An Intensifying Urban–Rural Schism in U.S. Women's Preference for Governmental Solutions to Social Problems.

During the Reagan Revolution, a significant gender gap emerged, accompanied by an urban–rural schism in party preference by gender, one manifestation of the nation's widening urban–rural divide. Using the General Social Survey (GSS) data from 1972 to 2018, we explore this urban–rural schism in party preference by running several ordinary least squares models and specifications. Controlling for individuals' traits, we find that differences in the preference for governmental action to address social problems lie at the heart of this gender gap and are further explained by location. Urban women are far more likely than urban men to call for the government to solve problems of income inequality; rural women, like rural men, are much more likely to emphasize individual responsibility and self-sufficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]