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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's young adults are more likely to identify as nonreligious, supportive of gay rights, socially conscious and politically independent than previous generations, according to a Utah Foundation report.
The report was released Tuesday as the fourth and final part of a series on how Utahns ages 18 to 34 compare with other generations in and outside the state. While Utah lags behind the nation in many trends, Utah's youths seem to be headed in a similar direction as their peers in other states, according to Utah Foundation research analyst Christopher Collard.
"Younger generations have trended toward (political) independence, both nationally and in Utah," Collard said. "Utah compares fairly well among all generations in terms of the percent of the population that's independent, but when Utahns do choose a party, they're more likely to choose Republican."
Young adults in the state carry forward the trend of each passing generation being less affiliated with a political party, leaning more toward independence. Millennials are also less likely to identify as being patriotic and be registered to vote than older citizens, the report states.
Marital status, however, had a positive correlation with political affiliation for young women in the state. More than half of married Utah millennial women were Republican, compared with one-third of unmarried women the same age.
Utah millennials were less likely to vote than older generations and more likely to "over report" their voting activity, the report states. While 83 percent of respondents to the Utah Foundation survey said they voted in 2012, only 46 percent actually did.
Deseret News Graphics
"The differences can honestly be kind of stark," Collard said. "Looking back to the 2012 election, almost three-fourths of the silent generation turned out, while only one-fourth of the millennials turned out to vote in that election."
This was mirrored in other states. Nationally, 2014's voter turnout of 36 percent was the lowest in 72 years, the report states. Voter turnout usually increases by 10 percent with each subsequent older generation.
"Even though we're a bigger bump in youth turnout, it's still less than older generations," said Utah Foundation research analyst Mallory Bateman. "We follow that national trend, unfortunately."
President Barack Obama found a low approval rating among Utahns in the Utah Foundation survey. Generation X — those born from the 1960s to the 1980s — gave him the highest approval rate of 33 percent, followed closely by baby boomers — born between the 1940s and 1960s — at 31 percent. Twenty-eight percent of millennials approved of the president, as did 24 percent of the silent generation, those born between 1920 and 1940.
Utah's support for its governor was much higher. Gov. Gary Herbert earned an overall approval rating of 60 percent, though 1 in 4 respondents declined to opine. Support for Herbert was highest among the silent generation at 77 percent and lowest among millennials at 49 percent, though 37 percent of millennials did not respond.
The Utah Legislature wasn't as popular. Overall, 45 percent of Utahns approved of state lawmakers, with Republicans being 24 percent more likely than Democrats to give their approval.
Millennials were the most supportive for gay rights of any generation, both in Utah and in the U.S. Forty-two percent of Utah millennials reported being a supporter of gay rights, about 7 percent more than the previous two generations, according to the report.
Nationally, millennial support for gay rights jumped up to 51 percent, while support among older generations was roughly the same as it was Utah.
Deseret News Graphics
Respondents across all generations who reported being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had roughly the same level of support for gay rights — between 15 percent and 20 percent. Religion didn't appear to create a different level of support for gay rights among different generations, according to Collard.
"Those who consider themselves to be very religious are not any more or less likely to consider themselves supporters of gay rights," he said. "Among those who define themselves as not being very religious, they were more likely to consider themselves supporters of gay rights."
Utahns in all generations reported being more religious than those outside the state. Forty-eight percent of millennials said they were religious, compared with 36 percent nationally. LDS respondents were almost 39 percent more likely to describe themselves as a religious person than those of other religions.
Utah millennials, however, were 8 percent less likely report wanting to live a "very religious life" than their national peers, according to the foundation report. Collard said this is likely because Utahns tended to respond on either extreme while Americans elsewhere tended to respond somewhere in the middle.
"Utahns are more likely to go with extremes. It's either totally important or unimportant," he said.
Utahns are more likely to go with extremes. It's either totally important or unimportant.
–Utah Foundation research analyst Christopher Collard
LDS respondents were 60 percent more likely than other respondents to indicate that they valued living a very religious life.
Having a successful marriage was a high priority for all generations but was highest among millennials at 97 percent for both Utah and the U.S.
Utahns on average were about 28 percent more likely to value being a leader in their community than other states. While 69 percent of millennials nationwide valued community leadership — at least 13 percent more than any other generation — these rates were dwarfed by those in Utah, where 88 percent of millennials valued being a community leader.
While the Utah Foundation survey did not ask why leadership was such a priority for adults in the state, Bateman said "ties to leadership within religious circles might play a role in why our responses are so much higher."
