2026
Data Show Happy Wives on Both Sides
The latest dispatches from today’s internet-driven “Gender War” often suggest that one ideological side has happier marriages than the other. The data tell a more interesting story. In research published in 2019 in the New York Times we found that wives at both ends of the ideological spectrum —liberal and conservative—reported higher relationship quality than those in the middle. A new analysis of 2016–2024 General Social Survey finds a similar story for today’s wives: both conservative and liberal wives are significantly happier than wives in the middle. The common thread isn't ideology—it’s expectation. Both feminism and faith hold husbands and fathers to a high standard of engagement. Where men meet that standard, marriages flourish and wives are happier. The worldview matters less than the devotion it demands.
