---
title: "Gender gap widens in views of government’s role – and of Trump"
description: "Gender differences in the U.S. about the size and scope of government have been evident for more than a decade, but they have widened in recent years."
date: "2019-04-11"
authors:
  - name: "Hannah Hartig"
    job_title: "Senior Researcher"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/hannah-hartig/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/04/11/gender-gap-widens-in-views-of-governments-role-and-of-trump/"
categories:
  - "Comparison of Generations"
  - "Donald Trump"
  - "Federal Government"
  - "Gender"
  - "Gender & LGBTQ"
  - "Gender & Politics"
  - "Politics & Policy"
  - "Presidential Approval"
---

# Gender gap widens in views of government’s role – and of Trump

Gender differences about the size and scope of government have been evident for more than a decade, but they have widened in recent years.

[![Widening gender gap on size and scope of government](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/04/FT_19.04.11_GovernmentGender_Wideninggendergap.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/04/11/gender-gap-widens-in-views-of-governments-role-and-of-trump/ft_19-04-11_governmentgender_wideninggendergap/)

And while the gender gap in presidential job approval also is not new, it is wider for Donald Trump than for his predecessors.

In a [new Pew Research Center survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/04/11/little-public-support-for-reductions-in-federal-spending/), nearly six-in-ten women (58%) say they prefer a bigger government providing more services to a smaller government providing fewer services (36%). Among men, the balance of opinion is nearly the reverse: 59% of men prefer a smaller government (37% prefer bigger).

The gender differences on this measure are as wide as at any point in more than a decade. The change is largely attributable to an increase in the share of women expressing a preference for bigger government, while men’s attitudes on this question are little changed.

During most of Barack Obama’s presidency, women were roughly divided on this question: As recently as September 2016, 44% of women preferred a smaller government providing fewer services, while 48% preferred a bigger government providing more services. Today, the percentage of women who prefer bigger government has risen to 58%. In September 2016, just prior to the 2016 election, 56% of men said they would rather have a smaller government. Today, 59% say they would rather have a smaller government.

Trump’s job approval rating has been more deeply divided [along partisan lines](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/08/01/trumps-approval-ratings-so-far-are-unusually-stable-and-deeply-partisan/) – and [across generations](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2018/03/01/the-generation-gap-in-american-politics/) – than for other recent presidents. This also is the case when it comes to gender: There are wider differences between men and women in views of Trump’s job performance than for any president dating to George H.W. Bush.

[![Gender gap in presidential approval ratings is larger under Trump than for other recent presidents](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/04/FT_19.04.11_GovernmentGender_Gendergapinpresidential_2.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/04/11/gender-gap-widens-in-views-of-governments-role-and-of-trump/ft_19-04-11_governmentgender_gendergapinpresidential_2/)

Currently, 47% of men say they approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, with an equal share saying they disapprove (47%). By contrast, 32% of women say they approve of how Trump is handling his job as president; 63% say they disapprove.

Looking more broadly, over his first two years in office, Trump’s average approval rating was much higher among men (44%) than among women (31%). This 13-percentage-point gender gap is wider than for any of his recent predecessors, dating back to George H.W. Bush.