Gen Z’s unprecedented swing to the right is largely because of economic factors, like the desire for a whopping salary, according to a new survey. Financial services company Empower surveyed more than 2,200 Americans, and respondents born between 1997 and 2012 declared they’d need to make $587,000 a year to be “financially successful.” The news comes after the youngest voting group, 18- to 24-year-olds, said they are more likely to identify as conservative than as liberal, according to a recent Harvard Youth Poll. “Our data indicates economy is the impetus for the change, and concerns around the economy,” MaryLeigh Bliss, YPulse’s chief content officer, told Axios after their own research found that young people were displaying a “moderate” self-identification. “There was no question for us that the economy and how they were feeling financially in the months—and even weeks—before the election really were going to determine who they were voting for.” David Bahnsen, who owns a wealth management firm, said young people blame the Democrats for their economic turmoil because the party has been in power for a large chunk of their lives.
