However, the relationships among the many components of social capital are anything but simple. Indeed, while being in the work force full time diminishes the number of dinner parties women give and the number of club meetings they attend, it actually enhances their political participation . My colleagues, Nancy Burns of the University of Michigan and Sidney Verba of Harvard, and I are just completing a large-scale study that seeks to unravel the puzzle of why women are still somewhat less politically active than men. It turns out that one of the several factors contributing to the gender gap in participation is the fact that men are more likely than women to be in the work force and, among those employed full time, more likely to have jobs that pay well and demand high levels of education and training. Putnam makes clear that employment for women has the effect of diminishing social visits with friends and club memberships.
Several things happen on the job that enhance political participation for both men and women.
In addition, workers, particularly those whose jobs demand education and training, develop organizational and communications skills that are transportable to political activity. Finally, employed women and men are more likely than those outside the work force to be asked to take part politically. Hence, we have probed whether women with full-time jobs, especially those who also have children at home, simply do not have the time to take part in politics. Try as we might, however, we have found absolutely no evidence to suggest that the amount of leisure time individuals enjoy has any impact on their political activity. For one thing, despite the magnitude of the increase in women's labor force participation, not all women have gone to work.