(Page 3 of 30) - Gender, Parenthood, and the Vote in the 2004 Election authored by Greene, Steven. and Elder, Laurel.

attitudes and policy priorities than their childless counterparts? Secondly, among parents,
does the degree of parental involvement act as a significant predictor of political
attitudes? And, finally, are parenthood effects mediated by gender? In other words, are
the views of women and men effected differently by the parenting experience?

To answer these questions we analyzed original survey data collected during June

2005. The survey, completed by 516 respondents, half of whom were custodial parents
of children under 18, included two types of questions: basic policy and priority
questions, and most importantly, more valid and comprehensive measures of parenthood
than those found on the most widely used public opinion surveys. Most public opinion
surveys ask only about the presence of children under 18 in the household, a measure of
parenthood that has serious validity problems. In our survey we more precisely identified
parents and created a parental involvement index incorporating questions about the time
and level of responsibility parents invest in their children’s care. With this information
we were able to accurately assess the role of parenthood and parental involvement in
shaping political views.

In brief, we find that parenthood is politically significant. Parents have different

views than non-parents on several policy issues, and these ‘parent gaps’ remain
significant even when a full set of controls is added. Further, we find that it is not just
parental status, but the level of parental involvement and the gender of the parent that
matters. Parental involvement is correlated with attitudes on government services,
childcare, health care, and health care importance, and these effects are much more
pronounced for mothers than for fathers. It is important to note, however, that while
parenthood status and involvement have an impact on a subset of issues, most of which
directly touch on child-rearing, they remain irrelevant to a number of highly salient
political issues such as defense and abortion.

The politics of parenthood is a critical area for research. For politicians, the

voting behavior of parents may be vital to the outcome of future elections. The balance
of the two major parties within the American electorate has never been so evenly
matched as it has been during the past decade (Stanley and Niemi 2004, 139). The key
for either party may be to find ways to exploit social group divisions, such as parenthood,
that were not previously relevant to politics (Arnold and Weisberg 1996, 194). Since
parents are a sizable voting group, finding a successful new appeal to America’s moms
and dads might be the key to victory. Moreover, research on the political consequences
of parenthood increases our understanding of adult political socialization—the ways
political views change throughout the life-cycle. Finally, this research adds another piece
to our understanding of the complexities of the gender gap by showing that parenthood is
one of many factors contributing to the gap.

A Review of the Parenthood Literature and Hypotheses

We assume most parents would agree wholeheartedly with that statement that,

“You think differently when you have kids” (Barnes 1992, 50). Parenthood brings with it
major life changes: intense new responsibilities, great joys and profound feelings of life
satisfaction, but also new worries, decreased personal freedom, and increased economic