Would you rather be born today or in...

What it means that most Canadian adults would rather be born 40, 60, or even 70 years ago than today. Is this a good measure of nostalgia?

A lot has been written and said about the power of nostalgia in our politics today. From “making American great again” to the link between Brexit and dreams of Britain’s imperial past, nostalgia has always been part of the language of politics - especially during difficult times - but it does feel it’s more present today.

Back in February, I asked a nationally representative sample of Canadian adults whether they’d rather be born today or in one of four year - 1800, 1950, 1960, or 1980. A random quarter of the sample of 4,000 respondents was asked one version of the questions.

Now I expected many to prefer being born in the last century, but not the as many who actually did.

More than six in ten adults would rather be born in 1950 or 1960 than today. 3 in 4 would rather be born in 1980 than today. About 1 in 3 would even rather be born in 1800 (hello King George III and post-revolutionary America).

When I did a bit deeper to see if there are any demographic or political differences, interesting, age seems to be the only real factor.