Gen Z Women Are Moving Left. Young Men Aren't.

A University of Oregon student joined a campus chapter of Citizen’s Climate Lobby to advocate for climate solutions in Congress. The group is open to anyone interested in climate advocacy, but its 25 regular members are all women. The student attributes this to a higher number of women eager to take day-to-day political action. National polling shows a growing ideological gender gap among young adults. In 2024, 40% of women aged 18–29 identified as liberal, compared with 25% of men. The share of liberal women rose from 28% in 2001–2007 to 32% in 2008–2016, reaching 40% in 2017–2024. Young women stand out as more liberal than women in older age cohorts.

"Martinez, who is the group's secretary, said the club is open to anyone on campus who's interested in climate advocacy. Still, out of the group's 25 regular members, none are men. "There just seems to be a higher number of women who are eager to take actual day-to-day political action on the left-leaning side," Martinez said."

"According to a Gallup Poll published in 2024, 40% of U.S. women aged 18-29 identified themselves as liberal-the highest percentage in decades. Comparatively, only 25% of men in that same age group identified as liberal. "It is just an enormous difference these days," said Marc Hetherington, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who studies the dynamics of the American electorate."

"Hetherington said this political "gender gap" is largely driven by the behaviors of young women. Because young women are not only more liberal than young men-they're more liberal than women of other generations by a long shot. And this trend is on the rise, according to past Gallup polls. In the period from 2001-2007, an average of 28% of women aged 18-29 identified as liberal. Then, between 2008-2016, that average grew to 32%."

"The most recent period of data-from 2017-2024-shows that 40% of young women in this age cohort identify as liberal. That's a 12-point increase in 23 years. "The below-30 women really stand out as being different from even women of older age cohorts," Hetherington said."

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