A decade of data shows that young conservative women are significantly happier than their liberal peers. The reasons are simple: “Liberal young women are less likely to be integrated into core American institutions—marriage and religion—that lend meaning, direction, and a sense of solidarity to women’s lives,” the Institute for Family Studies wrote.
The publication of the 2024 American Family Survey, conducted by the Deseret News and the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, marked the 10th year this important annual study has surveyed over 3,000 Americans about their views on marriage and family as well as public policy issues.
The survey found that young liberal women are significantly less satisfied with life than young conservative women. Thirty-seven percent of conservative women reported being “completely satisfied” with life, while only 12% of liberal women reported the same. Conservative women are three times more likely to report being “very satisfied” with life compared to women with liberal views. Further, liberal women are two to three times more likely to report being “not satisfied” with their lives.
You may be wondering what about conservative women makes them more likely to be happy. One of the reasons is their view of marriage.
The study found that Republicans are more likely to prioritize marriage over their careers. In response to the prompt, “Marriage is more important than a career to finding happiness,” 6 in 10 Republicans agreed, whereas only 4 in 10 Democrats agreed. The study also discovered that:
- 20% of Democrats believe marriage is more of a burden than a benefit.
- About 25% of Democrats believe marriage is old-fashioned and out of date.
- Only 40% of Democrats are married.
- 30% of Democrats believe that “there are more advantages to being single than to being married.”
“A decade of American Family Survey data highlights stark partisan divides in perceptions of the importance of marriage to creating strong families, healthy societies, or even personal happiness. Marriage is seen by the vast majority of Republicans as a social good that should be a key relationship milestone. While most Democrats are not actively hostile to marriage, they are more likely to embrace a variety of different approaches to relationships, with a sense of personal commitment being far more important than the legal status of the relationship,” authors of the study wrote.
Research fellows at the Institute for Family Studies analyzed the American Family Survey and found that “conservative women ages 18-40 are married at rates that are 20 percentage points [higher] than liberal women in the same age group.” Those researchers also noted that while over half of conservative women ages 18-40 attend church weekly, only 12% of their liberal counterparts do. “Together, these two factors account for about half the ideological gap among young women in a multivariate analysis of life satisfaction that included controls for factors like race, education, and income,” the IFI fellows wrote.
These factors are likely contributing to rising feelings of loneliness among liberal women ages 18-40, who are over three times as likely to report frequent feelings of loneliness compared to conservative women. As IFI notes, marriage is the strongest predictor of feeling less lonely, and church attendance plays a significant role in community and friendship-building as well as developing a relationship with God.
Churchgoing couples are also more likely to be happy than non-churchgoing couples based on data that found church attendance does twice as much to make a happy home than going on regular date nights. Read more about the four ingredients for a happy marriage here.
We share this data not to disparage liberal women for their views, but to highlight the fact that there are data-backed realities for women living a happier, more satisfied life. Our hearts go out to the women who feel lonely, isolated, and depressed because society has convinced them to believe the lies of the woke agenda. The answer to countless problems in our culture can be found by looking toward God’s perfect design for humanity – traditional marriage, raising children, and attending church.
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