Authors: Amy Alexander, Nicholas Charron, Gefjon Off Are young men and women drifting apart in their political views and voting patterns? This chapter starts by explaining the more long-term changes in women’s and men’s political behaviour. It then proceeds to review the recently emerging research strand on whether today’s young generation of men and women are increasingly drifting apart in their political views and voting patterns. It ends with a discussion of possible theoretical explanations for recently emerging youth gender gaps. 1.1 Gender gaps in political behaviour: From the traditional to the modern gender gap Western democracies have generally seen a shift in the ideological gender gap during the second half of the past century. 9 In the 1950s and 1960s, women held a more right-wing ideology than men and were more likely to vote for centre-right parties; this has been described as the“traditional gender gap”. During the 1970s and 1980s, women shifted towards the left, and by the 1990s, women held more left-wing ideology and became more likely to vote for social democratic parties than men in many Western democracies. “In the 1950s and 1960s, women held a more right­wing ideology than men and were more likely to vote for centre-right parties,[…]. During the 1970s and 1980s, women shifted towards the left, and by the 1990s, women held more left-wing ideology and became more likely to vote for Social Democratic parties than men in many Western democracies.” This shift is usually explained by liberalising trends in society, with society becoming more secular and women becoming more highly educated, more likely to participate in the labour force and more likely to divorce, amongst others. 10 Prior to liberalising trends, in more religious societies, women were more religious than men, on average. Furthermore, as mostly married housewives, they relied less on public services, such as childcare and elderly care, than they did after entering the labour force. Yet, as women became more highly educated and entered the labour force in liberalising societies, they increasingly began to value their individual rights, opportunities and self-expression, which are values linked to progressive ideology. Furthermore, as they entered the labour force, they increasingly relied on the public sector for at least two reasons: (1) the public sector provides services that alleviate the double burden of unpaid care work and paid labour; and(2) women are disproportionately more likely to work in the public sector – for instance, in the education or health sectors – that is, their “ “In the 1950s and 1960s, women held a more right-wing ideology than men and were more likely to vote for centre-right parties,[…]. During the 1970s and 1980s, women shifted towards the left, and by the 1990s, women held more left-wing ideology and became more likely to vote for Social Democratic parties than men in many Western democracies.” ” 18 EqualiZe