Kathleen Parker, Why Millennials may be Conservatives at Heart
Kathleen Parker
Several current trends among millennials do not bode
well for Democrats. Indeed, they suggest a greater affinity for (many)
Republican policies, notwithstanding a, perhaps, contiguous dislike for
the
GOP’s leadership.
Dare I say it: These trends may suggest a gradual migration toward traditional values and conservatism.
Hear me out.
My reading of various recent studies, stories and
reports about young Americans (18-34) reveals a decline in the
following: motherhood, marriage (down from 59% in 1972 to 28% in 2018),
sex, birthrates, faith, happiness (especially among young men) and
longevity.
In the good news column, abortion rates are also in
decline — and friendship is up. In the “surprising” column, a new GLAAD
study shows that non-LGBTQ millennials’ comfort with the LGBTQ community
has dipped, while that of their parents’ generation remains steady.
At the same time, student and credit-card debt is
staggering; affordable housing and jobs are out of reach for many; wages
are low; and the future is dim in light of the growing gerontocracy and
the entitlements (Medicare and Social Security) they expect, deserve
and, for which, I hasten to add, they have paid.
So, what about this suggests that millennials would
be inclined toward conservatism? To understand, one must look at the
reasons for those trends.
Let’s start with sex. Not surprisingly, research
shows that people are happier when they have sex at least once a week.
But married people have sex more often than unmarried people. From this,
one could deduce that marriage is good. There’s a reason traditional
values are, well, traditional. They’ve stood the test of time and have
demonstrated that what is best for people and society, while not always
your first choice, is, like rutabaga, good for you.
W. Bradford Wilcox and Lyman Stone of the Institute for Family Studies speculate in The Atlantic
that the decline in sex may be partly attributable to the #MeToo
movement, which has thankfully eliminated some of the unwanted sex that
was occurring in previous decades. I suspect too that some men are
hesitant to engage in new sexual relationships for fear that their
advances could be misinterpreted as harassment.
The decline of motherhood can be attributed to many
factors. For one, women are waiting longer to have children as they
pursue careers. Legalized abortion and increased access to birth control
also play a role.
Millennials might also be finding it difficult to
meet a partner. Traditionally, many such meetings took place in church,
temple or other religious institutions. As religious attendance has
dwindled, so have some opportunities to meet a potential spouse with
similar values, notwithstanding online dating services and other avenues
that didn’t exist before. Also, studies reflect that people who
regularly attend religious services at least once a month report being
happier than those who do not.
Other challenges millennials face include economic
and educational obstacles that have worsened during the past generation,
as outlined by Stone in a separate piece in The Atlantic
titled “The Boomers Ruined Everything.” Despite today’s low unemployment
rate, some good jobs are harder to find, in part because of the
regulatory and licensing zeal of the past few decades. Many careers that
used to require a high school diploma now require a college degree. As
burdensome regulations increase the cost of business, jobs decline. In
housing, strict zoning restrictions often mean less attainable homes for
young people.
Regarding social attitudes, GLAAD found that straight
millennials’ comfort with the LGBTQ population has declined for the
second consecutive year. As for reasons, GLAAD conducted focus groups
and found two common themes: the “newness” of gender politics and
discriminatory rhetoric coming from political leaders.
Considering all of the above, and by necessity
leaving out a lot, one may infer that millennials as a political subset
may be more conservative than they know. Based on these and other
studies, it would appear that their lives would be better — i.e. happier
— if they attended places of worship, got married, engaged in more sex
within a committed relationship and had children.
Toward these ends, they need government that: reduces
tax and regulatory burdens that impede growth and employment; seeks to
lower educational costs and emphasizes noncollege job training; makes
housing more affordable; encourages creative financing for higher
education and homebuying; promotes better school choice for the
disadvantaged; makes marriage financially appealing; and prioritizes
family unity.
That sure sounds like a conservative agenda to me.
Kathleen Parker has been syndicated by the Washington Post Writers Group since 2006.
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