Poll: 40% of Younger American Women Want to Leave

A record number of young American women are considering a move overseas, according to a new Gallup survey. In this year's poll, 40% of women ages 15 to 44 say they'd move abroad permanently if they had the chance, four times higher than in 2014. The desire to migrate began rising sharply around 2016, when Gallup conducted the poll months before the election, and has remained elevated since, regardless of which party holds the White House. This surge sets younger women apart, creating a 21-point gap with men in the same age bracket—the widest gender gap Gallup has seen in any country. In the 2014 poll, the desire to emigrate was roughly the same across age and gender groups.

Canada is the top destination for those looking to leave, followed by New Zealand, Italy, and Japan. Before 2016, younger women in the US were less likely than their counterparts elsewhere to want to move to a different country. They are now more likely to want to change country than women in other wealthy countries, where the numbers have stayed relatively steady. Younger American men, meanwhile, remain more likely than their peers elsewhere to want to stay put. Axios notes that in countries including Malta and Zambia, around 40% of women want to emigrate, but the figures in those countries are around the same for men.

The desire to leave the US appears to be linked to declining faith in American institutions, Gallup notes. Over the past decade, young women's confidence in the government, judiciary, military, and elections has dropped more sharply than in any other group. The Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, may have played a part in this, with confidence in the judiciary falling from 55% in 2015 to 32% in 2025 among young women. However, the desire to migrate began rising well before that ruling.

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The wish to relocate is high among both single and married women, as well as those with or without children at home. The issue has become more politicized since 2017, with a 25-point difference in migration aspirations between those who approve and disapprove of the country's leadership. Gallup notes that while not everyone who expresses a wish to move to another country will go through with it, the survey makes it clear that "millions of younger American women are increasingly imagining their futures elsewhere."