Top takeaways
A new analysis finds marriage and childbearing falling much faster among liberal young adults than conservatives, with just 44% of liberal women and 35% of liberal men ages 25 to 35 ever married, compared with 60% of conservative women and 57% of conservative men.
Parenthood gaps are even wider, as only 40% of young liberal women and 22% of liberal men are parents, versus 71% of conservative women and 47% of conservative men — differences that were far smaller in the 1980s.
The ideological family divide has grown dramatically over four decades, widening from roughly 10 percentage points in marriage rates in the 1980s to 22 points today among men and 16 points among women, according to General Social Survey data.
The report argues cultural and ideological priorities play a key role, warning that declining marriage and fertility among liberals may affect happiness, community ties, and the Left’s long-term political and cultural influence.
More details
A recent Institute for Family Studies analysis has found steep declines in marriage and childbearing rates among liberal young adults, a shift the analysis report argues is reshaping the American political divide at the family level.
Brad Wilcox, a senior fellow at the Institute, wrote in the report that the study tracked U.S. marriage and childbearing trends using General Social Survey data from 1980 to 2024. In the 1980s, the marriage gap between conservative and liberal adults ages 25 to 35 was about 10 percentage points, with conservatives generally marrying a few years earlier. Decades later, the report finds a much larger marriage gap among young adults: just 44% of liberal women have ever married, compared with 60% of conservative women, while 35% of liberal men and 57% of conservative men have married.
Similar gaps emerged in parenthood trends. In the 2020s, 40% of young liberal women are mothers, compared with 71% of their conservative counterparts — a 31-point gap. In the 1980s, the gap was about five points. Young liberal men are also less likely than conservative men to have children (22% vs. 47%). In the 1980s, 47% of liberal men and 59% of conservative men were fathers.
Wilcox said the divide over the marriage and family question may partly be attributed to ideological polarization, especially as more young women shift toward liberal worldviews and young men show no clear preference for one political identity over the other. Regardless of the cause, Wilcox argued that the Left’s disinclination to pursue marriage and family is costing them happiness, political leverage, and community.
He pointed to research that found individuals who focus on marriage and having children are more happy and less likely to be lonely, while those who pursue careers and an individualistic lifestyle tend to be lonely, unhappy, and feel a lack of purpose. Wilcox also noted ideologies rely on continuity to have an impact on the culture — an idea he said prompted liberal philosopher Anastasia Berg to call for liberals to have children to ensure a progressive future.
In the report, Wilcox wrote, “We are witnessing the real-world consequences of an ideological divide where the Right prioritizes marriage and childbearing and the Left discounts them in fertility and population shifts across America.”
“If the Left wishes to build a ‘better future,’” he continued, “it must show up for that future by reconsidering its thinking, messaging, and devotion to the nation’s most important institution: the family.”
