A recent report from Springtide Research Institute, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, found that a growing share of young people do not identify with a political party, defying traditional political categories.
In the group’s recent report, “Cultivating Care: How & Why Young People Participate in Civic Life,” researchers found that more than half of Gen Z and Gen Alpha participants, ages 13 to 25, do not identify with either one of the two major political parties in favor of issue-specific engagement over broad partisan affiliation.
The report found an equal percentage of participants ages 13 to 25 identify as Republican or Democrat — 23 percent; more than half said they did not identify with a major political party at all.
However, despite eschewing traditional political parties, researchers said, participants held strong views about social issues such as education, the economy, abortion and climate change.
Respondents reported low levels of trust in political institutions, the report said, with about a third of young people expressing distrust of the office of the U.S. presidency. A quarter reported distrust of Congress, the Supreme Court and the election system.
The report also found that while few participants in that age group said that religion should have “a lot of influence” on politics, respondents were much more likely to report that their religion or spirituality shapes their politics rather than vice versa.
A separate report from the Public Religion Research Institute earlier this year also found more than half of Gen Z respondents — 51 percent — did not identify with either major political party.
Gen Z is generally defined as people born between 1997 and 2012. Gen Alpha is a term used to describe the generation of people born (or who will be born) between 2010 and 2025.
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