As Americans consider whether to elect our first female president in November, young women in the country are becoming increasingly liberal.
A Gallup analysis released Thursday found that from 2017-2024, an average of 40% of young women aged 18 to 29 identified as liberal, 15 percentage points higher than men. From 2001-2007 28% of young women aged 18 to 29 said they were liberal, and it jumped to 32% from 2008 to 2016.
“A surge in young women who identify as politically liberal in recent years goes beyond the label, extending particularly to their stances on the environment and abortion. It is also strongly echoed in their heightened unease with gun laws and race relations,” said Gallup. Additionally, young women’s stances on the death penalty, healthcare policy, labor unions, taxes, government regulation and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have also become moderately more liberal.
While some recent research indicates that young American men have become more conservative in recent years, Gallup’s analysis of 50 trends showed that they also became more liberal on most issues. Still, their shift to the left was not as strong as women in the same age range.
Beyond identifying as liberal, young women’s stances on specific issues have become increasingly liberal. While the 18 to 29-year-old cohort’s views were closer to those of liberals aged 30 or older than conservatives aged 30 or older on 63% of the issues from 2001 to 2007, that increased to 78% in 2008-2016 and to 87% in 2017-2024.
“Separately, the analysis shows that young women’s views also moved closer to liberals and further from moderates, with their more-liberal-than-moderate responses rising from 33% in the [George W.] Bush era to 55% in the [Donald] Trump/[Joe] Biden era,” Gallup said.
Here are some other examples of issues where women are becoming more liberal. During the Trump/Biden period, the average percentage of young women saying human activity is responsible for global warming jumped 20 points to 86%. They also became more likely to say protection of the environment should be prioritized over economic growth, from 59% to 78%. Young women’s support of broad abortion rights also increased 18% and is now at 60%, while their support of gun laws increased from 58% to 74%. Concern about race relations among young women also increased 24%.
“The analysis also looks at whether the increasing proportion of women enrolled in higher education relative to men explains the recent surge in young women’s identification as politically liberal,” said Gallup. “However, for most variables reviewed, gender is the key predictor of attitudes, not educational attainment.”
As of 2019, women had overtaken men as college educated members of the U.S. labor force, according to the Pew Research Center. That dominance has held steady through at least September 2022.
From 2017 to 2024, there has also been a record increase in women elected to Congress, governorships and state legislatures. Most of these female elected officials are Democrats. During this period, young women have also seen Vice President Kamala Harris reach the highest elected office ever held by a woman in the U.S., now she is the Democratic nominee for president.
After her debate with the GOP candidate, former President Donald Trump, Harris received an endorsement from pop star Taylor Swift, who is an icon for many young women in the U.S.
“I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades,” Swift, who has supported Democrats in the past, wrote in a social media post.
Though there has been unprecedented representation of women in politics over the past decade, this period also brought a blow to women’s rights in the form of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling from the conservative leaning U.S. Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade. This ruling reversed decades of reproductive freedom and ushered in restrictive and dangerous anti-abortion legislation in many states.
In her endorsement Swift also poked fun at Trump’s running mate, Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance, for insulting “childless cat ladies” in his comments about Democratic voters.
Gallup said it isn’t clear exactly how issues such as the rise of social media, the legalization of gay marriage, the #MeToo movement, school shootings, the Trump-led MAGA movement and the fall of Roe v. Wade have impacted young women’s political views.
“Something has clearly prompted a change,” Gallup said.
Regarding the upcoming election, Gallup said that young women’s increased embrace of their liberal identity will likely work in Harris’ favor.
“The consolidation of young women’s liberal identity could make them a potent political segment in this year’s election,” the polling resource explained. “It makes them an important bloc for Kamala Harris to turn out to vote, and therefore, one Donald Trump can’t completely ignore, in their respective attempts to win the presidency in November.”