It’s fun to pick on millennials. After all, they’ve made a public showing of stuffing their feet in their mouths for the better part of a decade. All joking aside, they are as dynamic and interesting a generation as those who came before, and right now, they’re at a crossroads that is truly fascinating.

It seems like millennials are starting to shift right. So, we’ll delve into the topic with some scrutiny. We’ll see if the shift is really happening, and if it is, why.

It was a survey by Reuters that jump started the conversation. While they aren’t the most unbiased source, the numbers reported caught the attention of everyone on both sides of the political spectrum. What they found is that from 2016 to 2018, millennial support for Democrats plummeted from 55 percent to 46 percent.

For those keeping score, that’s a nine-point decline in two years. It’s beyond massive. In addition to those numbers, the poll found that only 39 percent of white millennials now openly support Democrats. That’s looking like GOP numbers at their worst.

Of course, it’s important to note a few things. First, this is only one study. If the modern climate can teach you anything, it’s that you kind find at least one study to support any claim. But, because this comes from a left-leaning source, it’s more likely to be at least moderately accurate for this topic.

Secondly, the migration away from Democrats does not inherently mean millennials are flocking to the GOP. While Democratic support dropped by nine points, GOP support only grew by six points during the same period. Still, the trend is clear: millennials are shifting right. Now, we get to the ever important question. Why?

Economics

Sure, we could talk about how people tend to shift right on economic policy as they age. Later, we’ll even discuss how Trump has won over a lot of these millennials through economic reform. But first, we need to cover something more specific. In short, liberals don’t like to pay their interns. That might seem simplistic, but it’s an important point.

In Washington, for instance, Republican Senators and Representatives are twice as likely to pay their interns at all. Democrats still believe in “experience and changing the world” as sufficient compensation. A lot of millennials worked these internships in a down economy. Now, they can see the long-term differences in working for the opposing groups.

This difference becomes more extreme when you look at career fields in general. Engineering and other STEM internships pay way better than their liberal arts counterparts. Aside from the anomalous situation in San Francisco, STEM fields tend to lean heavily towards the right. This is especially true in engineering, which is the field where unpaid internships are rare and paid internships are highly competitive in compensation. Over time, the millennial generation has noticed that right-leaning employers walk the walk that Democrats can only talk.

Internships aren’t the only way conservatives are winning the hearts of this generation through economics. The youngest millennials are still in college and new to the workforce, and as such, they are impressionable.

In the last few years, Republicans have devoted extraordinary effort to taking back colleges and young minds. They have a long way to go, but they are currently outspending Democrats on youth outreach by a factor of three to one. It’s not enough to single-handedly win the war, but it has put a dent in the Democratic monopoly on youth. And, it hasn’t just worked on millennials. So far, Generation Z is polling much more conservative than those who preceded them.

Meritocracy

Now, we’ll get more into general economics. As you already know, one of the fundamental philosophical differences between the right and left is their view of meritocracy. To put it bluntly, millennials are growing up. They have reached a point where they have started to develop their professional skill sets, and in many cases, they aren’t on the bottom rung of the workforce anymore.

All of a sudden, working in a meritocracy is to their advantage. The progressive vitriol that meritocracy is evil no longer resonates. Even worse for the left, millennials are starting to learn first hand that their parents and grandparents were right about this the whole time.

Starting Families

This is obvious to anyone with a brain, but it comes as a complete shock to the far left. A lot more millennials are starting families. Many of them, being more educated than previous generations, chose to delay having kids for economic reasons. Those reasons are disappearing, and babies are popping out all over.

What does this have to do with politics? Well, it turns out that nothing catalyzes a person’s shift to being pro-life quite like having children. Obviously, this won’t convert everyone, but millions of millennials are turning away from abortion politics, fully charmed by the love they have for their children.

The Recession

In the end, the Great Recession will remain the defining issue in millennials’ young lives. The oldest of the generation were just entering the workforce when the recession hit. They suddenly faced the worst hiring conditions in 50 years.

That, combined with the impressionable nature of young minds made them susceptible to the propaganda of the left. They believed that the recession was Bush’s fault (when really it was Clinton’s), and they were wooed by the promises of Obama and genuinely believed in him.

When he couldn’t make things better, they just assumed that a down economy was the new normal. The rapid success of Trump’s economy took them completely by surprise, and they’re slowly learning that they believed in lies this whole time.

It’s difficult to concisely describe this monumental impact, but basically, Trump has shattered their world views by overtly defying the left and succeeding at the same time. Of course it’s pushing them to the right!

As you can see, there are a lot of reasons why millennials are shifting right, but it’s far from being a closed book. Half of the generation is still woefully young and susceptible to leftist propaganda. Also, it takes time for people to change their minds.

While anyone with any real-world experience would have expected this shift all along, the mechanics of it suggest that it might just barely be in time for the impending midterms, and they are going to prove to be one of the most important midterm elections in modern history. We’ll see how it plays, but one thing is certain: the left can no longer assume they have the millennial vote.