Passing on your politics to your children may be harder if they’re girls

By Jennifer Graham

Republican parents may pass on many things to their daughters — the color of their hair, the shape of their body, even the size of their ears. But increasingly they are not passing on something that may matter even more to parents: their political leanings.

As reported recently by Daniel Cox, director of the Survey Center on American Life, Republican parents are turning out Democratic daughters in much greater numbers than in years past. This is a remarkable departure from the norm, in which “political beliefs and identity carry forward across generations — a process generally known as political socialization,” Cox wrote.

Looked at as a whole, adult children tend to reflect their parents’ political views. According to Cox, “Sixty-two percent of Americans raised by parents who consistently voted Democratic identify as Democrats today, while 57 percent of those who had Republican-voting parents report being Republican.” And the more politically active parents are, the more likely their children are to share their views.

Except when it comes to daughters of Republicans.

Just 44% of women raised by Republican parents identify as Republican themselves, which stands in startling contrast to men with Republican parents who identify as Republican (67%) and women with Democratic parents who identify as Democrats (77%).

In other words, Democratic parents are, by and large, still turning out Democratic daughters. And Republican parents are still turning out Republican sons in reasonably large numbers.

So why do the daughters of Republicans grow up to like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and not Ted Cruz?

Cox has three theories that can be reduced to five words: abortion, LGBTQ issues and higher ed.

The GOP’s position on abortion rights and LGBTQ issues are off-putting to large numbers of young women, even those who are heterosexual. Says Cox: “Two-thirds of young women —but only about half of young men — have close friends who identify as gay or lesbian. These relationships certainly influence how young people develop their political views.”

https://www.deseret.com/2024/2/7/24054595/republican-parents-democrat-daughters-gop-aoc