A dramatic surge in the desire to permanently move abroad among younger American women is the primary driver behind a near-record number of Americans who say they would like to leave the U.S., according to new data from Gallup.
Approximately one in five Americans now express a wish to migrate permanently, but this desire is overwhelmingly amplified by women aged 15 to 44. In 2025, 40% of women in this age bracket reported they would move abroad permanently if given the opportunity.
This figure represents a quadrupling since 2014, when only 10% held this desire, putting it in line with other age and gender groups at the time.
Widening Gender Gap
The stark increase in younger women’s migration aspirations has created the largest gender divide Gallup has ever recorded on this trend.
- Today’s desire to leave creates a 21-percentage-point gap between younger women (40%) and younger men (19%).
- Globally, few countries have shown such a wide gender gap, and no country before the U.S. in 2025 has recorded a gap of 20 points or more between younger men and women.
This trend is unique to the U.S. Unlike American women, younger women in other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries have maintained a relatively steady desire to migrate, typically averaging between 20% and 30%. Since around 2016, younger U.S. women have become more likely than their peers in other wealthy nations to want to leave their homeland for good.
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Political and Institutional Disillusionment
While the desire to leave first rose decisively in 2016 and continued through both the Trump and Biden presidencies—suggesting a broader shift—political attitudes play a significant role.
- Political Divide: In 2025, a 25-point gap exists in migration desire between Americans who approve and those who disapprove of the country’s leadership. This politicization of migration aspirations has intensified since 2017.
- Democratic Orientation: Younger women’s stronger orientation to the Democratic Party (59% identify or lean Democratic, compared to 39% of younger men) partially explains the differences.
- Loss of Faith in Institutions: Younger women have also experienced the steepest drop in confidence in national institutions (government, judiciary, military, and elections) of any demographic group over the past decade. Their average score on Gallup’s National Institutions Index fell by 17 points since 2015.
- Judicial Confidence Plummets: Confidence in the judicial system specifically fell from 55% in 2015 to 32% in 2025 among younger women, a decline possibly exacerbated by the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision, though the general trend of wanting to move began prior to the ruling.
Marriage and Children Are Not Barriers
The rising desire to migrate is evident across younger women regardless of typical mobility constraints:
- Marital Status: At least two in five younger women—41% of those who are married and 45% of those who are single—expressed a desire to move in 2024-2025, the narrowest recorded gap by marital status.
- Parenthood: Similarly, 40% of younger women with children at home wish to leave, on par with those without children (44%), suggesting that if they follow through, they are likely to take the next generation with them.
For those young women who are looking to leave, Canada remains the top preferred destination (11% since 2022), ahead of New Zealand, Italy, and Japan (all 5%).
Ultimately, the data reflects an unprecedented level of aspiration to migrate among millions of younger American women, setting them apart from their male peers and international counterparts as they increasingly imagine their futures beyond America’s borders.
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