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Millennials civic health index

Friday, February 8th, 2013

Earlier this week, the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC), the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, and Mobilize.org released a joint report looking at millennials’ civic behavior. Focusing on Americans aged 18 to 29, the report finds that young Americans are civically engaged in a number of different ways, even if only half of them voted in the 2012 presidential election.

Some key findings from the report include:

• This generation of Americans represents a potent civic and political force—comprising a national voting bloc of 21.3% of eligible voters who are playing a critical role in our democracy and driving community action nationwide;
• Education is strongly connected to civic engagement—some indicators show a college graduate is four or five times more likely to engage than someone without a high school diploma;
• Millennials are hard hit by the economic crisis—62.9% are currently working, of which 31.2% work on a part-time basis—with potential implications for civic engagement;
• Some surprising trends—while engagement typically increases with age, 22-25 year olds have lower levels of social cohesion and volunteerism than older or younger peers. And, while education predicts most forms of engagement, young people without a college education are more likely to help their neighbors on a regular basis.

Explore the full report for yourself here.