Why Are US Politicians So Darned Old?

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While North Dakota is proposing an age ceiling of sorts, the US Constitution already enforces an age floor. Members of the House must be at least 25 years old by the time they take office; senators must be 30 . So if the average congressional ages cited earlier seem high, it's partly thanks to some artificial inflation from age floors.

Young candidates are hard to find

But natural trends and constitutional requirements don't fully explain why younger generations are so underrepresented in Congress.

One big additional reason is that younger potential candidates for Congress face a steeper climb and must make bigger sacrifices than older candidates do.

For example, even if they are interested in running for Congress, Americans in their 20s and 30s haven't had as much opportunity to establish themselves in secure careers as older generations have. This means less access to the political networks and connections that political science research says are crucial to success in congressional campaigns.

More importantly, this means less access to money and potential donors . When I spoke last year with US Representative Maxwell Frost, a Florida Democrat – the first Gen Z member of Congress – he laid out why his success was the exception and not the rule.

“It's really hard,” Frost told me.“The system is not created for young people to be running for office.” Just being a candidate, he said, means“a year without salary. If you're already rich, that's not a big deal; you're fine, you have savings. It makes it so young people can't run.”

Young potential candidates also face a deficit of time in addition to money. Compared with later years, your 20s and 30s usually contain more major life events and changes, such as career transitions , geographic mobility and starting a family.

As a result, politics take up less space in young people's lives, compared with older generations with more time, personal stability and career and financial security.

The youngest member of Congress when he was first elected in 2022, Rep. Maxwell Frost is a Democrat from Florida. Photo: Jemal Countess / Getty Images via The Conversation Age has advantages

Meanwhile, older Americans with an interest in running for Congress enjoy a few key electoral advantages.

Advanced age brings with it longer careers – political or otherwise – that voters often interpret as proven experience , or longevity in jobs that may well translate into effectiveness as a member of Congress. In other words, older generations have had more time to prove their quality in the eyes of the voters. Younger candidates might seem unseasoned by comparison.

Political science also has established the difficulty of unseating incumbents in Congress. Nearly all members of Congress who run for reelection end up winning. The so-called“incumbency advantage” helps all sitting members of Congress, not just older members.

But it limits the number of open seats that are most likely to bring younger generations into Congress.