There are three compositional reasons why young people lean left. First, they’re just plain young, and young people are typically to the left of the rest of the country on social and economic issues. Second, the under-30 cohort is the most diverse adult demographic in American history, and minorities have historically been to the left of the country as well. Third, even young white men and women are more liberal than their parents, particularly on three social issues—gay rights, immigration, and marijuana—and generally on their willingness to accept more government involvement in income redistribution and universal health care. (On gun rights and abortion, interestingly, Generation Y is right in line with the rest of the country.) Although several polls find that young people are less likely to identify as Democrats, that has much more to do with an aversion to establishments and labels. Their overwhelming support for Obama was the most any young cohort has leaned toward a Democrat since 1972.

The Great Recession and several key events during the Obama administration have arguably pushed young Americans even further to the left. Young people were uniquely punished by the recession and are rightfully angry. They suffered higher unemployment than any other group during the downturn, and their wages fell more more than any other group after it concluded.

This is the most educated generation in American history by both total degrees and share of college graduates. But whereas education once seemed to promise an inviolable social contract—a degree produced a job, and the job procured a good middle-class life or better—the rising cost of school has combined with a chilly labor market to create a perfect storm: Low youth wages that make it hard to pay off record-high student debt. One study from the San Francisco Federal Reserve found that since 2009, wages for recent college graduates have grown 60 percent more slowly than those of the general population. Given the alarmingly slow growth of overall wages, this is not unlike identifying an animal that moves 60 percent slower than a garden snail. The youth job market appears to require ever more preparation to secure increasingly meager wages.