Young and working-class Latina voters in California care more about protecting immigrant communities and fighting President Trump\u2019s agenda than their male counterparts, according to a UCLA study. <\/p>\n
The findings from researchers at the university\u2019s Latino Policy and Politics Institute illustrate how gender can correlate with differences in policy views among California Latinos, who account for about a third of the state\u2019s eligible voters. <\/p>\n
Study co-author G. Cristina Mora noted that while the Latino population tends to vote Democratic overall, the community is far from a monolith and there are valuable insights to be gleaned from analyzing the difference in policy views among population subgroups. <\/p>\n
This is especially important considering that the Latino population has the largest gap between eligible voters and actual voters<\/a> among any racial or ethnic group in California, she added.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I were working for an immigration rights group, or something like that, I\u2019d be thinking, \u2018I really need to get the working class Latina voters up to the polls,\u2019\u201d said Mora, a co-director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. \u201c\u2018I really need to reach them,\u2019 is what this sort of report would imply to me.\u201d<\/p>\n The study, based on a May UC Berkeley IGS poll of 1,912 Latino registered voters in California, found that Latinas under 30 tend to hold more progressive views on topics such as immigration, voting rights and opposing Trump than Latino men in the same age group. <\/p>\n For example, 82% of Latina voters under 30 said that fighting the Trump agenda is \u201cvery important to them,\u201d compared to 52% of young Latino men. Meanwhile, 88% of young Latina voters said protecting immigrant communities is very important, compared to 60% of young Latino men.<\/p>\n The study found a similar divergence in opinions among working-class Latino voters. <\/p>\n There was a 22 percentage-point gap in the concern for immigrant communities expressed by Latinos without a bachelor\u2019s degree, with 73% of women in this group saying the issue was very important, compared to 51% of men.<\/p>\n However, the gender gap is not uniform.<\/p>\n For example, there was no notable difference between the views of Latino men and women over 60 on the topics of fighting the Trump and administration and protecting immigrant communities. The gender gap also narrowed considerably when looking at political preferences among college-educated Latino men and women.<\/p>\n Mike Madrid, a political consultant and expert on Latino voting patterns, cautioned against viewing divergent Latino political attitudes as driven predominantly by gender. His decades of research indicate that other variables have a larger influence.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that generational differences and educational differences are as important, or more important, than gender differences because they\u2019re so correlative to voting behavior,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For example, when it comes to the difference in opinions of Latino voters under 30, he pointed out that Latinas attend college at a higher rate<\/a> than Latino men \u2014 and that obtaining a college degree is associated with holding more progressive views. It makes sense, then, that young Latinas would lean more progressive than their male counterparts.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no question that gender is a correlate [of differing views], but it\u2019s likely not the cause,\u201d he said. \u201cThe single largest demarcation in political attitudes in the country at this moment is what we call the education divide.\u201d<\/p>\n Nonetheless, the data also showed that Latinas without a college education are also more progressive than their male counterparts. <\/p>\n Mora hypothesized that differences in workplace environments may help explain why women in this group tend to have more left-leaning outlooks on topics such as immigration and countering Trump.<\/p>\n