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Abstract

9, <a href="https://twitter.com/InezFeltscher/status/1590485264295940097">Inez Stepman of The Federalist</a> tweeted, “Millennials will have the highest proportion of unmarried and childless women hitting 40, probably in all of human history. And they will vote to ruin your life.”</p><p id="22f0">Women, as with men, vote based on their priorities. Those included the right to control their own reproductive health against restrictive laws passed by Republican-controlled states. Concern for democracy was also high — rightly so, considering some people also want take away their vote.</p><p id="3e41">Republican Party officials have just begun to reassess why its touted “red wave” election petered out to just a narrow House majority. Perhaps, in the end, it won’t be led by extremist attitudes. The early focus, however, has been on how to appeal to those who did not vote rather than how to respond effectively to those who did.</p><p id="2d76">It would help to start with a better understanding of this country’s demographics. A <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-have-women-voted-suffrage-180975979/">preponderance of polls</a> over the years have shown that a majority of women tend to vote Democratic. They also <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/18/men-and-women-in-the-u-s-continue-to-differ-in-voter-turnout-rate-party-identification/">turn out to vote in greater percentages</a> than men. CNN exit polls found that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/exit-polls/national-results/house/0">women constituted 52 percent of voters</a> — accounting for more than 60 million of an estimated 116 million votes.</p><p id="7967">Waiting on men to “put a ring on it” as a way of gaining Republican votes is not a wise strategy. Since 2010, the number of single adults — men and women — have been higher than the number of married couples.</p><p id="d798">Currently, a majority of Millennials, age 23 to 38, are unmarried — a significant change from past generations. Only 44 percent were married in 2019, according to a study by the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/05/27/as-millennials-near-40-theyre-approaching-family-life-differently-than-previous-generations/">Pew Research Center</a>. That compares with 53 percent of Gen Xers and 61 percent of Boomers when they were of comparable age.</p><p id="cc12">On Nov. 9, <a href="https://twitter.com/InezFeltscher/status/1590485264295940097">Inez Stepman of The Federalist</a> tweeted, “Millennials will have the highest propor

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tion of unmarried and childless women hitting 40, probably in all of human history. And they will vote to ruin your life.”</p><p id="e67a">Because of financial concerns aggravated by the pandemic, more are living with family members. In July 2020, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/04/a-majority-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-live-with-their-parents-for-the-first-time-since-the-great-depression/">52 percent of young adults age 18 to 29 were living with parents</a>. That’s higher than the 48 percent who lived with parents during the Great Depression in the 1930s.</p><p id="13b5">And they are, understandably, postponing marriage. The <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/families/marital.html">median age at first marriage</a> has gradually increased in recent decades. In 2019, the average man first got married at age 30; the average woman was 28. That is three years later — for both men and women — than in 2003.</p><p id="e4ce">So the votes by single women are not the result of some vast Democratic conspiracy. It reflects what they want for their lives and for this country. Stereotyping them into some kind of boogeyman destroying our culture won’t win their votes. And they are not going away.</p><div id="4113" class="link-block"> <a href="https://vgallman.medium.com/democrats-gain-power-in-statehouses-965eaec0db69"> <div> <div> <h2>Democrats Gain Power in Statehouses</h2> <div><h3>GOP domination remains, but challenged at a crucial time</h3></div> <div><p>vgallman.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*Py-dHqfB7RiYZNRI)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="2632" class="link-block"> <a href="https://vgallman.medium.com/rejected-election-deniers-seeking-to-control-elections-25c6efcdbde"> <div> <div> <h2>Rejected: Election Deniers Seeking to Control Elections</h2> <div><h3>GOP primary voters weeded out secretary of state candidates</h3></div> <div><p>vgallman.medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*6kzjApi9VDFMO_t4NwwfGA.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Demonizing Single Women Won’t Save the GOP

Reaction to election ignores realities of U.S. demographics.

**A July protest for abortion rights in Washington. D.C.** / Photo by Victoria Pickering on Flick.r

Right-wing pundits have chosen a scapegoat for the disappointing Republican election results: single women.

That reflects denial about how the shrinking party alienated these voters, how much the electorate is dominated by women, and the growing number of unmarried people in the country.

After various exit polls showed that single women overwhelmingly favored Democrats, some GOP supporters lobbed denunciations on social media and TV. Some evangelical espousers even suggest that women should not have the right to vote — unless they vote the way their husbands tell them.

Fox News host Jesse Watters pointed out the station’s exit polls showing that 68 percent of unmarried women voted Democratic, while 56 percent of married women voted Republican.

“Single women and voters under 40 have been captured by Democrats,” he said. “So, we need these ladies to get married. And it’s time to fall in love and just settle down. Guys, go put a ring on it.”

The misogyny is nothing new; it has become more outspoken after protests against the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn federal abortion rights.

J.D. Vance, elected this month as Ohio senator, said in 2021 that the country is being run “by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”

On Nov. 9, Inez Stepman of The Federalist tweeted, “Millennials will have the highest proportion of unmarried and childless women hitting 40, probably in all of human history. And they will vote to ruin your life.”

Women, as with men, vote based on their priorities. Those included the right to control their own reproductive health against restrictive laws passed by Republican-controlled states. Concern for democracy was also high — rightly so, considering some people also want take away their vote.

Republican Party officials have just begun to reassess why its touted “red wave” election petered out to just a narrow House majority. Perhaps, in the end, it won’t be led by extremist attitudes. The early focus, however, has been on how to appeal to those who did not vote rather than how to respond effectively to those who did.

It would help to start with a better understanding of this country’s demographics. A preponderance of polls over the years have shown that a majority of women tend to vote Democratic. They also turn out to vote in greater percentages than men. CNN exit polls found that women constituted 52 percent of voters — accounting for more than 60 million of an estimated 116 million votes.

Waiting on men to “put a ring on it” as a way of gaining Republican votes is not a wise strategy. Since 2010, the number of single adults — men and women — have been higher than the number of married couples.

Currently, a majority of Millennials, age 23 to 38, are unmarried — a significant change from past generations. Only 44 percent were married in 2019, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. That compares with 53 percent of Gen Xers and 61 percent of Boomers when they were of comparable age.

Because of financial concerns aggravated by the pandemic, more are living with family members. In July 2020, 52 percent of young adults age 18 to 29 were living with parents. That’s higher than the 48 percent who lived with parents during the Great Depression in the 1930s.

And they are, understandably, postponing marriage. The median age at first marriage has gradually increased in recent decades. In 2019, the average man first got married at age 30; the average woman was 28. That is three years later — for both men and women — than in 2003.

So the votes by single women are not the result of some vast Democratic conspiracy. It reflects what they want for their lives and for this country. Stereotyping them into some kind of boogeyman destroying our culture won’t win their votes. And they are not going away.