Yet this is important for conservatives to keep in mind. Women simply place a higher premium on security and safety than men do. Women are more often involved in the day-to-day care of vulnerable members of society including children, the elderly, and the sick. They worry more about the bottom-line and are more concerned about avoiding big downsides than they are about maximizing upsides.

That means when conservatives talk about economic issues, we can’t just speak about generating prosperity. We have to also talk about how wealth creation bolsters financial security and explain how growth helps the least well off. Women, even those who are financially secure, tend to think about tragedies that could place their families in peril. Democrats prey on this tendency, while conservatives too often ignore it.

Conservatives have a compelling case to make since big government is often the enemy of financial security. At every turn, it seems, Washington undermines the institutions that actually provide women with the greatest safety and support. The pre-1996 federal welfare system, which the Democrat-controlled Congress is gradually bringing back, provided women with children with subsistence, but discouraged marriages and intact families. Today, social policy scholars from the Left and the Right agree that stable families are the most effective mechanism for preventing poverty and encouraging lifetime success. The existence, or lack thereof, of an intact family has become the dividing line between the haves and the have nots. Undoubtedly the federal welfare system, by undermining civil society and the family, ultimately made women less secure.

Women are also open to arguments about how intrusive government labor laws backfire on women. While the media tends to characterize any requirement on employers to provide new benefits as a boon to women, such mandates raise the cost of employment, deter job creation, and discourage the kinds of flexible job arrangements women crave. Rhetoric about liberty and growth is, unfortunately, not enough. Conservatives must explain clearly how employer mandates directly harm women.

The siren song of big government has superficial appeal to women who crave security. Ultimately, though, it exacts big costs—many of which are disproportionately borne by women. Conservatives have a compelling story about how limited government and free markets create greater financial security in addition to dynamism and growth. We just need a more tailored pitch.