babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
They Say: Parenting Turns Moms Blue, Dads Red?
I think the prevailing wisdom seems to be that parenthood makes you more conservative, at least based on the whole “have a kid, move to the suburbs, buy a minivan, join the PTA” stereotype that’s not really any more true than any other.
Interestingly, new research is showing that parenthood does make men more conservative, but not the same for mothers — they, as a matter of fact, become more liberal.
Steven Greene, the North Carolina State professor that did the research, found that parenthood makes mothers considerably more liberal, but that men’s shift toward the right is less extreme. Green wrote to Salon’s How the World Works blog to clarify that “men want to keep the government out of their way in providing for their family. For example, men actually start working more when they have kids, thus lower taxes means more take-home pay to provide for the family rather than appreciating the government services that benefit children/families.”
Women, on the other hand, start focusing more on our roles as caregivers, and that makes us a good bit more liberal.
I was pretty liberal to begin with, and my husband’s even more so as are the majority of my parent friends, so I have no anecdotal evidence to back this up. What’s been your experience?
Go Back To Strollerderby
0 Comments
April commented on Sep 16 09 at 7:11 amI am still conservative and even more so. I care about my children and their well being. I want to make sure my kids have what they deserve and the best we can give them. I can’t worry about what other kids in the world get. Not my job, that is their mother’s job.
alimum commented on Sep 16 09 at 1:37 pmI don’t know that it has made either my husband or I more liberal, but we feel more responsible for the world and making it a better place now, which means we give more money and volunteer hours to causes we care about. Also we have grown more disgusted with the selfishness displayed by some self-identified conservatives we know, people who seem to only care about getting more for themselves and their families due to some convoluted notions of entitlement, even if it means others get less (this is not to say that all the conservatives we know are like this).
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
0