Balancing politics and parenthood: Public perceptions of MPs taking parental leave in the UK
Balancing politics and parenthood: Public perceptions of MPs taking parental leave in the UK
Family-friendly practices in parliaments are central to the recruitment and retention of diverse representatives. Yet, instituting such reforms raises questions about public reactions, something little tested in current work. A conjoint experiment in the United Kingdom tests if the public punish MPs for taking time off their elected roles for a baby. And, importantly, asks who pays the price? Against expectations, MPs who take parental leave are not punished by the public. Voters prefer MPs who are parents, even when they take leave. Crucially, this preference is contingent upon MP sex. Women MPs who take parental leave are consistently the preferred choice over their male counterparts. When the ‘costs’ of parenthood are emphasised, women MPs receive a parenthood benefit, while men MPs do not. The findings align with the recent positive bias for women in electoral choice experiments and lend further support to implementing family-friendly policies in politics.
gender bias, parental leave, parliamentary reform, political representation, voting behaviour
Smith, Jessica C.
96f97364-8922-4e62-8581-0d2983052e20
Smith, Jessica C.
96f97364-8922-4e62-8581-0d2983052e20
Smith, Jessica C.
(2024)
Balancing politics and parenthood: Public perceptions of MPs taking parental leave in the UK.
European Journal of Political Research.
(doi:10.1111/1475-6765.12728).
Abstract
Family-friendly practices in parliaments are central to the recruitment and retention of diverse representatives. Yet, instituting such reforms raises questions about public reactions, something little tested in current work. A conjoint experiment in the United Kingdom tests if the public punish MPs for taking time off their elected roles for a baby. And, importantly, asks who pays the price? Against expectations, MPs who take parental leave are not punished by the public. Voters prefer MPs who are parents, even when they take leave. Crucially, this preference is contingent upon MP sex. Women MPs who take parental leave are consistently the preferred choice over their male counterparts. When the ‘costs’ of parenthood are emphasised, women MPs receive a parenthood benefit, while men MPs do not. The findings align with the recent positive bias for women in electoral choice experiments and lend further support to implementing family-friendly policies in politics.
Text
final accepted
- Accepted Manuscript
Text
European J Political Res - 2024 - SMITH - Balancing politics and parenthood Public perceptions of MPs taking parental
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 19 September 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 9 October 2024
Keywords:
gender bias, parental leave, parliamentary reform, political representation, voting behaviour
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 495591
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/495591
ISSN: 0304-4130
PURE UUID: 8e7da458-4e7f-4074-ab5a-fcb1d2c20387
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 19 Nov 2024 17:30
Last modified: 20 Nov 2024 02:57
Export record
Altmetrics
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
