The Political World: Voting, Tolerance, and Civility - Who Votes: Women

In 1984, women's voting rates in presidential elections surpassed men's rates for the first since the Census Bureau began tracking voting data in 1964. More women continue to register and vote than men do. While the panel above shows only presidential elections, their rates in congressional elections are higher than men's as well: 46.1% of women voted in 1986, while 45.8% of men did; in 1998, 42.4% of women voted in 1998, while 41.4% of men did. Recalling the suffragettes of long ago, one is tempted to say: "You've come a long way, baby!"

In the 1984 presidential election, 60.8% of women voted in the election, compared to 59% of men. This was the year of Reagan's re-election. Both sexes favored him over Mondale, with 62% of men and 56% of women supporting his continued presidency.

The media have increasingly looked at recent presidential elections through the lens of gender. According to several sources, the term "gender gap," the difference between the way men and women vote, seems to have appeared about 1980. Anna Greenberg of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government analyzed recent elections this way: 1980 was the gender gap; 1992 was the Year of the Woman; 1994 was the angry, white young man, 1996 was the soccer mom; 1998 was the waitress mom.

What has brought more women to the polls? As we have seen in this book and its companion volume Work and Leisure, women have increasingly pursued advanced degrees. Their participation in the labor force has been on the rise. Education and workforce participation have traditionally been correlates of voting. An educated, employed person will more likely be concerned about issues that affect him or her — tax cuts, social security, health care — and will vote accordingly. In short, the "waitress mom" of the 1998 election, most likely a single woman who has children and who holds a low-wage job, will vote for the candidate most likely interested in issues like tax cuts, higher wages, and childcare.

Women are concerned with other issues as well. The field of women's health — research, funding, access, contraception — is a top concern. A candidate's viewpoint on abortion rights continues to be a vital concern for many voters (of both genders). Women, as mothers, are often concerned with education.

The next panel looks at turnout by age.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. "Reported Voting and Registration by Race, Hispanic Origin, Sex and Age Groups." Online. Available: http://www.census.gov.