The far right has achieved significant success in regional, national and European elections in recent years. Some of the latest signs of this were the results of the elections to the European Parliament in June 2024, which revealed that this shift to the right is a growing phenomenon in states such as Germany, Italy, France, and even Spain. In addition, it was the younger voters who gave unprecedented electoral support to these radical parties.

A study published recently in Journal of European Public Policy with the participation of Toni Rodon, a professor of the UPF Department of Political and Social Sciences, together with researchers from the Humboldt University of Berlin, the London School of Economics and Amsterdam University, has found that the electoral success of far-right parties among younger voters is mainly due to the support of young men, which peaked at more than 21% in 2024, compared to 14% among women of the same age group. The study concludes that the gender gap of young people supporting the far right is a new generational phenomenon, with the potential to have a significant impact on European societies.

The study concludes that the gender gap of young people supporting the far right is a new generational phenomenon, with the potential to have a significant impact on European societies

The research explores the widening gender gap among young Generation Z and Millennials (aged between 16 and 29 years), regarding both their attitudes and their electoral behaviour related to support for the far right, which is significantly greater compared to middle- and late-adult groups. According to the authors, their analysis provides evidence to conclude that we may be facing an especially generational phenomenon: “While the gender gap among young people appears to reflect age-related factors, the extent of the gap observed in our substantially larger study could be rooted primarily in deeper generational dynamics”, they assert. The authors regard the phenomenon as “counterintuitive”, as “many of the prevailing theories explaining the gender gap predict the opposite trend”.

What might be causing this widening gap?

The authors offer several explanations for this trend, such as the relevance of economic challenges that may affect young men disproportionately, but can be especially pronounced for young men who perceive women’s educational and professional advancements as a “zero-sum game”; cultural shifts, such as changing gender norms, which can empower young women, while arousing feelings of uncertainty and insecurity among young men; or supply-side factors and social media influence, with far-right narratives and “manfluencers” who amplify young men’s grievances and mobilize them, among other causes.

Concern for national election results and the future of European democracies

The authors, who encourage further research to explore the causes of this phenomenon, believe that despite their study focusing on the European elections, the trend may extend to the state level: “Far-right parties can gain momentum for national elections through increased visibility on the European elections, suggesting that the observed patterns of far-right support might be even stronger in the national elections to come in several countries”, they assure.

The researchers add that the current youth gender gap, driven by Gen Z and Millennial men, is likely to widen further, and that general support for the far right may continue to grow, posing a threat of democratic backsliding: “Since prior research has shown that first-time voting and preference formation during the formative years have a lasting impact on attitudes and voting behaviour later in life, far-right support could dramatically increase in the future as today's young voters age”, they conclude.

A search conducted on a database of 27 European countries

The research is based on data from European Electoral Studies (European Election Studies, EES) which, covering 27 countries and almost 25,000 voters, provides broader cross-sectional and longitudinal coverage compared to other cross-country surveys.

To explore whether this gender gap among young voters is due to age or generational effects, they use Age-Period-Cohort (APC) models, based on studies of voters from the EES from 1989 to 2024, spanning 35 years and eight elections to the European Parliament.

Moreover, the cross-country analysis of the 2024 elections to the European Parliament also presents preliminary and descriptive evidence that this gap can be partially addressed through differences in cultural attitudes, with initial evidence showing that young women are much more progressive compared to young men.

Reference work: Milosav, D., Dickson, Z., Hobolt, S.B., Klüver, H., Kuhun, T., Rodon, T. (March 2025) “The youth gender gap in support for the far right”, Journal of European Public Policy

https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2025.2481181