Why Unmarried Women Need to Be Re-engaged NOW
October 23rd, 2011
A major Huffington Post article, “Could Unmarried Women Cost Obama Re-election in 2012?, examines the role unmarried women played in 2008 and their lack of engagement in the 2012 elections. VPC founder Page Gardner notes that this declining enthusiasm should be a cause for concern. “I’d be worried about it,” she said. “We did a series of focus groups recently where [unmarried women] clearly articulated the excitement and hope that they felt in 2008, and then also the discouragement as they look into 2012.” Economic concerns are “consuming” single women, according to Gardner: “If you think about wages, unemployment and the rising cost of health care insurance, these problems have been particularly, acutely felt by these women.”
Gardner’s advice on how to re-engage unmarried women? Unmarried women voters want to hear a “stronger economic rationale.” Candidates shouldn’t try to engage with single women “in large policy prescriptions,” said Gardner, responding to the Center’s report. Rather, economic goals must be translated into women’s everyday lives, and they should know there is “a light at the end of the tunnel.”