Social Origins and Electoral Participation: The Compensatory Role of Youth Activities

Working-class adults often exhibit reduced political participation due to the increasing process of individualization, stemming from decreased social control and peer social cues. This trend has been observed in Western societies, but the temporal dimension remains underexplored, especially from a within-individual longitudinal perspective. Using panel data from Germany (German Socio-Economic Panel), we examine how children from different social classes may vary in political participation, based on their social embeddedness during young adolescence. Youth activities, including doing sports, making music, attending religious services, volunteering and visiting youth centres, vary in their influence on young people's lives. We combine data from youth, household and individual questionnaires and apply linear probability models with an extensive set of relevant control variables. Research has demonstrated that a sense of belonging correlates with higher trust levels, translating to increased political participation. This sense of belonging is often lower among children from disadvantaged backgrounds. We show that (1) working-class children vote less, (2) youth activities facilitate higher electoral participation and (3) this compensation is most obvious for working-class children. We conclude that youth activities can shape the political engagement of young individuals in national elections, partially compensating for the adverse effects of a disadvantaged socio-economic origin.