Younger Americans More Skeptical of Requiring Childhood Vaccines % of U.S. adults saying children) parents thatall should children be alle to should decide required to be vaccinated children) Parents should decide Should be required
There are generational differences on other science topics as well, including on childhood vaccines. Thirty-seven percent of adults under the age 50 say parents should be able to decide not to vaccinate their children, compared with 22% of those ages 50 and older. And when it comes to the idea of changing a baby’s genetic characteristics in order to reduce the risk of serious diseases, 56% of those ages 65 and older say this would be taking medical advances too far, compared with just 42% of those ages 18-29.
Younger Americans More Skeptical of  | Requiring Childhood Vaccines  | % of U.S. adults saying children) parents thatall should children be alle to should decide  | not to vaccinate their children) thatall children should be  | required to be vaccinated children)  | Parents should decide Should be required  | U.S ad ults  | 30  | 68  | 18-29  | 59  | 41  | 30-49  | 35  | 64  | 50-64  | 23  | 75  | 65+  | 20  | 79  | Survey ofU.S. adults Aug 15-25 2014. Q25. 'Don't know"  | responses are not shown.  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 