# Young men were key to the blue wave. Our research offers a reason why | Brigid Schulte and Haley Swenson

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/young-men-were-key-to-the-blue-wave-our-research-offers-a-reason-why-brigid-schulte-and-haley-swenson/
- Published: 2026-11-13T15:00:21+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-13T15:22:42+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/nov/13/young-men-us-midterms-democrats
- Topics: Politics

## Key points

- Many young men value care alongside paid work.
- Most support sharing caregiving equally between men and women.
- Financial pressures make combining work and care difficult.

## Summary

The article argues that young men’s shift towards Democrats in the US midterm elections may reflect more than economic concerns: many also value caregiving and want time to care for family. The authors say this challenges portrayals of young men as uniformly drawn to the manosphere’s traditional model of men as providers and women as carers.

A nationally representative survey of more than 3,000 Americans, including an oversample of men aged 18 to 29, found that over six in ten young men value caregiving as much as paid work, and 30% identify as caregivers. Eight in ten said involved fatherhood is an important part of being a man, while more than 70% supported sharing care equally between men and women. Traditional views persist among a minority: 32% said men should provide financially while women run the household, compared with 14% of young women.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.