What conservative women know − and liberals don't − about happiness | Opinion
Progressives have pulled way from two major institutions associated with happiness − marriage and faith. It's not surprising then that many of them can't find what they're looking for in life.
One of the weirdest reactions I saw after President Donald Trump was reelected in November involved videos on social media of young liberal women in hysterics over the results of our democratic process. Some even vowed to shave their heads and swear off having sex with men.
I don't remember losing my mind when Joe Biden was elected president in 2020. I was disappointed, but angry and depressed? No.
Turns out, there's data behind this phenomenon. New research shows that young conservative women are much happier than liberal women. The findings are about far more than political ideology. They demonstrate fundamental differences between Republicans and Democrats.
According to the 2024 American Family Survey, liberal women ages 18-40 are far less likely than conservative women to say they are happy. Only 12% of liberal women said they are “completely satisfied” with life compared with 37% of conservative women. Self-described moderates also are happier than liberals, with 28% agreeing that they are fully satisfied with life.
Grant Bailey, a research associate of the Institute for Family Studies, and Brad Wilcox, a senior fellow at the institute, investigated "how marriage, churchgoing, and loneliness help to account for the happiness gap between liberal and conservative women."
Bailey and Wilcox make a strong case that conservative women are happier because they make different life choices. They are more likely to get married, have babies and embrace a strong faith − all things that make them feel less lonely. And people who don't feel lonely are more likely to be happy.
Why are young liberal women so unhappy?
The late commentator Andrew Breitbart said, "Politics is downstream from culture." That idea made me wonder if a woman's level of happiness pushes her to the political left or the right. Does she choose to be a liberal in an attempt to address her pre-existing unhappiness? Or does her progressive point of view lead to unhappiness because of the life choices she makes as a liberal?
In 2023, research published by the University of Chicago found that "being married is the most important differentiator" between happiness and unhappiness. In fact, there's a 30 percentage point gap in happiness between those who are married and those who aren't.
At the same time, marriage rates factored by political party have changed drastically over the years.
In 1940, about 80% of both Republicans and Democrats ages 30-50 were married.
By 1999, that rate had dropped to 71% for Republicans but was only 56% for Democrats.
And in 2024, less than half (49%) of Democrats were married, with a marriage rate of 67% among Republicans.
The drastic decline of marriage among Democrats has coincided with another major shift in U.S. society: Church membership started to decline dramatically in 2000. Now, only 12% of younger liberal women attend church each week while more than half of conservative women do.
So, progressives have pulled way from two major institutions strongly associated with happiness − marriage and faith. It's not surprising then that many of them can't find what they're looking for in life.
"Liberal young women are less likely to be integrated into core American institutions − specifically marriage and religion − that lend meaning, direction, and a sense of solidarity to women’s lives," Bailey and Wilcox wrote in their analysis.
Single women tend to be happier than single men
To be fair, other research has shown that single women are much happier than single men, reporting more satisfaction with life in general and in their relationships. Does that mean young progressive women tend to be unhappy but progressive men are really unhappy? Maybe.
I've been married, and now I'm divorced. I have a robust faith and feel satisfied in many areas of my life. My faith is an integral reason why. I can see where marriage to the right man might create additional happiness, but when I was married, I didn't feel happy.
And while research shows that married people tend to be happier overall, that's the case only if they have a satisfying marriage. A single person may well be happier than someone in a bad marriage.
The pursuit of happiness − a right outlined in the Declaration of Independence − can mean a lot of things. In 1776, the right to follow one's own path toward happiness was foundational to liberty. Now, happiness is all that Americans want to pursue. And much of our culture is geared toward individual happiness in the moment − grab what you think will make you happy now.
Yet, Americans, especially young people, are less happy than ever. Maybe the problem is how we are pursuing happiness.
Progressives believe that it's government's job to deliver "justice, dignity and peace for all people." Conservatives value such ideals but tend to believe that government and politics can't possibly deliver on such lofty goals.
Maybe that is why conservative women are happier than liberal women. They don't rely on politics or government to make them happy, but rely instead on something far greater than themselves.
Nicole Russell is a columnist at Paste BN and a mother of four who lives in Texas. Contact her at nrussell@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @russell_nm. Sign up for her weekly newsletter, The Right Track, here.