In almost all the Western countries adults and older cohorts are more likely to vote (Oecd 2011). This means that in families where parents and young adult live together is more likely to find members who turn out to vote and influence each others. Our paper aims to study the evolution of turnout during a specific life cycle, the transition to adulthood. Previous studies in Italy (Tuorto 2011) but also in other national contexts (Bhatti and Hansen 2010; 2012) have attested an unexpected phase after the first vote, when turnout declines instead of following a progressive increase. We hypothesize that this trend is influenced by the characteristics of the living arrangement: whether the young people live at home with their parents vs. live in cohabitation/as couple/married. We expect that, after controlling for other variables, having left the family “nest” could play a crucial rule in the explanation of young adult’s lower turnout. We also expect an interactive effect of variables such as: the number of family members who have voted in a given election, the age-class of the young, sex, occupational status. Data used for the analysis come from different sources: a) Osservatorio Prospex-Cattaneo (a long-term database on registered turnout of a representative sample of Italian voters); b) Italian longitudinal household panel; c) Indagine Multiscopo Istat (National Survey on families and individuals). These data will allow us: a) to evaluate correct level of turnout by age and its evolution over time; b) to compare level of turnout of young people in different living arrangements; c) to analyze the relationship between individual and familiar turnout and the effect of transition from a condition of “living with parents” to “another condition” on turnout.
