Gen Z

Keeping Score: Democrats Dominate Key Elections; Federal Government Reopens After 43 Days; ICE Targets Childcare Centers

PUBLISHED 11/13/2025 by

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week:
—Democratic candidates won elections across the country.
—At Crooked Con last week, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) laid out her priorities for when Democrats regain power in Congress: “We’ve got to fix the Voting Rights Act, we have to deal with the money in politics, we have to deal with the Supreme Court and we need immigration reform.”
—ICE targeted childcare workers and is accused of inhumane detention conditions.
—Nancy Pelosi announced her retirement in 2027.
—Trump’s approval ratings continue to fall, a year out from the 2026 midterms.
—Many popular lubricants aren’t safe for vaginal health.

… and more.

Keeping Score: No Kings Protest Turnout Makes History; SCOTUS Threatens Voting Rights; Gen Z Women Are Most Liberal in U.S.

PUBLISHED 10/28/2025 by

In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in this biweekly roundup.

This week:
—No Kings Day marks the largest single-day protest in American history.
—The ongoing government shutdown could soon disrupt SNAP benefits, another unprecedented moment in U.S. history. “We have never seen our government turn on its people this way,” said Abby Leibman, president and CEO of MAZON.
—House Democrats rebuke Pete Hegseth’s hostility towards women in the military.
—Speaker Mike Johnson refuses to swear in newly elected Democrat, Rep. Adelita Grijalva.
—Return-to-office policies are pushing women out of the workforce.
—Remembering legendary trans activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy.
—The Supreme Court heard arguments challenging the Voting Rights Act.

… and more.

The ACA Promised Access to Birth Control. The System Still Says No.

PUBLISHED 9/21/2025 by

Everyone has a defining memory that shapes how they come to see the world. For me, a Gen Z born in 2007, it was kneeling in front of the television, eyes fixed on the screen, watching Barack Obama take the oath of office.

However, more than a decade after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) promised access to birth control, I found myself at the pharmacy counter, forced to walk away without it. My insurance refused to cover the pills I need to regulate my hormones, to prevent a third surgery for cystic breasts, and to alleviate excruciating period pain. That was my first confrontation with a false promise—but hardly the first loss of what I considered a secure right.

In theory, the ACA requires most health insurance plans to cover all FDA-approved contraceptive methods without any cost-sharing. In reality, that promise breaks down at the pharmacy counter—whether on account of delays, rejections, cost-sharing and a host of exceptions. In addition, states are eagerly stepping in to empower pharmacists to decide who does not get contraception.

Celebrating Women’s Equality Day—105 Years After the 19th Amendment

PUBLISHED 8/29/2025 by

Weekend Reading for Women’s Representation is a compilation of stories about women’s representation in politics, sports and entertainment, judicial offices and the private sector—with a little gardening mixed in!

This week:
– Marking 105 years since the 19th Amendment certified women’s right to vote.
– Democrat Catelin Drey wins a special election in Iowa, breaking the GOP’s majority in the state’s chamber.
– Australia’s youngest-ever senator, Labor Senator Charlotte Walker, delivers her first speech to Parliament.
– Women’s Emergency Response Rooms in Sudan are signs of Democracy.

… and more.

Trump Is Creating Unique Problems for Gen Z

PUBLISHED 6/9/2025 by

Since November, much of the media coverage of this most recent election cycle has focused on Gen Z—especially the Gen Z gender gap, and how young men in particular seem to be swinging further and further right.

At the same time, Gen Z (born between the mid 1990s and the early 2010s, so around ages 13 to 28 in 2025) is the most diverse generation in American history… which might be why so many of the Trump administration’s recent actions, like attacks on higher ed, seem to be targeting Gen Z specifically.

Under 50? The Trump-Musk-DOGE Attack on Social Security Is Coming for You Too.

PUBLISHED 4/8/2025 by

Even if retirement feels out of reach, younger Americans can’t afford to ignore the GOP’s coordinated effort to sabotage Social Security from the inside out.

The playbook seems clear: Take one of the most popular and successful government programs we hav, and break it. Claim it’s so dysfunctional that it has to be dismantled, perhaps even privatized as Republicans have tried to do before. And use a flood of lies and misinformation to convince younger Americans to go along with their scheme. In essence, they’ll set our house on fire, and then stand there with fistfuls of spent matches telling us that it was doomed anyway and “would you like to invest in a nice condo near Mar-a-Lago instead?”

Gen Z Rep. Justin J. Pearson on Gun Violence, Activism and Being a Young Legislator

PUBLISHED 11/30/2024 by

Generation Z—born between the mid 1990s and the early 2010s—is the most diverse generation in American history, with nearly half of the Gen Z electorate in 2024 identifying as people of color. Gen Z has also come of age during the rise of school shootings, the COVID-19 pandemic and the first Trump presidency’s legislative attacks on reproductive freedom.

While 41 million Gen Z members voted in the Nov. 5 election, some Gen Z voters are old enough now to run for office themselves. In The Z Factor’s second episode, Chander interviewed 29-year-old Tennessee State House Rep. Justin J. Pearson, who serves Memphis. In 2023, he was the second youngest person to serve in the Tennessee legislature. Since then, he’s advocated for climate and racial justice and gun violence prevention, introducing more than a dozen gun safety bills over the last year.

Activist Olivia Julianna Talks Repro Rights and Young Women’s Futures on Ms. Magazine’s New Gen Z Podcast

PUBLISHED 11/27/2024 by

A fair amount of news coverage this election cycle has focused on the Gen Z vote, and for good reason. Besides being the most diverse generation in American history, Generation Z—born between the mid 1990s and the early 2010s—has grown up in a turbulent time in this country, from the rise of school shootings to the COVID-19 pandemic to the first (and soon to be second) Trump presidency and legislative attacks on reproductive freedom.

In The Z Factor’s third episode, host Anoushka Chander interviewed 21-year-old Olivia Julianna, who has advocated for abortion in her home state of Texas. On the podcast, she and Chander delved into the unique worries of young women in America right now and Julianna’s own advocacy work.

‘Gen Z Is Ready to Act’: Ms. Launches New Podcast ‘The Z Factor’ Uplifting Youth Voices

PUBLISHED 10/22/2024 by

This week, Ms. magazine launched a brand-new limited series podcast, The Z Factor: Gen Z’s Voice and Vote.

I’m Anoushka Chander—a senior at Harvard, an activist and host of The Z Factor. My generation, Gen Z, grew up amid a global pandemic, rapid climate change, rampant gun violence, democratic backsliding, and movements for women’s rights and racial justice. We were born between the mid 1990s and early 2010s, so we are between the ages of 12 and 27. As we reach the cusp of adulthood, many young people are wondering: What comes next?

In the opening episode, I welcome Anil Cacodcar, student chair of the Harvard Public Opinion Project, which conducts the leading biannual poll of young Americans. In the episode, we discuss the role of social media in the 2024 election, how youth voter enthusiasm has skyrocketed, and youth concerns about finding affordable housing and a fair-paying job in this economy.