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Focus Group Report: Soft-Partisan and Low-Propensity Democratic Women Uniformly Support Paid Leave

Friday, August 5, 2022 By Bryan Bennett
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Welcome to NAVIGATOR – a project designed to better understand the American public’s views on issues of the day and help advocates, elected officials, and other interested parties understand the language, imagery, and messaging needed to make and win key policy arguments.
Key takeaways
  • Abortion largely dominates how many view the status of women.
  • Paid leave is widely supported, with many recognizing the clear, personal impact it can have for families.
  • While many lament the ease “old white men” have in the workplace, equal pay policies are viewed as more complicated.
  • Few participants have heard from candidates on any of these issues.
  • Improved outcomes for families and increased employee morale are strong messages

Views On The Country’s Direction Continue To Be Bleak

Yet Most Are Mixed On Their Own Personal Situation

Views On Women In Society Are Mixed, With Abortion Dominating The Negative And Women In Business And Social Media As Positives

Participants Can Personally Explain How Paid Leave Impacts Them

Paid Leave Is Uniformly Supported And Is Seen As A “More Realistic” Policy That “Affects Everyone” And Makes People “Feel Human”

Support Notwithstanding, Most Resign Themselves To Political Divisions And Corporate Reluctance Standing In The Way Of Progress On Paid Leave

Better Outcomes And Better Employee Morale Are Top Messages In Support Of Paid Leave

Equal Pay Discussion Reminds Participants Of Their Own Wage Discrimination, Structural Disadvantages, And “Old White Men” Having It Easy

Equal Pay Seemed “Unrealistic,” Too Hard And Systemic To Execute

These Issues Connect To Abortion As “Women’s Rights” And Don’t Immediately Strike Respondents As Related To Economic Issues

Very Few Recounted Hearing Anything From Any Candidate About These Issues

Abortion Dominates Assessments Of Women’s Status Compared To 20 Years Ago Or 20 Years From Now

About The Study

GBAO conducted three online focus groups on July 26, 2022 with soft partisan women voters ages 25-45 in three states: Michigan, Georgia, and Minnesota. Some quotes have been lightly edited for brevity. Qualitative results are not statistically projectable.

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About Navigator

In a world where the news cycle is the length of a tweet, our leaders often lack the real-time public-sentiment analysis to shape the best approaches to talking about the issues that matter the most. Navigator is designed to act as a consistent, flexible, responsive tool to inform policy debates by conducting research and reliable guidance to inform allies, elected leaders, and the press. Navigator is a project led by pollsters from Global Strategy Group and GBAO along with an advisory committee, including: Andrea Purse, progressive strategist; Arkadi Gerney, The Hub Project; Joel Payne, The Hub Project; Christina Reynolds, EMILY’s List; Delvone Michael, Working Families; Felicia Wong, Roosevelt Institute; Mike Podhorzer, AFL-CIO; Jesse Ferguson, progressive strategist; Navin Nayak, Center for American Progress Action Fund; Stephanie Valencia, EquisLabs; and Melanie Newman, Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

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