Next Thursday, millennials' status as the “unluckiest generation” could finally change in the UK For the first time in history, young people aged 28 to 43 in Britain will make up the largest group of eligible voters, the kind of force that could decide the outcome. Too bad generational apathy could torpedo that possibility altogether.
Since 1974, voter turnout among 25-45 year olds in England and Wales has fallen from about 72% to 58%. Most millennials who voted between 2010 and 2019 saw their candidate They lost four elections and lost their bid against the Brexit referendum to leave the European Union (a typical voter born in 1955, meanwhile, will have backed every winner of the past 50 years).
Consistent failure has inspired not action, but lethargy. The prospect of electoral victory has become an elusive goal for many in this generation, as has landing a decent-paying job, buying a home or starting a family – non-negotiable markers of adulthood for previous generations, but not for this one. Yes, apathy risks a fifth consecutive electoral defeat and, potentially, the most catastrophic outcomes yet for this cohort if the ruling Conservative Party, which has relegated younger voters to the bottom of the list for 14 years, succeeds.
But, as with millennials in rich countries around the world, electoral distancing seems to replace fear of the consequences.
An October 2020 report A study based on data from nearly 5 million respondents in more than 160 countries showed that “young people’s faith in democratic politics is lower than that of any other age group, and millennials around the world are more disillusioned with democracy than Generation X or Baby Boomers were at the same age.” A few weeks later, that was evident at the polls in the USwhere only 55% of young people between 25 and 44 years old could muster the enthusiasm to vote in an election with the highest overall turnout Since 1900In 1964, 69% of the age group participated in the elections.
These figures seem to contradict the volume with which this generation spreads its opinions. There are demonstrations in the streets, endless T-shirts and stickers in favour of climate change, Ukraine and the Middle East, Black Lives Matter and Pride. Politically engaged? Certainly. Electorally disengaged? Same thing.
There is a glaring disconnect at play. People vote for one of two reasons: to change things for the better or to keep things the way they are. Neither applies to millennials, whose trust in the system has been eroding since they entered adulthood in the midst of a recession and has since declined sharply.
There is no job security for this generation known for constantly changing jobs, whose members have changed roles at a pace three times higher than other age groups to retain Stagnant paychecksFrom 1981 until last year, the average age to buy a home in the U.S. rose from 29 to 35 years (the average price rose from $80,900 to $521,900 during the same period); the average College debt is $38,787.
Throughout the United States and the rest of the WestLean finances mean having children. later. The probability of retiring with enough good years to spare, and giving themWith Additional years of poor health what are you waiting for…yeah, good luck with that.
And so members of this “lost generation” (millennials, at least, have accumulated plenty of nicknames) — the first in American history to fall into poverty — have yet to see a world in which the system is on their side, or how it could be, given the obstacles ahead.
It’s a perverse truth that the youngest in society, who have the most to gain from voting, have always been the least engaged. There have been efforts to address that problem, such as the “Rock the Vote” campaign, but in an unexpected twist, Gen Z might prove to be more connected than the generation before it. Though often dismissed as too hooked on TikTok and mired in social anxiety to participate, in the U.S., these youngest adults did vote at the polls. Almost identical figures in 2020 as they did 60 years earlier (although their attendance has fluctuated more widely over that period).
Generation Z Participation in the 2022 midterm elections According to Census Bureau data, 18- to 27-year-olds turned out higher in November's election than millennials and Gen Xers did when they were the same age. It's entirely possible that, like ankle socks and laminated eyebrows, Gen Z will set a new trend among younger voters.
It is important for young cohorts to participate: Center Currently, Donald Trump and Joe Biden are very close, so a few percentage points would be significant. Meanwhile, in the U.K., if young voters marked their ballots en masse as expected, they would cement Labour’s first victory since 2010, electing Keir Starmer over Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. (Plus, they would enjoy the benefit of learning what it feels like to win an election.)
Will it happen and usher in a new era of change? To use a millennialist term: meh. Just as politics has failed to make the under-44s a priority, in Britain this week, that is likely to have a ripple effect.
Charlotte Lytton is a journalist based in London.
