Millennials may stand to gain more from an expansion of government health insurance than people in any other age group. Fully a third (33%) of those younger than age 30 say they are not covered by health insurance; that compares with 19% of those in Generation X, and smaller percentages of Baby Boomers (12%) and those in the Silent Generation (3%).
Yet Millennials' support for the health care proposals before Congress has been lukewarm at best. Millennials do favor many of the individual components in these proposals – for example, 65% favor the so-called "public option." But small percentages of young people expect their own health care or insurance coverage to improve if health care legislation passes. And as is typically the case with major policy issues, Millennials have largely tuned out of the health care debate: They are far less likely than those in older age groups to report they have heard a lot about the issue.
In the Pew Research Center's most recent survey, conducted in early January, fewer than half (47%) of Millennials (those younger than age 30) said they generally favored the health care proposals being discussed in Congress, while 36% were opposed.
Read the full report Millennials' Lukewarm Support For Health Care Bills on the Pew Research Center's Web site.