This isn’t our normal discussions here, but research by John Lott and Larry Kenny found that women’s political views change a lot over time. When women get married about half the gap between men and women changes over time, when they have kids about half the remaining gap disappears, but if women get a divorce and have kids, they become much more liberal than they were to begin with. See Section VII starting on page 27.
At Real Clear Politics: The Second Amendment Opinion That Scrambled the Partisan Script
Dr. John Lott has a new op-ed at Real Clear Politics on the assault weapon ban decision out of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. . Friday’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals’ Third Circuit striking down New Jersey’s ban on so-called assault weapons and magazines...
I’m really interested in the order of events here. I haven’t seen the research so I’m curious. The way it’s presented here makes it seem that women start out with one mindset, then when they get married they change their minds, when they have kids they move further in that direction, and when they get divorced they change their minds again. But is that right? Or could it be that women who choose to get married and have children are predisposed to be more conservative and women who are not predisposed to be more conservative either just don’t get married or leave their marriages because they weren’t compatible with marriage to begin with because of the same personality traits that cause them to be more left leaning independently of their marital status? Or could it be some combination thereof?