Republicans and Democrats are finding that their respective demographics are changing, says Stream Associate Editor Anika Smith in her article Don’t Underestimate Single Women Voters published in Christianity Today’s her.meneutics section.

She notes the growing trend of American women staying single much longer than before, well into their 30s. In the past, these women would marry, and shift right politically as their marriage and family became a priority. Today, however, Ms. Smith says that as more women remain single, they also remain largely Democrat in their views, as evidenced in the 2012 presidential election when Obama won the votes of most of the single women (23% of the electorate, according to Smith). “Republicans don’t have a woman problem,” Smith says, “They have a single-woman problem.”

The reason for this stems largely from the need for benefits the married woman already receives by virtue of her union with her husband, says Rebecca Traister, an author who has written on the subject in her book, All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation, and adapted to a short article published in New York magazine. Single women are not remaining single to prove a point about equality, Traister says, they are doing it because they truly believe that it’s okay for them not to be married. They believe that they are competent to live out their lives professionally, economically, socially, sexually and as parents even if they do not find someone they wish to marry.

However, since they’ve chosen to stay single, Traister argues that this brings about issues specific to single women and necessitates solutions to those issues; namely, equity in pay, paid family leave, a higher minimum wage (which many assume will help raise incomes), universal pre-K, broadly accessible reproductive rights, among several others — all of which fit squarely in the Democratic party’s platform. If the Republican party doesn’t address their concerns in a way consistent with their own perspective, says Smith, these single women feel overlooked.

A few well-known Republicans have attempted to address these concerns by speaking out against government regulation of small businesses, says Smith. Back in 2012, Paul Ryan talked about the sacrifices of his widowed mother as he championed small businesses. Jeb Bush proposed to simplify occupational licensing for small business owners, “making it easier for single women to find jobs,” Smith said. Marco Rubio also proposed restricting the costs of regulation, which would keep the prices of household goods in check.

Ultimately, says Smith, single women need to know they are valued as contributors to society and that they matter. Smith believes that, in order to gain these women as voters, Republicans must champion these women and frame economic issues as “single women” issues, rather than a strict focus on married couples as a whole. Single women need to feel vital to the election process.