Millennials Consider US Government Is 'Inefficient, Wasteful' and Likely Social Liberals, Study Says
Millennials believe the U.S. government is "inefficient" and "wasteful," according to a survey of 2,000 Americans.
The study, by Reason-Rupe, revealed 66 percent of millennials between the ages of 18 and 29 are not content with the government's management. That's an increase from 2009 when 42 percent stated the government was insufficient and wasteful.
Millennials, at 63 percent, stated the government regulators appease special interest groups instead of handling the concerns of the public. With 58 percent, 18-to-29-year olds also said overnmental agencies abuse their powers, while 25 percent stated they trust the government to "do the right thing."
The Reason-Rupe 2014 Millennial Survey noted millennials do not trust either the Democratic or Republican Parties and see themselves as "social liberals and fiscal centrists." In addition to supporting both business and government, the survey found millennials favor the free market.
"In all, millennials are neither a Democratic nor a Republican generation; they remain politically unclaimed," the Reason-Rupe study stated.
In regards to political affiliation, millennials show "overwhelming" support for Democratic presidential candidates, but 34 percent identify themselves as independent, which is triple the rate of Americans over 30 years old. Millennials showed "disproportionate frustration" toward the Republican Party. Respondents who identified themselves as Republican even stated they don't trust the GOP on fiscal and foreign policy issues. The Republican Party's "hard line" on social issues has also distanced millennials, since the latter have showed favorability to legalizing same-sex marriage, marijuana and online gambling.
"It shouldn't come as much surprise that social tolerance matters more than economics to this age cohort. Few have married, purchased a home, had children, or paid much in taxes yet -- all experiences that can make economics more salient," the study noted.
Despite the dislike toward the GOP, millennials become more fiscally conservative as their income increases and oppose income redistribution or government guarantees as they get older. For millennial Democrats, they support social liberals but are fiscally conservative.
"When millennials learn a larger government requires high taxes and a smaller government low taxes, their support flips and they reflect older cohorts' preference for small government," the Reason-Rupe report stated. "Plus, the race/ethnicity gap on the size of government disappears among white, Hispanic, and Asian millennials when taxes are mentioned."
The Reason-Rupe report said millennials have the potential to "remake" the political landscape in the U.S. as they continue to mature. The report noted millennials are still a group that both main political parties, namely the GOP, can still attract.
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