Age and Politics
I recently looked at the demographics of Congress, courtesy of Congress.org. Here is what I found:
0 Senators age 30-39
15 Senators age 40-49
30 Senators age 50-59
32 Senators age 60-69
23 Senators age 70 and over
1 Representative age 25-29
17 Representatives age 30-39
92 Representatives age 40-49
177 Representatives age 50-59
121 Representatives age 60-69
31 Representatives age 70 and over
That is, no one in the Senate and only 4% of the House is under 40 years old, even though about half the country is that old or younger. Meanwhile, 55% of the Senate and 35% of the House is over 60 years old.
Is the Congress where politicians go to retire?!?
Well actually, yes it is where older people go. Its very hard for younger people to run for Congress unless they’re independently wealthy. Someone under 40, or even under 50 is generally not going to be established with enough financial stability to run a Campaign. Most folks just can’t afford to be gone from work if they’re building a new law or insurance practice and especially not if they’re working for someone else.