New Gender Gap Resources

Women voters are not a monolith, and expanded resources and data from the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, shed new light on the nuances among and between women at the polls. CAWP has broadened its resources related to the gender gap in voter turnout, presidential vote choice, party identification, and presidential performance ratings. These new offerings also include enhanced visualizations that provide greater utility and make the information more accessible to scholars, journalists, and anyone interested in women voters. The full, raw data underlying this information is now also available for direct download.

Women voters play a significant role in U.S. elections. They outnumber and outvote men. They also vote differently than their male counterparts. However, the 2020 election and the data curated by CAWP also show differences among women voters. Here is what each fact sheet reveals about women voters and their role in the victory of President Joe Biden and the election of the first woman vice president:

• Gender Differences in Voter Turnout Our data on gender and race now extends back to 1978 and shows that the gender gap in voter turnout – with women voting at higher rates than men - persists across racial and ethnic groups. The new addition of data disaggregated by marital status reveals that among married men and women, there is no consistent gender gap in voter turnout, but among unmarried voters, women tend to vote at higher rates than men. Expanded data by age groups shows that the gender gap is sizeable among younger voters (18-44) with women voting at higher rates than their male counterparts. However, the pattern reverses for the oldest voters (65+) with men turning out at higher levels. New visualizations on voter turnout and registration now present the data in a time series format so users can see how the gender gap in voting and registration has evolved.
• The Gender Gap in Presidential Vote Choice There has been a consistent gender gap in presidential vote choice since the 1980 election, with women more likely than men to support Democratic nominees. This trend persisted in the 2020 election, but so did trends that demonstrate that women are not a monolithic voting bloc. A majority of white women have voted for the Republican candidate since 2000, and, according to most election surveys, this was the case in 2020 as well. A majority of Black, Latina, and Asian American women backed the Biden ticket. New data disaggregated by religious affiliation reveals that Evangelical voters overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump, although according to exit poll data, there was still a nine-point gender gap. Newly-added data on gender and marital status reveals that the gender gap between married voters is very small whereas the gender gap between unmarried men and women is large, with women voting for the Democratic candidate at higher rates. Included on this fact sheet for the first time are data points that reflect both the gender gap (the difference in support for one candidate between men and women) and the women’s vote (the percentage point advantage that one candidate has over the other among women voters).
• Gender Differences in Party Identification and Presidential Performance Ratings Newly-added data from the American National Election Study (ANES) and Pew Research Center reveal that gender differences in party identification have been evident since the early 1980s; larger proportions of women than men are Democrats and larger proportions of men than women are Republicans. Data extended back to 1952 shows that, before 1980, gender differences in party identification were smaller and more variable. On this same fact sheet we include the gender gap in presidential performance rating data from Gallup and other sources. This data goes back to the presidency of George H.W. Bush. Survey data collected during the Trump administration show gender gaps between twelve and twenty-two points with women being less likely to approve of President Trump than men.

For additional analysis about the gender gap, see our virtual symposium from the fall, which includes the sessions Gender Gap in Vote Choice, Race and the Gender Gap, and Gender Gap in Political Engagement. Stay tuned to CAWP on Twitter in the coming days for CAWP analysis of this data and a blog post highlighting what the current academic research teaches us about the gender gap.