Why do women develop lower levels of political interest? Examining the influence of education, family socialisation and adult roles

Pensiero, Nicola and Janmaat, Jan Germen (2024) Why do women develop lower levels of political interest? Examining the influence of education, family socialisation and adult roles. Acta Politica. (In Press)

Record type: Article

Abstract

The political interest of men rises faster than that of women during late adolescence and early adulthood in Britain (Fraile and Sánchez‐Vítores 2020). This paper analyses whether factors relating to education, the assumption of adult roles and family background can explain this growing disparity. We use panel data of the British Household Panel Study (BHPS) and Understanding Society (USoc) to examine these factors. Education turns out to be the only factor that is related to different growth trajectories of political interest between men and women. Women with lower levels of education or vocational qualifications show stable or declining levels of political interest while all other categories show rising levels of interest between ages 16 and 30. Education can, however, only partially account for the rising gender gap. Variables representing the attainment of adult roles, such as occupational status, marital status and household composition, and variables capturing family socialization are not linked to these trajectories. Most of this gap thus remains unexplained.

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