U.S. Politics
Charting the Shift in Gen Z's Politics
Report summary
Gen Z is the latest U.S. generation to come of age during a period of political and social upheaval. And while we’ve seen such unrest push those that came before them to the ideological left, the so-called Zoomers have pushed in the opposite direction, upending recently held assumptions about America’s youth and sending leaders in business and government scrambling for answers.
Morning Consult has been tracking the political opinions, consumption habits and general attitudes of Americans from every generation for more than eight years via our Intelligence platform. Isolating Gen Z, we leveraged the full extent of this historical data to provide a comprehensive picture of how and why the youngest adult generation’s beliefs and behaviors have shifted over time. We also put these changes into context, analyzing what they mean from a societal perspective.
Key Takeaways
- As Gen Z has grown, the youngest voting cohort has become 12 percentage points less likely to identify as liberal than in 2016, compared with a 5-point drop among the general population.
- A battle of the sexes is clearly brewing: Gen Z women and men are uniquely divided on the merits of the #MeToo movement and the importance of shared values with romantic partners.
Data Downloads
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Highlights from this report
Gen Z’s ideology has shifted right — even more than the general population’s
Methodology
The research in this report draws from two main sources:
- Morning Consult Intelligence. Our always-on survey platform helps you understand your audience, brand, competitors and market in a way traditional research companies can’t. The surveys that make up this dataset were conducted between January 2016 and May 2025. Learn more here.
- Morning Consult Political Intelligence: Data featured among registered voters in this report draws from a rollup of weekly surveys conducted from early May to early June 2025, among a representative sample of 11,134 registered voters, including 1,693 Gen Z adults. For more information on this weekly survey instrument, see our page Tracking Public Opinion of Trump’s Washington.
About the authors
Ellyn Briggs is a brands analyst on the Industry Intelligence team, where she conducts research, authors analyst notes and advises brand and marketing leaders on how to apply insights to make better business decisions. Prior to joining Morning Consult, Ellyn worked as a market researcher and brand strategist in both agency and in-house settings. She graduated from American University with a bachelor’s degree in finance. For speaking opportunities and booking requests, please email [email protected].
Eli Yokley is Morning Consult’s U.S. politics analyst. Eli joined Morning Consult in 2016 from Roll Call, where he reported on House and Senate campaigns after five years of covering state-level politics in the Show Me State while studying at the University of Missouri in Columbia, including contributions to The New York Times, Politico and The Daily Beast. Follow him on Twitter @eyokley. Interested in connecting with Eli to discuss his analysis or for a media engagement or speaking opportunity? Email [email protected].
Cameron Easley is Morning Consult’s head of U.S. Political Analysis. He has led Morning Consult's coverage of U.S. politics and elections since 2016, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Politico, Axios, FiveThirtyEight and on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. Cameron joined Morning Consult from Roll Call, where he was managing editor. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Follow him on Twitter @cameron_easley. Interested in connecting with Cameron to discuss his analysis or for a media engagement or speaking opportunity? Email [email protected].
