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

Bibliographic Data

ID9537513
AuthorsNicola Pensiero (0000-0002-2823-9852, University of Southampton, corresponding author), J G Janmaat (0000-0001-8102-5047, University College London)
Year2025
Volume60
Issue4
Pages723-758
Publication date2025-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueActa Politica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0001-6810 • E-ISSN: 1741-1416
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1057/s41269-024-00349-3
OpenAlexW4400268225
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited68

The political interest of men rises faster than that of women during late adolescence and early adulthood in Britain (Fraile and Sánchez-Vítores in Polit Psychol 41(1):89–106, 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 socialisation are not linked to the growing disparity of political interest between men and women. Most of this gap thus remains unexplained

British Household Panel Survey · Demographic economics · Developmental psychology · Economic growth · Economics · Educational attainment · Gender gap · Marital status · Panel data · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Vocational education · Demography · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics

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