In the 1960s, a young generation of post-war baby boomers came of age and wrought extensive changes in the political, social and sexual arenas. Long-haired and radical, they led the charge for women’s rights and gay rights and they added urgency to the civil rights movement.
Then they aged and decided taxes were the real enemy. They elected Ronald Reagan president and the conservative resurgence began. But the baby boomers were not unique in abandoning liberalism. Generally speaking, people become more conservative as they age.
For example, Americans age 65 and older support the death penalty by a 71 percent majority; only 59 percent of those age 18-24 feel the same. Older Americans are also less likely to support stricter gun control and less likely to say abortion should be “always legal,” according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
In 1970, the median age of the population stood at 28.1 years, the youngest it had been in four decades, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The prevalence of youth directly contributed to the burst of social advancements.
In 2000, the year George W. Bush won the presidency, the population reached a median age of 35.3 years, the oldest it has ever been. Clearly, old age and conservatism have correlated strongly in recent decades.
The United States’ population as a whole continues to age, and fast. By 2025, the number of Americans age 65 and over is expected to jump nearly 80 percent, while the population of younger Americans will grow at a relatively paltry 15 percent, according to the Census Bureau.
Besides changing how we think about old-age entitlement programs, the graying of America indicates that the current conservative vogue in American politics is in fact a long-term fixture. Progressives better steel themselves for decades of playing defense.
The older population might bring about vast changes in American politics. Watch out for further solidification of the tax revolt, attacks on public education and abortion rights, militarization and an ever-increasing privatization of government services.
It’s an open question as to why people grow more conservative as they age. Perhaps it’s because older Americans have more income to protect from taxation than younger Americans. Perhaps people care less about supporting public schools when their kids have grown up. Maybe it’s just a simple loss of idealism.
In any case, it’s pretty sad. Increased selfishness may lead to greater personal wealth, but it also contributes to the decay of civil society.
I wish more old adults would realize that supporting education — higher education in particular — benefits everyone. It leads to higher wages, which results in greater government revenue.
Every government dollar that gets someone into and through college comes back to the Treasury in spades. According to the Census Bureau, a high school graduate can expect to earn $1.2 million over the course of his or her working lifetime. Those with a bachelor’s degree earn an average of $2.1 million, and it gets even better with advanced degrees: Those with a master’s earn an average of $2.5 million, doctoral graduates earn an average of $3.4 million, and those with professional degrees earn an average of a whopping $4.4 million.
A conservative might argue that higher tax revenues result in bigger government, which is what true conservatives object to in the first place. However, having financially self-reliant citizens instead of citizens dependent on public assistance lowers the tax burden for everyone.
The value of other commitments to government are less quantifiable, but just as real. Older Americans should keep in mind that their declining support for government harms us all.