One reason older Americans are less likely to have changed their opinions of Biden during his time in office is that they are much more likely to identify politically as a Republican or a Democrat than as an independent. Approval ratings are more strongly linked to partisanship now than in the past. To date, approval of Biden among independents has declined more than it has among Democrats or Republicans.

Only about one in four traditionalists (27%) and one in three baby boomers (34%) identify as political independents. This compares with roughly half of Americans among Generation X, millennials, and Generation Z. These figures are based on polls conducted throughout Biden’s presidency; party identification within each generation has been relatively stable during that time.

However, a greater share of political independents cannot by itself explain why older Americans show less change in their evaluations of Biden than younger generations do. Traditionalists and baby boomers who identify politically as Democrats or as independents show less change in approval than their political counterparts in the younger generations. For example, approval of Biden among millennials who identify as independents is down 24 points (from 59% to 35%) compared with a 14-point drop among baby boomers who identify as independents (from 54% to 40%). Millennial Democrats’ approval has dropped 15 points (from 93% to 78%), compared with a five-point drop among baby boomer Democrats (from 96% to 91%).