Work

Income shocks, political support and voting behaviour

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: We provide new evidence on the effects of economic shocks on political support, voting behaviour and political opinions over the last 25 years in the UK. We exploit a sudden, large and long-lasting shock in the form of job loss and trace out its impact on individual political outcomes for up to 10 years after the event. The availability of detailed information on individuals before and after the job loss event allows us to reweight a comparison group to closely mimic the job losers in terms of their observable characteristics, pre-existing political support and voting behaviour. We find consistent and long-lasting effects on support and votes for the incumbent party, and shorter-lived effects on political engagement. We find limited impact on the support for fringe or populist parties. In the context of Brexit, opposition to the EU was much higher amongst those who lost their jobs, but this was largely due to pre-existing differences which were not exacerbated by the job loss event itself.

Source: Journal of Public Economics

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2024.105253

Authors: Richard Upward, Peter W. Wright

Institutions: University of Nottingham, University of Sheffield

Language: English

Topic: Electoral Systems and Political Participation

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,800