Who Do Ideologically-Moderate White Women Blame for the Economy?

Galvanize Action’s recent programming has focused on helping our audience make sense of economic instability by clearly stating that it’s not their fault, and it’s not the fault of marginalized groups; it’s bad actors and broken systems allowing those in power to abuse that power while ordinary people are left lost and struggling. 

But why is this content so important?

Ideologically-moderate white women are worried about the economy

It should come as no surprise that the economy is a top issue for much of our audience of ideologically-moderate white women.

It’s more than an abstract concern. As prices rise with no end in sight, financial security gets further and further out of their reach.

In our Mid-Year Survey, our audience shared their precarious financial situation. Sixteen percent of respondents reported being in financial crisis, up from 12% (from a different sample) in January. And an additional 56% are either falling behind/relying on credit (14%) or are unable to save (42%), meaning that an unexpected situation like a medical emergency or a broken-down car could send them into a financial crisis, leading to feelings of instability and uncertainty.

When asked to compare their current financial situation to the start of the year, only 9% said their situation was better, and 49% said their situation has gotten worse in the past five months. Our audience is trying to do their best for themselves and their families, but they are seeing their financial situation get worse, not through any fault of their own, but due to factors outside of their control. 

Who Do Ideologically-Moderate White Women Blame for the Economy?

We gave respondents a list of possible contributing factors and asked them how much they think these issues contributed to rising prices.

Our audience primarily attributes the worsening economic situation to the war with Iran, federal government spending, U.S. tariff policies, and President Trump.

They are primarily concerned with day-to-day issues, like putting food on the table and gas in the tank, but they are seeing money that should be going to help them achieve this going to those in power, spent on a war they didn’t ask for, and foreign policies that feel far away and ineffective. As corruption leads to chaos, people need help making sense of what is happening.

That is what Galvanize Action’s programming does, clearly naming, as we do in the ad Case File, not only who is not at fault (immigrants and working families), but also who is at fault: billionaires and the politicians who vote for tax breaks for the wealthy at the cost of working families. We know that our audience loves true crime, so we used this format to help viewers sort through what they are seeing and experiencing, literally laying out the evidence. This gives them agency to make sense of rising prices, medical bills, gas prices, and all the things that are causing chaos and stress.

How is our community helping each other navigate this crisis?

Using trusted and relatable messengers and person-first narratives, our community of content creators brings home the message “it’s not you, it’s the system” in their videos. We make it clear to our audience that what they are feeling is real and it’s not their fault. 

In this video, a creator shifts blame away from individuals and toward the systems that are making life harder for working families by showing how her grocery list has stayed the same but prices have gone up. This video resonates by reflecting back what they already know: that no matter what they do, it’s getting harder to make ends meet.

This is echoed in the comments, where we see our audience come together and support one another, engaging in dialogue with the creator and with one another. Many provide their own advice, giving each other recommendations on which stores have cheaper options to help keep their bills down and building a sense of shared struggle.

We also see this here, where this creator talks about her healthcare struggles. 

By speaking to the day-to-day struggles of paying for groceries and navigating healthcare, we are shifting mindsets from self-blame and “othering” to seeing that they are not alone in feeling like things are out of control. This introduces an easy point of entry for building social cohesion, which we are seeing take place in the comments!

This is why this type of programming is so important: we’re not just sharing prosocial messages with our audience; our audience is connecting to the narrative and spreading these messages, adding their own advice, and supporting one another. This helps expand our audience’s in-group by showing that it’s not just them—everyone is struggling right now—providing solidarity amid the chaos. 

Across all our creator videos, we’ve reached over a million people! That’s a million people who have been introduced to relatable and accessible prosocial messages.