Generational differences have long been a factor in U.S. politics. These divisions are now equally wide as they have been in decades, with the potential to shape politics well into the hereafter.

From immigration and race to foreign policy and the scope of government, two younger generations, Millennials and Gen Xers, stand up apart from the two older cohorts, Baby Boomers and Silents. And on many issues, Millennials go on to have a singled-out – and increasingly liberal – outlook.

These differences are reflected in generations' political preferences. First-year task blessing ratings for Donald Trump and his predecessor, Barack Obama, differ markedly across generations. Past dissimilarity, in that location were merely slight differences in views of George W. Bush-league and Bill Clinton during their respective first years in office.

Just 27% of Millennials corroborate of Trump's job performance, while 65% disapprove, according to Pew Inquiry Middle surveys conducted in Trump'south kickoff twelvemonth as president. Amidst Gen Xers, 36% corroborate and 57% disapprove. In Obama's get-go yr, 64% of Millennials and 55% of Gen Xers approved of the way the former president was treatment his task as president.

Amongst Boomers and Silents, there is less deviation in kickoff-year views of the past two presidents; both groups limited more positive views of Trump's job performance than do Gen Xers or Millennials (46% of Silents approve, every bit exercise 44% of Boomers).

Generations definedThese generations were besides considerably less probable than Millennials to approve of Obama'south performance early in his presidency: Among Silents, in detail, almost as many approve of Trump'southward job performance as approved of Obama (49%) during his first year in office.

Increased racial and ethnic diversity of younger generational cohorts accounts for some of these generational differences in views of the ii contempo presidents. Millennials are more than forty% nonwhite, the highest share of any adult generation; by contrast, Silents (and older adults) are 79% white. Merely even taking the greater multifariousness of younger generations into account, younger generations – especially Millennials – limited more liberal views on many issues and have stronger Democratic leanings than do older cohorts.

This report examines the attitudes and political values of four living developed generations in the United States, based on information compiled in 2017 and 2018. Pew Research Center defines the Millennial generation equally adults born between 1981 and 1996; those born in 1997 and later on are considered part of a carve up (not even so named) generational accomplice. Mail service-Millennials (Gen Zers) are not included in this analysis considering only a small share are adults. For more on how Pew Research Center defines the Millennial generation and plans for futurity analyses of post-Millennials, meet: Defining generations: Where Millennials end and Generation Z begins.

Millennials remain the nearly liberal and Democratic of the adult generations. They keep to be the most likely to identify with the Democratic Party or lean Democratic. In addition, far more than Millennials than those in older generational cohorts favor the Democratic candidate in Nov's midterm congressional elections.

In fact, in an early on test of midterm voting preferences (in January), 62% of Millennial registered voters said they preferred a Democratic candidate for Congress in their commune this autumn, which is higher than the shares of Millennials expressing back up for the Democratic candidate in any midterm dating back to 2006, based on surveys conducted in midterm years.

Generations divide on a range of political attitudes

In some cases, generational differences in political attitudes are non new. In opinions virtually same-sexual activity spousal relationship, for example, a clear pattern has been evident for more than a decade. Millennials have been (and remain) most supportive of same-sex activity matrimony, followed by Gen Xers, Boomers and Silents.

Withal the size of generational differences has held fairly abiding over this menstruation, even every bit all iv cohorts have grown more supportive of gays and lesbians being allowed to marry legally.

On many other issues, however, divisions among generations have grown. In the example of views of racial discrimination, the differences take widened considerably just in the past few years.

Among the public overall, 49% say that blackness people who can't get ahead in this country are mostly responsible for their own condition; fewer (41%) say racial bigotry is the main reason why many black people can't become alee these days.

However, the pct saying racial discrimination is the main bulwark to blacks' progress is at its highest bespeak in more ii decades. Between 2016 and 2017, the share pointing to racial discrimination as the main reason many blacks cannot get ahead increased 14 percentage points among Millennials (from 38% to 52%), xi points amid Gen Xers (29% to forty%) and 7 points among Boomers (29% to 36%).

Silents' views were fiddling changed in this period: About as many Silents say racial discrimination is the primary obstacle to black people's progress today as did so in 2000 (28% now, 30% then).

