Asian Americans increasingly on the white side of the class divide, rate the economy accordingly
The GenForward report has published its latest, bimonthly survey, “Political Polarization and Trust among Millennials”, compiling key findings in the views of ethnically and racially diverse adults.
Key findings show that majorities of white and Asian American millennials gave a respective 64% and 57% approval rating on the government’s performance of strengthening the economy. However, only 41% of African Americans and 45% of Latinx millennials agreed.
While the middle and upper class is largely made up of white Americans, Asian Americans have steadily made their way into the middle and upper class. Asian Americans are the only minority group to have seen an increase in upward class mobility from 2003 to 2016—19% to 29%.
The same upward class mobility cannot be said for African Americans and Latinx people. Black underrepresentation in the upper middle class has been stable while Latinx representation has steadily fallen. Whites have maintained disproportionate representation in the upper middle class helped by legacies of house segregation, economic and political racial gaps, and unequal access to education.
Class differences in different ethnic and racial groups reflect the economic realities of the millennial participants. Additional studies demonstrate that when class includes the question of education, trends remain the same.
All millennial participants across race and ethnicity were disappointed with the government’s performance on immigration, education access, and environmental protection.