Publication Date
12-2004
Abstract
A literature has emerged in American voting studies noting a “marriage gap”—the propensity for married voters to support the Republican party. Using Canadian Election Study data, we establish the existence of a significant marriage gap in Canada. We also seek to determine if the marriage gap is driven by socio-demographic factors or attitudinal ones. We find that while socio-demographic factors contribute to the marriage gap, they explain relatively little variance. In probing the attitudinal basis of the marriage gap further, we find that married Canadians differ from the unwed very strongly on issues of moral traditionalism, but much less so on other issues that measure generalized conservatism.
Document Type
Article
Keywords
marriage gap, Canadian elections
Disciplines
Comparative Politics
Extent
18 pages
Format
Source
Wilson, J. Matthew; Lusztig, Michael, "The Spouse in the House: What Explains the Marriage Gap in Canada?" (December 2004). Canadian Journal of Political Science, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 979-995.
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Wilson, J. Matthew and Lusztig, Michael, "The Spouse in the House: What Explains the Marriage Gap in Canada?" (2004). Political Science Research. 2.
https://scholar.smu.edu/hum_sci_politicalsci_research/2
