An all-time high of 84 percent of Americans believe women are just as suited emotionally for politics as men, according to a new survey that comes as the largest-ever field of women are running for president and with a record number serving in Congress.
The growing acceptance of women in politics and in the workforce is highlighted by the General Social Survey, a widely respected trend survey that has been measuring views of gender and society since the 1970s.
A quarter of Americans think it’s better for men to work and for women to stay at home, the lowest level since the question was first asked in 1985. Roughly as many — 28 percent — say preschool children suffer with a working mother; 53 percent said the same in 1985.
An analysis by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and General Social Survey staff finds these attitudes extend broadly across demographic groups, including gender and partisanship, though there are still some small gaps.
Nearly a century after the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote, the growing public role of women in the U.S. has produced major changes in politics, culture and policy. The #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct helped propel a record number of women onto the campaign trail in 2018. Now, the House is anchored by the most women ever to serve at once, with Nancy Pelosi the only woman to have held the post of speaker.
The share of Americans who say women are as suited for politics as men is up 6 percentage points since 2016, when Hillary Clinton became the first woman to win a major party’s presidential nomination, and 14 points since 2008, when she lost a grueling primary battle to Barack Obama. In 1974, just 49 percent said so.
Men and women alike consider women equally suited for politics, as do majorities across party lines. Democrats are somewhat more likely than Republicans to say so, 89 percent to 80 percent, though the share in both parties has grown in recent years.
A record six women — all Democrats — are running for…