Among the public overall, nonwhites are more probable than whites to say that racial discrimination is the main factor belongings back African Americans. Yet more than white Millennials than older whites express this view. Half of white Millennials say racial discrimination is the main reason many blacks are unable to get ahead, which is 15 percent points or more than higher than any older generation of whites (35% of Gen X whites say this).

The blueprint of generational differences in political attitudes varies across issues. Overall opinions about whether immigrants practice more to strengthen or burden the state have moved in a more than positive direction in recent years, though – as with views of racial discrimination – they remain deeply divided along partisan lines.

Since 2015, in that location have been double-digit increases in the share of each generation maxim immigrants strengthen the country. Yet while large majorities of Millennials (79%), Gen Xers (66%) and Boomers (56%) say immigrants do more to strengthen than burden the country, just most half of Silents (47%) say this.

There besides are stark generational differences nigh foreign policy – and whether the United States is superior to other countries in the earth.

In 2006, there were just small generational differences on whether expert diplomacy or war machine forcefulness is the all-time way to ensure peace. Today, Millennials are by far the most likely among the iv generations to express the view that good affairs is the best way to ensure peace (77% say this), while Silents are the least likely to say this (43%). Nearly six-in-10 Gen Xers (59%) and almost half of Boomers (52%) say peace is all-time ensured by good diplomacy rather than military strength.

When it comes to opinions most America'southward relative standing the world, Millennials and Silents also are far apart, while Boomers and Gen Xers express similar views. While fairly large shares in all generations say the U.South. is amidst the earth's greatest countries, Silents are the nearly likely to say the U.South. "stands above" all others (46% express this view), while Millennials are least likely to say this (eighteen%).

Nevertheless, while generations differ on a number of issues, they agree on some key attitudes. For instance, trust in the federal government is about equally low among the youngest generation (15% of Millennials say they trust the regime almost always or most of the time) every bit it is amid the oldest (18% of Silents) and the 2 generations in between (17% of Gen Xers, 14% of Boomers).

A portrait of generations' ideological differences

Since 1994, Pew Research Center has regularly tracked x measures covering opinions near the part of government, the surround, societal acceptance of homosexuality, likewise as the items on race, immigration and affairs described above.

As noted in October, there has been an increase in the share of Americans expressing consistently liberal or mostly liberal views, while the share belongings a mix of liberal and conservative views has declined.

In role, this reflects a broad rise in the shares of Americans who say homosexuality should be accustomed rather than discouraged, and that immigrants are more a strength than a burden for the land.

Across all iv generational cohorts, more express either consistently liberal or mostly liberal opinions across the x items than did and then six years ago.

Yet Millennials are the only generation in which a majority (57%) holds consistently liberal (25%) or mostly liberal (32%) positions beyond these measures. Just 12% have consistently or mostly conservative attitudes, the lowest of any generation. Another 31% of Millennials have a mix of bourgeois and liberal views.

Among Gen Xers and Boomers, larger shares also express consistently or by and large liberal views than have conservative positions. Silents are the only generation in which those with consistently or by and large conservative views (40%) outnumber those with liberal attitudes (28%).

Racial and ethnic diversity and religiosity across generations

Millennials are the nearly racially and ethnically diverse adult generation in the nation'southward history. All the same the next generation stands to be even more than various.

More than four-in-ten Millennials (currently ages 22 to 37) are Hispanic (21%), African American (13%), Asian (seven%) or another race (3%). Amongst Gen Xers, 39% are nonwhites.

The share of nonwhites falls off considerably amid Boomers (28%) and Silents (21%). Amidst the ii oldest generations, more than 70% are white non-Hispanic.

Generational differences are also evident in some other key set of demographics – religious identification and religious conventionalities. In Pew Research Heart'south 2014 Religious Landscape Study of more than 35,000 adults, nearly nine-in-ten Silents identified with a religion (mainly Christianity), while just one-in-10 were religiously unaffiliated. And among Boomers, more than eight-in-x identified with a religion, while fewer than one-in-five were religious "nones." Amid Millennials, past dissimilarity, upwards of one-in-three said they were religiously unaffiliated.

And already wide generational divisions in attitudes nearly whether it is necessary to believe in God in gild to be moral and have good values take grown wider in recent years: 62% of Silents say belief in God is necessary for morality, just this view is less commonly held among younger generations – peculiarly Millennials. Only 29% of Millennials say conventionalities in God is a necessary condition for morality, down from 42% in 2011.