Characteristics of the Electorate by Generational Status: Analysis of the Current Population Survey, 1996-2008

Yesenia D. Acosta, U.S. Census Bureau
Edward N. Trevelyan, U.S. Census Bureau

The Current Population Survey (CPS) November Supplement collects data on the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the nation’s electorate. The CPS is effective in its capacity to characterize the population on the basis of the fundamental question: “Did you vote?” The U.S. Census Bureau uses questions on parental place of birth to divide the population into generational statuses: the “first generation” (the foreign born), “second generation” (natives with at least one foreign-born parent), and “third-or-higher generation” (natives with no foreign-born parents). While other studies have documented relationships between voting and factors such as age, sex, race, educational attainment, income, and occupation, few have examined these relationships by generational status. This poster examines levels of voting and registration, by generational status, in the four most recent (2008, 2004, 2000, 1996) presidential elections and the demographic and economic characteristics of the electorate during the 2008 elections.