The gendered impact of parenthood on the ability of men and women to gain and maintain public office

What is it about?

This article examines the gendered impacts of parenthood, marital status, and care work on the ability of men and women to gain and maintain elected positions in national parliaments. We examine the family patterns of more than 4,000 members of parliament (MPs) across 25 diverse countries to determine whether or not marital status and parenthood systematically disadvantage MPs, and whether or not these disadvantages accrue along gendered lines. Based on this analysis, we conclude that women who are married and/or have children face much greater barriers to political careers than their male counterparts. We also find that both institutional and societal level factors matter in regard to the extent to which women MPs are disadvantaged in this respect, and pose some potential ways of addressing these barriers in order to close these gendered representation gaps.

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Why is it important?

This article adds to a recent but growing body of literature on the subject of parenthood and politics. It attempts to uncover how and why men and women may be penalized based on their marital status or parental status in the eyes of voters, and why it might be difficult to be both a parent and a politician. It is especially important because we show that women in particular face disadvantages in their political careers as a result of being mothers or wives. Our study also provides some insights into how we might address the social and institutional factors that seem to disadvantage women in these regards.

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