Are Democrats really more likely to be childless cat ladies?

A friend asked if Democrats are really more likely to be childless. Whatever your politics, that sounds like a data question!

By now, you’re probably aware Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance has described Democrats as “childless cat ladies” with no “direct stake” in America’s future. We, on the other hand, have been ears-deep in data. So we had no idea what our friend Julie Zauzmer Weil was getting at when she asked if there was any evidence to support the notion of the “childless left.”

The simple answer, however? Yes! About 38 percent of Democrats had never had children as of 2022, compared with 26 percent of Republicans, according to the universally beloved General Social Survey from the universally beloved NORC at the University of Chicago.

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