New data shows that young men are becoming more conservative while young women are becoming more progressive
New research has revealed that a stark ideological divide is emerging between young men and women across the world.
In recent years there has been much debate over whether Gen Z are more progressive or conservative, with research paradoxically suggesting that young people are both simultaneously left-wing and right-wing. According to Alice Evans, a visiting fellow at Stanford University, this is in large part because Gen Z women are more likely to be progressive, while Gen Z men are more likely to be conservative.
While men and women in the same generation have historically been mostly ideologically aligned, young people globally are now showing signs of bucking this trend. In the US, women aged between 18 to 30 are now 30 percentage points more liberal than their male counterparts, with the divide rapidly accelerating in the last decade. German Gen Z women are also 30 percentage points more liberal than German Gen Z men, while in the UK the gap is 25 points. In the Polish elections last year, almost half of men aged 18-21 voted for the far-right Confederation party, while just sixth of young women did.
Meanwhile, in South Korea, this ideological divide is even starker, with young men in the country becoming rapidly more conservative over the past decade. In the country’s 2022 presidential election, young men largely voted for the right-wing People Power party, while young women opted for the liberal Democratic party. The tension between the sexes is evident in the country’s marriage and birth rates, which have both plummeted.
NEW: an ideological divide is emerging between young men and women in many countries around the world.
— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) January 26, 2024
I think this one of the most important social trends unfolding today, and provides the answer to several puzzles. pic.twitter.com/kG4qQReqfT
According to the Financial Times, this divergence could be as a result of the #MeToo movement, which empowered young women to speak out against sexism and misogyny. But the data shows women are not merely becoming more liberal in regards to gender-related issues. “The clear progressive-vs-conservative divide on sexual harassment appears to have caused — or at least is part of — a broader realignment of young men and women into liberal and conservative camps respectively on other issues,” John Burn-Murdoch writes. “In the US, UK and Germany, young women now take far more liberal positions on immigration and racial justice than young men, while older age groups remain evenly matched.”
Burn-Murdoch adds that this divide is being “exacerbated” by the fact men and women inhabit different online spaces. “The proliferation of smartphones and social media mean that young men and women now increasingly inhabit separate spaces and experience separate cultures,” he writes. “Too often young people’s views are overlooked owing to their low rates of political participation, but this shift could leave ripples for generations to come, impacting far more than vote counts.”