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| GREAT FALLS, VA

The past few elections have highlighted a major disconnect between the Millennial Generation and the Republican Party. Though some pundits have taken the party’s triumph in the 2014 Congressional elections as reason for optimism, that victory doesn’t spell the end of the problem. Millennials hold fundamentally different views from older generations on topics such as the role of government, the importance of community, the impact of the free market, and whether the nation is headed in the right direction. These differences are deep-seated and will not fade away with time.

In this report, The Millennial Generation: Who They Are & How the GOP Can Connect with Them, we draw out and explain the characteristics that define Millennials as a political generation. We begin by providing a general overview of what generations are and why they matter, followed by a breakdown of the nation’s current political generations in order to give readers a sense of where America has come from and where it is going.

The remainder of the report closely examines seven basic traits of the Millennial Generation and explores their implications for politics generally and for the Republican Party in particular. We draw heavily on a Congressional Institute-LifeCourse survey that was specially commissioned for this report and was conducted in November 2014. We also draw on focus groups conducted by Presentation Testing as well as interviews conducted by LifeCourse with politically active Millennials. We conclude each trait discussion by outlining three main points that party leaders need to keep in mind when appealing to young voters.

The complete report can be found at our Reports site.

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About Congressional Institute

Founded in 1987, the Congressional Institute is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to helping Members of Congress better serve their constituents and helping their constituents better understand the operations of the national legislature. The Institute sponsors major conferences for the benefit of Members of the U.S. Congress as well as a number of smaller gatherings, all devoted to an examination of important policy issues and strategic planning. The Institute also conducts important research projects consistent with its mission, develops resources such as a House Floor Procedures Manual and sponsors Oxford-style bipartisan Congressional debates. For more information, visit www.conginst.org.

About LifeCourse Associates

LifeCourse Associates uses its expertise in generations, demography, and social sciences to explain the shifting currents of social change in America.  LifeCourse President Neil Howe is the foremost authority on social generations. He wrote the book Generations with William Strauss in 1991, and has since written 8 bestsellers on the topic of generations, including Millennials Rising. Howe is credited with coining the term Millennials. LifeCourse regularly conducts survey research on Millennials and other cultural and social phenomena for its clients. For more information, visit www.lifecourse.com

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Press Contact

Warren Wright

EVP/LifeCourse Associates

wright@lifecourse.com