After 12 years of being a major player in American politics – whether as president, a candidate, or from the sidelines – Donald Trump will finally step away in 2028. What happens next is uncertain. However, one thing we do know is that Gen Z, many of whom were kids during Trump’s first campaign, will have a significant impact on shaping the future.
What’s less certain is which direction they might take or what their political views are to begin with.
We do know some things thanks to a collaboration between Vox and the polling company Murmuration. For instance, they tend to be very independent: nearly 30 percent selected “none of the above” when asked to label their political beliefs in Murmuration’s survey. They’re an economically insecure group for now; Murmuration found that only 28 percent of respondents aged 18 to 30 said they could manage an unexpected expense of $500. Additionally, they displayed the largest gender gap among any age group regarding support for the Democratic presidential nominee in 2024 – women preferred Kamala Harris by 17 percentage points over men.
To dig deeper into these findings, Vox’s Astead Herndon chatted with Gen Z researcher Rachel Janfaza on a recent episode of America, Actually. They explored this generation’s political identities, preferences, key issues, and what all this could mean for future politics. They discussed an important distinction between two segments of Gen Z and whether the notable gender gap is changing. They also talked about how Gen Z remains hopeful despite what seems like widespread negativity.
Below is a shortened version of Astead’s discussion with Janfaza, edited for clarity and length. There’s much more to hear in the full episode; you can listen to America, Actually wherever you find your podcasts or watch on Vox’s You Tube channel.
You’ve researched various aspects of Gen Z extensively. I’ve heard you mention Gen Z 1 versus Gen Z 2. How would you describe those differences?
I refer to this as the theory of two Gen Zs. I started developing this idea while conducting focus groups with young people in 2022 and noticed how high school students at that time had different perspectives compared to college students then too. Those who graduated high school before COVID-19 had a different outlook than those still in high school when the pandemic struck.
This stems from the sense of independence experienced by older members of Gen Z before lockdowns began. Anyone roughly between ages 29 and 22 would be considered Gen Z 1.0 while anyone younger falls into Gen Z 2.0.
Currently there isn’t an official cutoff date for defining Generation Z; it’s generally accepted as being from around 1997 to 2012 so there’s still some ambiguity surrounding that.
Can you just highlight what differentiates these generations? How did that influence their political stance?
Gen Z
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