Childhood poverty and political participation: The role of family, gender and economic mobility

Socio-economic background profoundly shapes electoral participation, with early-life economic hardship significantly dampening political engagement. Yet, poverty is not a monolith, it manifests in diverse ways and unfolds differently across individuals' life courses. This paper advances research on political inequality and political socialisation by examining how childhood poverty's impact on future voting behaviour is moderated by family and individual characteristics, including parental education, political socialisation, gender, and economic mobility. Using German panel data (GSOEP), this study links first-time voters to their parents and analyses electoral participation across four German federal elections (2009, 2013, 2017, and 2021). The findings reveal that while childhood poverty independently suppresses turnout, its effects are contingent on social context. Politically engaged and highly educated parents can buffer their children against the political disengagement associated with poverty, whereas upward economic mobility does not trigger higher turnout rates. These results underscore the interplay between economic hardship, family environment, and individual trajectories in shaping political habit formation, offering new insights into the mechanisms of participatory inequality.