However, as you venture into the younger parts of Gen Z (18-21), things take a radical turn to the right, with that particular age group identifying as right-leaning by a whopping 12 points. 

A sharp age divide is emerging within Gen Z in the latest @YalePolling data:

🔴 Ages 18–21: R+12
🔵 Ages 22–29: D+6

The youngest voters are breaking sharply from their older Gen Z peers.

— Zachary Donnini (@ZacharyDonnini) April 15, 2025

It gets more interesting when you begin dividing Gen Z by gender. As has been the case for some time, Gen Z women have largely moved to the left, while Gen Z men are heavily to the right. 

This is likely due to modern social justice values placing increasing importance on women's success and empowerment at the cost of men's, as emphasized in an article by The Week: 

Backlash toward gender equality and feminist movements may be drawing more young men aged 18 to 29 worldwide. "There is a growing concern among young men that maybe DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] is going too far," Alice Evans, a senior lecturer at King's College, said to The Guardian. Some men "question if women's gains are coming at the expense of them."

The findings of a March 2024 Ipsos study echoed that shift. With data samples from around the world, including Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Turkey, researchers found that regarding gender equality, those aged 18 to 29 had the most significant differences of opinion between the sexes.

As King's College of London noted in March, this divide can definitely be seen in the difference of opinion between men and women when it came to supporting modern ideals regarding women, which had women in completely support of anything that favored their gender in terms of upward mobility and success, and men increasingly not supporting it. 

In fact, the one thing Gen Z men and women did agree on is that they're at odds with each other. They share this in large part with their older millennial siblings: 

Six in 10 (59%) members of Gen Z across the 30 countries surveyed say there is tension between men and women today – the most of any generation surveyed, followed by Millennials (54%). This compares with 40% of Baby Boomers, who are least likely to feel such tension exists.

But this political divide has resulted in some interesting outcomes. 

For one, Gen Z's marriage rates are incredibly low compared to other generations, likely due to this political divide. In fact, a movement has arisen within Gen Z men called "hagmaxxing," where Gen Z men will actually seek companionship with millennial women due to Gen Z women generally being more or less undatable. 

While this is probably fun to watch for political reasons, the cultural fallout from this could become dangerous. 

This lack of marriage and commitment could very well affect birth rates in America for the worse. With fewer marriages, or even marriages happening but far later, resulting in fewer to no children being had in any given relationship, America could experience a steep decline in the populace, resulting in economic issues and unpredictable demographic changes. 

The silver lining here is that the cultural shift within Gen Z indicates that things are happening rather quickly in terms of cultural shifts, and women may very well catch up to their male counterparts ideologically. There are signs this is occurring; however, this is a budding issue that hasn't exactly had a lot of research going into it yet. 

As it stands, Gen Z seems to be made up of two generations in one, and each is likely to behave differently than the other.