We knew Sen. JD Vance's (R-Ohio) comments about "childless cat ladies" being "miserable" were obnoxious, as were his allegations that people without kids "don't have a personal and direct stake" in the future of the country. And now, we have the data to prove they were also flat-out false.
A survey of more than 1,700 registered voters nationwide conducted by the gender justice advocacy organization National Women’s Law Center Action Fund and the polling firm Morning Consult earlier this month found that women without kids—including those with cats—back policies supporting children and families as much as, if not more than, parents and voters overall.
First shared with Mother Jones, the research found that 62 percent of women without kids who have cats, and 51 percent of women without kids overall, strongly agree that “supporting families and children should be a top priority for the federal government,” compared with 49 percent of parents and 47 percent of voters overall. Some of the policies they believe the government should support include "guaranteeing access to child care for everyone who needs it" and paid family and medical leave—neither of which Vance has ever appeared to support. And as for Vance’s claim that “childless cat ladies” are “miserable”? Yeah…they’re not. The survey found 32 percent of these so-called “childless cat ladies” said they are “very happy,” compared to 27 percent of voters overall.
I called up Peggy Heffington, a historian based at the University of Chicago and the author of Without Children: The Long History of Not Being a Mother, for her take on the survey. She had an answer I wasn't expecting: She said she sees a cause for hope in the findings, which she said show that "people who don’t have kids are having empathy and wanting to support people whose lives don’t look like theirs." That’s a lesson that Vance could stand to learn.
Make sure to read my full piece to learn more about the true political priorities of so-called "childless cat ladies."
—Julianne McShane
