The motherhood gap is ideological: Conservative women have more children

While the West is experiencing an unprecedented birth crisis, statistics point out that the real breeding gap is ideological. Conservative women have more children than leftists, and are also more likely to marry, with a "Family First" prioritizing child rearing and education.

While the West grapples with an unprecedented decline in birth rates, statistics suggest the real divide is ideological. Conservative women tend to have more children than leftists and are also more likely to marry, embracing a "family first" ethos that prioritizes upbringing and education.

This according to a study by Brad Wilcox for the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), analyzing official figures. According to data from the NORC General Society Survey at the University of Chicago, the number of conservative women who have children has even grown from the 1980s.

A higher percentage of conservative women have more children today than in 1980

Then, 65% of conservative women between the ages of 25 and 35 had children. Numbers that grew to 71% in the 2020s. In contrast, women of progressive cuts with children fell from 60% to 40% in the same time period. An abysmal difference of 31%.

Fatherhood also shows a higher number of conservative men with children, although the trend is downward. Thus, conservatives have gone from 59% with children to 47%. The progressives, meanwhile, have fallen from 47% to 22% in these four decades.

Furthermore, the study highlights a revealing trend. According to figures from the FEC and the Census' Intercensal Population Estimate, within the drop in the birth rate in the country, it is observed that in the 10 states in which Donald Trump won by the largest margin, the number of births has declined by 11%, compared with 25% in the 10 that went mostly for Kamala Harris.

Moreover, if we add immigration, "we get a picture of differing demographic trajectories. Since 2000, those states where Trump won the popular vote in 2024 saw a 7.3% increase in their aggregate child population. This contrasts to those states where Harris won the popular vote, which saw a 7.1% decrease in aggregate child population."

The concept of family, key

According to the study's authors, the driving force behind these stark numbers is not a greater affection for children rather the very concept of family. This is how the article introducing the report begins:

"The left has a family problem, or rather, multiple family problems. Progressive messages that devalue, deny and deconstruct the value of family life and celebrate living alone in recent years are making their mark on the hearts, minds and lives of young progressives. After being sold various messages, including 'Married heterosexual motherhood in America...is a game no one wins' (in The New York Times), 'Divorce led to my happily after ever' (in The Washington Post), ''Women who stay single and don't have children are getting richer' (in Bloomberg) or 'Why are many single women without children so happy?' (in Psychology Today), too many young adults, especially young women on the left, now consider marriage and family not for them, or at least not their top priority."

The report also notes that young leftists tend toward "a 'midas mindset' that prioritizes earning money, education and, above all, career. Work is seen as the source and pinnacle of a meaningful and happy life. In contrast, focusing on love, marriage and raising a family does not merit nearly as much dedication."

"When and why marriage became a partisan issue"

In 2024, Gallup was already pointing to this phenomenon, in an article titled "When and Why Marriage Became a Partisan Issue." According to the pollster:

"After decades of little partisan difference, a gap in the marriage rates of Republicans and Democrats cracked open in the 1980s and has widened in the past quarter century. Although demographic differences between Republicans and Democrats and changes in economic conditions might account for some of this, differences in attitudes about the importance and benefits of marriage—with Republicans valuing it more than Democrats—appear to be the much bigger factor."

For example, apostles of conservatism such as the slain Charlie Kirk, Ben Shapiro, Allie Beth Stuckey, Matt Walsh or Brett Cooper often laud the benefits and joys of family and parenting. Kirk himself released a poignant message on Fox just two days before his death: "Having kids is more important than having a good career...my kids are more important than the number of followers I have on social media."

Furthermore, "rising stars in the conservative firmament, from Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary to billionaire Palmer Luckey, confess they wish they had married their wives sooner. And more and more twentysomething conservative influencers, such as Riley Gaines and Isabel Brown, are celebrating young marriage and motherhood. 'Nothing could have prepared me for a love like this. God has blessed us beyond imagination. Welcome to the world, sweet Margot," the former swimmer and advocate for women in sports recently wrote after giving birth to her first child,' the study reports.