Women are far more pessimistic about the country’s future than men in a new Pew Research Center poll, an indication that the gender gap in last fall’s election has given way to an ever-bigger divide during President Donald Trump’s first months in office.
Although 53 percent of men said they had “quite a lot” of confidence about the country’s prospects, only 29 percent of women felt that way in the April survey. For women, that’s a significant drop since October 2015, when 43 percent said they had a lot of confidence in the country’s outlook, close to 47 percent of men who were upbeat about the future then.
The gender gap crosses partisan lines and was gaping among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents in the Pew poll: 72 percent of such men say they have a lot of confidence in the country’s future compared with 44 percent of women. Optimism among Republican and Republican-leaning men grew by 29 points since October 2015, compared with an eight-point uptick among GOP women.
The share of Democratic and Democratic-leaning women with high hopes has plunged dramatically since October 2015, from 48 percent to 20 percent. Among Democratic and Democratic-leaning men, 38 percent said they had a lot of confidence, down significantly from 52 percent in October 2015, a drop half the size of women.
Overall, the survey showed, younger women are less optimistic than older women: 20 percent of women 18-49 years old say they have “quite a lot” of confidence in the country’s future, versus 39 percent of women over age 50, said Jocelyn Kiley, an associate director of research at Pew. The generational gap between men is less pronounced: 50 percent of men under age 50 say they are confident about the country’s future versus 57 percent of older men.
The Pew poll of 1,501 adults was conducted April 5-11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percent. In the Pew poll, Trump’s approval rating was 39 percent and satisfaction with both political parties was below half: 40 percent for Republicans and 45 percent for Democrats.
Pew found Trump’s job approval was 13 points higher among men than women (46 percent vs. 33 percent), among the largest gap seen for a president in the spring of their first year in office. The gap was identical to an April Washington Post-ABC News poll, in which 48 percent of men approved of Trump’s performance as president, compared with 35 percent of women.
Democrat Shana Hall, who lives in Ferguson, North Carolina, sees little reason for optimism in the currently political landscape.
“If anything, I’m seeing us backsliding,” she said, citing efforts by the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress to curb abortion rights and defund Planned Parenthood. She said the only solution is for citizens to get more involved in shaping their governments from the local to the federal level. And, she added, they need not wait until the next presidential election.
“When we get the opportunity to vote again, we need to vote. We need to be more informed and we need to get out and exercise our right to vote,” said Hall, a Democrat. “We need to be thinking about governors and senators and anything we can change now, before the four years are up.”
Republican Jeanne Bereznicki, who lives outside of Pittsburgh, said she, too, is pessimistic but attributes it to her sense that “our country’s spiritual and moral attitude has gone downhill.” She cited same-sex marriage as an example of that decline. “I’m happy about the Supreme Court appointment, but that’s about it,” he said, referring to Justice Neil Gorsuch, who joined the court last month. Asked why she was pleased with him she said, “Because he’s a conservative.”
Democrat Hillary Clinton, the first woman to head a major party ticket, got the support of 54 percent of women, compared to 41 percent who voted for Trump. During the campaign, the businessman drew scrutiny and criticism because of a history of sexist comments, including him bragging about grabbing women’s genitals during a conversation caught on a hot mic in 2005. Several women also came forward and accused him of making unwanted sexual advances.
Shortly after Trump’s election, female activists began planning a protest march and the day after his inauguration in January, millions of women across the globe, including hundreds of thousands in Washington, D.C., poured into the streets. Women’s organizations also have reported a spike in the number of women who say they will run for elected office. Emily’s List, a group that provides financial support and training to female candidates who support abortion rights, says that since the election, it has been contacted by more than 12,000 women interested in running for local, state and federal offices.