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3 Surprising Facts About Moderate White Women

December 13, 2024

Galvanize Action has specific expertise with white women, America’s largest demographic bloc. We’ve spent six years connecting with women, listening to them, and working to understand their traits and values through research!

We aren’t trying to convince people to change their core beliefs. Rather, we’re identifying women who want to see progress on the issues they care about so that we can support them in taking actions that align with their values and vision for this country. Galvanize Action does that through psychographic information such as the traits, values, attitudes, and opinions women hold.

But once we start getting into the demographic data behind the moderate white women we can connect with, some interesting trends emerge. Here are three facts about moderate white women that might surprise you!

ONE: Eighty percent of moderate white women are 35 or older!

A true majority (53%) of our audience is over the age of 55, which makes sense given that it’s the widest range.

Pie chart showing the age breakdown of moderate white women. 9% 18-27, 10% 28-24, 27% 25-54, 53% 55+

You might also be surprised to learn that women in the older age groups are less likely to display high levels of internalized sexism. For example, 30% of moderate white women aged 30-39 displayed a high level of internalized sexism while just 23% of those 50+ did. That means Galvanize Action has an opportunity to connect with younger women and mitigate that sexism through prosocial programming and messages.

Column graph showing internalized sexism by age group. Most women have average levels of internalized sexism across age groups, but younger women are more likely to be high in internalized sexism than older women.

TWO: Only 15% of moderate white women hold a four-year college degree (or higher)

About 39% of American adult women have a bachelor’s degree or higher, so this is a surprising difference.

Galvanize Action’s award-winning research team often finds interesting differences between moderate women with and without a college degree in our survey results! For example, women who have attained a four-year degree tend to exhibit less racial resentment and less internalized sexism than their counterparts without degrees.

Two graphs showing that moderate white women with college degrees tend to hold less racial resentment and less internalized sexism than those without 4-year degrees. — In the graphs above, teal bars show low levels of racial resentment and internalized sexism (which is good!) and pink bars show higher-than-average levels of those traits (which is something we need to address).

THREE: More than two-thirds of moderate white women live in a household with a combined income below $100k.

That isn’t too shocking given that the median household income is about $75k, but it does help us all understand why the economy was the most important concern for moderate white women every single time Galvanize Action asked that survey question this year.

Pie chart showing 66% of moderate white women have household incomes below $100k

Understanding how economic concerns impact civic choices & behavior is another great opportunity for Galvanize Action to continue exploring.

Have other questions about moderate white women? Let us know on Instagram @Galvanize_Action! Getting DMs with research questions always makes our day.

Methodology questions? Start here!