There is mounting evidence that more directionless young men are looking for validation that they have been badly done by.
Australians have watched in fascination as a populism wave crashed across the democracies we most identify with in recent years, starting with the Brexit vote and culminating in Donald Trump’s emphatic victory in this year’s White House race.
We devoured analysis of disenchanted voters, those who felt no connection to established political parties and dynasties – the Clintons, the Bushes – and no interest in lofty concepts like globalisation, equal opportunity for all, and tolerance of the “other”.
Australia, in contrast, still seems to be on the side of the angels. Our political leaders extol the virtues of egalitarianism and deplore Trump’s pursuit of isolationism and his targeting of migrants as the source of all ills.
We all know though, such values are not universal. It turns out there is a growing cohort that doesn’t place much value on everyone getting a fair go because they are feeling pretty ripped off themselves.
Data from mature democracies around the world suggests there is a growing gender divide in politics with women heading left and men turning right. There is mounting evidence that here too, there are increasing numbers of directionless young men looking for validation that they have been badly done by.
So far, Australia’s built-in democratic stabilisers – compulsory voting and the preferential system – mean this group has had only a tangential impact on election outcomes. The question now is whether, like generations before them, they will mellow with age or light the fuse on a home-grown populist revolution.
Fresh analysis of The Australian Financial Review/Freshwater Strategy polling data from earlier this year shows while young men lean slightly right, young women lean further to the left – but both still congregate around the centre. The two groups diverge more sharply around value statements, the poll found.
For example, when asked standard social values questions like whether “immigrants should be free to move to Australia and work”, there is strong net agreement among 18-34-year-old women (+29), but men of the same age are much less likely to agree, and more evenly divided on the issue (+2). Younger men are also much more likely to back prioritising economic growth over the environment, and to take the position that too many people like to depend on government handouts.
“There is a big divide on social and cultural issues and that is sustained by technology and institutions,” says Freshwater Strategy director Dr Michael Turner. Along with the changing nature of work and globalisation, these are two of the four forces that are shifting the way politics affects people’s lives.
The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows 53.7 per cent of all women aged 25 to 34 have a bachelor’s degree or above, compared to 40.8 per cent of men. Universities are gathering places, full of pluralistic, liberal ideas and young women soak all of that up. Not so much for men – many of whom end up communing online – particularly on YouTube where figures such as Joe Rogan command big audiences.
“I would be reluctant to project too far – most people become more conservative as they age – but for now, there is this fascinating insight out of the US that the top concern for young women is autonomy over their body while for young men it was the economy. So while women are worried about their rights being taken away, men are focused on their status in life,” Turner says.
Read more on the Australian Financial Review at https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/australia-s-gender-divide-why-young-men-and-women-are-pulling-apart-20241120-p5ks5z
