Why Have Women Become Left-Wing? The Political Gender Gap and the Decline in Marriage

The last three decades have witnessed the rise of a pohtical gender gap in the United States wherein more women than men favor the Democratic party. We trace this development to the decline in marriage, which we posit has made men richer and women poorer. Data for the United States support this argument. First, there is a strong positive correlation between state divorce prevalence and the political gender gap—higher divorce prevalence reduces support for the Democrats among men but not women. Second, longitudinal data show that following marriage (divorce), women are less (more) likely to support the Democratic party.

[1]  Lawrence F. Katz,et al.  The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women’s Career and Marriage Decisions , 2002, Journal of Political Economy.

[2]  L. Edlund,et al.  A Theory of Prostitution , 2002, Journal of Political Economy.

[3]  E. Duflo,et al.  How Much Should We Trust Differences-in-Differences Estimates? , 2001 .

[4]  A. Alesina,et al.  Preferences for Redistribution in the Land of Opportunities , 2001 .

[5]  C. Mulligan.  Economic Limits on "Rational" Democratic Redistribution , 2001 .

[6]  P. Norris,et al.  The Developmental Theory of the Gender Gap: Women’s and Men’s Voting Behavior in Global Perspective , 2000 .

[7]  S. Hoffman.  A Treatise on the Family , 2000 .

[8]  D. Lichter,et al.  Mate Selection Among Married and Cohabiting Couples , 2000 .

[9]  L. Kenny,et al.  Did Women's Suffrage Change the Size and Scope of Government? , 1999, Journal of Political Economy.

[10]  M. Rosenzweig.  Welfare, Marital Prospects, and Nonmarital Childbearing , 1999, Journal of Political Economy.

[11]  R. Montgomery,et al.  Sex and Fiscal Desire , 1999 .

[12]  Thomas J. Nechyba,et al.  Social Approval, Values, and AFDC: A Reexamination of the Illegitimacy Debate , 1999, Journal of Political Economy.

[13]  E. Mcdonagh.  Votes Without Leverage: Women in American Electoral Politics, 1920–1970. By Anna L. Harvey. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. pp. xi, 253. $59.95, cloth; $18.95, paper , 1999, The Journal of Economic History.

[14]  K Walshe,et al.  You ain't seen nothing yet. , 1999, The Health service journal.

[15]  Jonathan Nagler,et al.  Explaining the Gender Gap in U.S. Presidential Elections, 1980-1992 , 1998 .

[16]  Leora Friedberg.  Did Unilateral Divorce Raise Divorce Rates? Evidence from Panel Data , 1998 .

[17]  Sally Young Conrad.  Making Ends Meet: How Single Mothers Survive Welfare and Low-Wage Work , 1997 .

[18]  Francine D. Blau,et al.  Trends in the Well-Being of American Women, 1970-1995 , 1997 .

[19]  Robert A. Pollak,et al.  Do Husbands and Wives Pool Their Resources?: Evidence from the United Kingdom Child Benefit , 1997 .

[20]  Greg D. Adams,et al.  Abortion: Evidence of an Issue Evolution , 1997 .

[21]  C. Udry.  Gender, Agricultural Production, and the Theory of the Household , 1996, Journal of Political Economy.

[22]  Janet L. Yellen,et al.  An Analysis of Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing in the United States , 1996 .

[23]  Kevin M. Murphy,et al.  Wage Inequality and Family Labor Supply , 1996, Journal of Labor Economics.

[24]  Raymond Thomas Smith,et al.  The Matrifocal Family: Power, Pluralism and Politics , 1995 .

[25]  R. T. Smith.  The Matrifocal Family , 1995 .

[26]  Casamassimo Ps.  Dan Quayle was right. , 1994 .

[27]  Richard R. Peterson,et al.  On the Economics of Marriage: A Theory of Marriage, Labor and Divorce. , 1994 .

[28]  S. Preston,et al.  Changes in American marriage, 1972 to 1987: availability and forces of attraction by age and education , 1993 .

[29]  R. Posner.  Sex and Reason , 1992 .

[30]  E. A. Cook,et al.  Feminism and the Gender Gap--A Second Look , 1991, The Journal of Politics.

[31]  M. Ferber.  Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women. , 1991 .

[32]  R. Mare.  Five decades of educational assortative mating. , 1991 .

[33]  J. Gillis,et al.  Putting Asunder: A History of Divorce in Western Society. , 1990 .

[34]  V. Fuchs,et al.  Women's Quest for Economic Equality. , 1989 .

[35]  M. Glendon.  The Transformation of Family Law: State, Law, and Family in the United States and Western Europe , 1989 .

[36]  James P. Smith,et al.  Women in the Labor Market and in the Family , 1989 .

[37]  Kevin Stenson,et al.  The Divorce Revolution: The Unexpected Social and Economic Consequences for Women and Children in America , 1986 .

[38]  R. Y. Shapiro,et al.  Gender Differences in Policy Preferences: A Summary of Trends from the 1960s to the 1980s , 1986 .

[39]  Jane J. Mansbridge.  Myth and Reality: The ERA and the Gender Gap in the 1980 Election , 1985 .

[40]  M. Jennings,et al.  Partisan Orientations over the Long Haul: Results from the Three-Wave Political Socialization Panel Study , 1984, American Political Science Review.

[41]  C. Murray.  Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950-1980 , 1984 .

[42]  G. Becker,et al.  A Treatise on the Family , 1982 .

[43]  Allan H. Meltzer,et al.  A Rational Theory of the Size of Government , 1981, Journal of Political Economy.

[44]  A. Phillips.  Survey of African Marriage and Family Life , 1974 .

[45]  W. Forrest.  Ancient Society , 1969, The Classical Review.

[46]  Michael Banton,et al.  An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy , 1964 .

[47]  Arnold M. Rose,et al.  An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. , 1944 .

[48]  D. Slight.  Studies in the Psychology of Sex , 1903, The Indian Medical Gazette.

[49]  H. Ellis,et al.  Studies in the Psychology of Sex , 1901, Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Journal (1883).

[50]  R. Pande,et al.  Gender politics: The political salience of marriage , 2002 .

[51]  P. Norris.  The Gender Gap: Old Challenges, New Approaches , 2000 .

[52]  C. Goldin.  Exploring the "Present through the Past": Career and Family across the Last Century , 1997 .

[53]  N. Fortin,et al.  Rank Regressions, Wage Distributions and the Gender Gap , 1996 .

[54]  S. Grossbard-Shechtman.  On the economics of marriage : a theory of marriage, labor, and divorce , 1995 .

[55]  P. Casamassimo.  Dan Quayle was right. , 1994, Pediatric dentistry.

[56]  R. Phillips.  Putting Asunder: A History of Divorce in Western Society , 1988 .

[57]  J. Skinner,et al.  Labor Supply and Marital Separation , 1986 .

[58]  Norman R. Luttbeg,et al.  American Public Opinion: Its Origins, Content, and Impact. , 1975 .

[59]  R. Trivers.  Parental investment and sexual selection , 1972 .

[60]  B. Campbell.  Forces and Strategies in Evolution. (Book Reviews: Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man, 1871-1971) , 1972 .

[61]  L. Mair.  African Marriage and Social Change , 1969 .

[62]  Mircea Eliade,et al.  Myth and Reality , 2014 .

[63]  M. Duverger.  The political role of women , 1955 .