Even if all of the 66 million parents had voted in the election of 1996, the nonparents who voted would have outnumbered them. The difference between parents and nonparents is largely due to age differences between the two groups. The major reason people give for not voting is time pressure, and the impact of time pressure is reflected in the interaction of political participation and family structure. In addition to the added time pressure on single parents, the higher voter turnout among married parents is due in part to certain characteristics of married couples that are related to higher levels of political participation, such as higher income, higher education, and higher home ownership. There is a strong relationship between socioeconomic status and voter turnout among parents.
Education also affects voter turnout.
Some simple measures could be implemented to facilitate political participation among parents. Because parents are more likely to be constrained by time than nonparents, keeping polls open longer, putting them in more convenient locations, and providing easier access to absentee ballots may increase voter turnout among parents. For more information, read the Population Reference Bureau's October 2000 issue of Population Today .