Polling that Considers Marital Status Shows “Marriage Gap” More Powerful than Gender

New polling numbers from Gallup show a major rift among women voters –while women overall support Obama by a small margin, unmarried women support Obama by a very large percentage, while among married women, the candidates are effectively tied. The difference between married women and unmarried women – the “marriage gap” – is driven in large part by the different circumstances of their lives, and that most unmarried women are supporting themselves and in some cases their children on a single income, according to past polling by Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research.

Page Gardner, the President of Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund, responded to the new Gallup numbers:

“Even after a strong effort by the McCain campaign to recruit women, unmarried women remain committed to Barack Obama in overwhelming numbers. As the Gallup numbers reveal – and as all pollsters would discover were they also to ask about marital status – the numbers for women overall mask a deep rift. In particular, any expansion of support McCain has seen with women in recent weeks has come almost entirely among married women. Single, divorced, and widowed women are more economically vulnerable and look more to a candidate’s positions on jobs, the economy, and healthcare than do married women. Married women, meanwhile, are more likely to identify with Sarah Palin, and are less likely to be feeling the pain of the economic crisis as acutely as are unmarried women. Marital status is shaping up to be more important than gender in determining this election.”

While married women give McCain a 2 point edge over Barack Obama (47 to 45 percent), unmarried women give Obama a huge 28 point margin over McCain (59 to 31 percent). Gallup has included marital status in its polling data for approximately six months. Their poll results, which are unaffiliated with Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund, are available at http://www.gallup.com/poll/108058/Candidate-Support-Marital-Status-Gender.aspx.