the 117th Congress, but not nearly as much as they did in the 116th Congress. And even though these generations have gained representation in both chambers, the majority of Senators and Representatives are still made up of older generations.
For this analysis, we obtained ages and birth dates of members of the 117th Congress online. U.S. Congressional Biography Other publications Hill’s New Member’s GuideHistorical data for the 115th and 116th Congresses comes from campaign websites, candidates’ offices, or reputable publications (notably the “Conversations with the Candidates” series conducted by political analysis firms). Inside the Election).
The analysis of the 117th Congress reflects the 532 members who held their seats as of February 8, 2021, and their ages are as of that date. There is one vacant seat in the House of Representatives, from Texas, due to the retirement of a member of the House of Representatives. Died on February 8thLouisiana has one vacant House seat elected by its representatives. Died before taking the oathThe final results of the lower house elections will be decided (New York’s 22nd Congressional District) is included here. Former Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmondresigned in January to join the Biden administration. Non-voting delegates and committee members are excluded. Biden administration appointees who have not yet been confirmed at the time of writing are also included in the count. Independents are counted by their party affiliation.
For the 116th Congress, the generational composition of the House of Representatives is calculated as a share of 432 seats. This is because the previous analysis of this data was published on November 21, 2018, at which point some elections had not yet been finalized (ages were effective on January 3, 2019). The Senate figures are based on all 100 senators serving as of January 3. The calculation for the 115th Congress is based on 435 House members and 100 senators serving as of January 3, 2017, with ages as of that date.
According to a Pew Research Center analysis, Republicans added 28 millennials and Gen Xers to the House of Representatives this election, while Democrats added 10. By comparison, 46 of the 64 new millennial and Gen X members in the 116th Congress were Democrats.
The recent election saw the election of the youngest incumbent member in the history of the House of Representatives.Madison Cawthorn North Carolina) and the first millennials in the Senate (Jon Ossoff Georgia).
In the new Congress, 31 members of the House of Representatives are millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), up from just five at the start of the 115th Congress in January 2017. Overall, 11 of the 61 members of the House of Representatives are millennials, bringing their share of members of that generation to 7 percent of the House. Seven of the 11 new members are Republicans.
Twenty-seven of the new members are Gen Xers (born between 1965 and 1980), the highest percentage of new members of Congress, and most of them (21) are Republicans. This brings Gen Xers’ representation in the House to 33% (144 members, little change from the last Congress).
While there has been a slight change in the age composition from the 116th to the 117th House, the proportion of members from the Baby Boomer generation (born 1946-1964) and the Silent Generation (born 1928-1945) has continued to decline in the House of Representatives since the 115th Congress.
Baby Boomers now make up 230 members of the House of Representatives (53%), down from 270 (62%) in the 115th Congress, and the Silent Generation continues to decline in numbers, from 42 (10%) at the start of the 115th Congress to 27 (6%) today.
Baby Boomers still hold a majority in the Senate (68), a slight increase from the last Congress (66) and the Congress before that (65). The number of Silent Generation senators has fallen from 19 in 2017 to 11 now. However, the number of Gen Xers has increased over the past few Congresses, from 16 in the 115th Congress to 20 in the current session.
The average age of senators has risen over the past few Congresses. The average age for the current session is 64.8 years old, slightly higher than in the 116th Congress (63.6 years old) and the 115th Congress (62.4 years old).
Meanwhile, the average age of House members rose slightly to 58.9 years old, up from 58 in the 116th Congress and 58.4 in the 115th Congress. The average age of all new members was slightly lower at 52.1 years old.
Comparing the ages of new and retained members of the House, the difference is widest among Democrats, who have an overall median age of 60.6 years. The average age of the 206 re-elected Democrats is 61.9 years, while the average age of the 17 newly elected Democrats is 50.7 years. This difference is less pronounced than in the last Congress, when the average age of retained Democrats was 64.3 years, while the average age of newly elected Democrats was 45.8 years.
The average age of the 165 Republicans retained in the 117th Congress is 58.7 years old, while the average age of the 44 newly elected Republicans is 53 years old. The average age of Republicans overall is 57.3 years old. As with the Democrats, the age gap between new and re-elected Republicans is narrower than it was in the 116th Congress, where the average age of retained Republicans was 58.4 years old, while the average age of newly elected Republicans was 48.9 years old.
Source: Generation Z – Research and data from Pew Research Center – www.pewresearch.org
