If American politics sounds like a shouting match, here is a quiet bit of good news about us. A new study suggests that older Americans are, by and large, not the ones doing the shouting.
Pew Research Center's latest political typology, released in June, sorts Americans into nine groups by their values rather than their party. The single largest group among people 65 and older is one Pew calls the Pragmatic and Polite Right — a center-right group defined less by hard-line positions than by its taste for civility. According to Pew, only 5 percent of them say they enjoy seeing political opponents humiliated, compared with 53 percent in the most combative group. Among those 65 and older, 21 percent land here — about three times the share among adults under 50.
The second-largest group among older Americans leans the other way, toward the center-left, which is its own rebuke to the idea that one generation marches in lockstep. Together, the two biggest groups among seniors are the moderate, mixed ones, not the firebrands at either edge.
We are also paying attention. older Americans are the least likely of any age group to have tuned politics out: just 5 percent fall into Pew's disengaged middle, against 12 percent of adults under 50.
Allyson Good curates senior living, health, and family content. She is formerly the Managing Editor of Active Life, a print newspaper published in 2016-2017 for seniors, choosing practical articles on health, money, safety, and everyday living for older readers. She is also an avid gardener and offers up Garden Hints and Tips on a regular basis.
