Family Matters: How Romantic Partners Shape Politicians' Careers (Elements in Gender and Politics)

Rickne, Johanna Johanna Rickne, Olle Folke, Moa Fr�din Gruneau,

ISBN 10: 1009437828 / ISBN 13: 9781009437820

Published by Cambridge University Press, 2025

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 6666-GRD-9781009437820

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Family Matters: How Romantic Partners Shape Politicians' Careers (Elements in Gender and Politics)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1009437828
• ISBN 13: 9781009437820
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

This Element studies how career support from romantic partners affects career patterns and costs in politics. It argues that a lower level of career support from romantic partners leads to a lower likelihood for political promotion among women politicians (the partner support hypothesis), as well as greater stress on women politicians' relationships when they advance (the career stress hypothesis). Both predictions find support in Swedish data for more than 80,000 political careers over a fifty-year period. Women politicians are in relationships that prioritize their male partner's career and where that partner does less unpaid work in the household. This is important in explaining women's career disadvantage. It also explains why promotions double the divorce rate for women but leave men's relationships intact. The analysis sheds light on the role played by romantic partners in gender inequality in politics. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.