Gallup has
a new poll on party affiliation by age. Interestingly, GenX is more Republican than GenY or the Boomers:
Although Democrats currently enjoy a party identification advantage over Republicans among Americans at every age between 18 to 85, the Democrats' greatest advantages come among those in their 20s and baby boomers in their late 40s and 50s. Republicans, on the other hand, come closest to parity with Democrats among Generation Xers in their late 30s and early 40s and among seniors in their late 60s.
2 comments:
Gallup's poll is missing an important part of the equation: Generation Jones, born 1954-1965, between the Boomers and Generation X. Google Generation Jones, and you’ll see it’s gotten a lot of media attention, and many top commentators from many top publications and networks (Washington Post, Time magazine, NBC, Newsweek, ABC, etc.) now specifically use this term.
Unlike pollsters who are up with current generational trends, Gallup is still using old school generational delineations. By lumping part of GenJones with Boomers, and part with GenX, Gallup’s generational data is seriously flawed. Several top pollsters have shown that GenJones’ political behavior and voting patterns are clearly distinct from its surrounding generations.
It is important to distinguish between the post-WWII demographic boom in births vs. the cultural generations born during that era. Generations are a function of the common formative experiences of its members, not the fertility rates of its parents. Many experts now believe it breaks down this way:
DEMOGRAPHIC boom in babies: 1946-1964
Baby Boom GENERATION: 1942-1953
Generation Jones: 1954-1965
Generation X: 1966-1978
Here is a relatively recent op-ed in USA TODAY about GenJones as the new generation of leadership:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090127/column27_st.art.htm
Indeed. Excellent point.
I've posted on GenJones before. GenJones, as I understand the definition, is more "Post-Boomer" than "Boomer". This seems to be in line with what you are arguing here.
Of course, given their age relative to GenX (under the definition that includes GenJones), it's not surprising that Joners are more ascendant. Just as it should have been no surprise to see Boomers holding the levers of power during the previous 15-20 years.
I would argue as well that generational boundaries are fuzzy. I suspect that there is not a clean function from dates to generations.
More cogent to the original post, polls will differ on these definitions and I will be continue to be opportunistic in referencing them ... given the size of our polling budget here at Post-Boomer ;-)
Post a Comment