Democrats sharply divided along educational lines on whether life is easier for men than for women

BY JULIANA MENASCE HOROWITZ, KIM PARKER AND RENEE STEPLER

Women in the United States have made significant strides toward closing the gaps that have kept them from achieving equality with men. But the country is sharply divided over how much work remains to be done, and those divisions are rooted mainly in the growing partisan schism that pervades American values and culture these days.

A new Pew Research Center survey finds that Democrats are largely dissatisfied with the nation’s progress on this issue – 69% say the country hasn’t gone far enough when it comes to giving women equal rights with men. Among Republicans, more than half (54%) say things are about right, while only 26% say the country has more work to do.

Democrats are also much more likely than Republicans to say that men have easier lives than women these days: 49% of Democrats say this compared with 19% of Republicans. A majority of Republicans (68%) say neither men nor women have it easier today (compared with 45% of Democrats). Those who see an advantage for men often say these inequities are rooted in the workplace.

Politics also underpins views about who has benefited from the changing roles of men and women. Among Democrats and Republicans, more see an upside for women than for men as women have taken on a greater role in the workplace and men have assumed more responsibility for child care and housework, but Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to see benefits flowing from this societal shift.

Roughly six-in-ten Democrats (58%) say that changing gender roles have made it easier for women to lead satisfying lives; about a third of Republicans (36%) say the same. And while about half of Democrats (48%) say these changes have made it easier for men to lead satisfying lives, only 30% of Republicans share this view. In addition, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say changing gender roles have made it easier for parents to raise children, for marriages to be successful and for families to earn enough money to live comfortably.

To be sure, men and women have different perspectives on how far the country has come in achieving gender equality, but these differences are relatively narrow when partisanship is considered. More than half of women (57%) say the country hasn’t done enough to give women equal rights with men, while 33% say things are about right. For their part, men are equally split between saying there is more work to be done (42%) and things are about right (44%). And women are much more likely than men to say that men have it easier these days (41% vs. 28%). Among Democrats, a majority of women (74%) and men (64%) say the country hasn’t gone far enough when it comes to achieving gender equality. And while Republican women are more likely than their male counterparts to share this view (33% vs. 20%), relatively small shares of each group do so.

The nationally representative survey of 4,573 adults was conducted online Aug. 8-21 and Sept. 14-28, 2017, using Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel.1 Among the key findings:

Democrats are divided along educational lines in their views on gender equality

About eight-in-ten Democrats with a bachelor’s degree or higher (81%) and 73% of those with some college experience say the country has not gone far enough in giving women equal rights with men; 55% of those with a high school degree or less education say the same. Among Republicans, views are consistent across educational groups.

The education gap among Democrats is even wider when it comes to whether men or women have easier lives these days. Among Democrats with a bachelor’s degree or higher, 69% say men have it easier. By comparison, 52% of Democrats with some college education and only 27% of those with a high school degree or less education say the same. Again, Republicans are more consistent in their views, regardless of educational attainment.

Democrats are also divided in their assessments of how the changing roles of men and women have affected women’s lives. Roughly seven-in-ten Democrats with a four-year college degree (71%) say these changes have made it easier for women to live satisfying lives. Only about half of Democrats with some college experience (54%) or less education (49%) share that view.

Republican views of the benefits of changing gender roles are also divided along educational lines. Those with a bachelor’s or higher degree are more likely than those with less education to say the changing roles of men and women have had a positive impact, particularly when it comes to women’s success at work: 62% of Republicans with at least a bachelor’s degree say these changes have made it easier for women to be successful at work, compared with 49% of those with less education.

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