Millennials have long been categorized as non-voters or infrequent and unmotivated voters. However, a new study released by the Pew Research Center finds that the times have changed. In the 2016 election, millennials, aged 18 to 35-years-old, and Generation X voters, aged 36 to 51 years-old, surpassed baby boomers for the first time in history.
Millennials and Gen-Xers accounted for 51 percent of the vote in 2016. Despite the stereotypes that suggest millennials are largely unmotivated when it comes to voting, young people actually turned out to record breaking numbers. More than 34 million Americans, aged 35 and younger, cast their vote in the presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. That’s up from 18 million in 2008 when President Obama was elected over John McCain. The growth due largely to the increase of millennials eligible to vote.
The Pew study suggests that the times are shifting in voter turnout as the baby boomer generation gets older. In the past presidential election, the study found that more than 48 million baby boomers, 35 million Gen-Xers, and 34 million millennials voted.
The research group says that it is likely in the next presidential election to see millennials surpass Gen-X voters. Due to immigration, the study says that the millennial generation will be the only adult generation whose number of eligible voters will increase over time.
