Paths to Young Adult Political Participation: Family and Adult Transitions

• In Event: Social and Environmental Influences on Behavior

Abstract

The extant literature suggests that parental socialization has somewhat limited effects in predisposing young adults’ political interest and voter participation, but that education, marriage, starting a family, and encounters with the carceral state all have significant effects on the likelihood of political participation by young adults. In this paper, I will engage both of those literatures to show that family background has both direct and indirect (through their influence on adult transitions) effects on political interest and participation. I use data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the 1997-2012 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which are especially valuable in the field of political socialization, as it is a long panel study which started with 8900 cases, allowing us to achieve reliable estimates of multiple effects on turnout and interest for different demographic groups. Preliminary analyses confirm the strong effects of educational achievement, marriage, and parenthood of young adults on voter participation, net of family background and parental socialization.

Author

• Michael D. Martinez, University of Florida