TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Siedler, Thomas
        TI  - Family and Politics: Does Parental Unemployment Cause Right-Wing Extremism?
        PY  - 2006/Oct/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 2411
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp2411
        AB  - Recent years have witnessed a rise in right-wing extremism among German youth and young adults. This paper investigates the extent to which the experience of parental unemployment during childhood affects young people’s far right-wing attitudes and xenophobia. Estimates from three different German data sets show a positive relationship between growing up with unemployed parents and right-wing extremism, with xenophobia in particular. This paper uses differences in unemployment levels between East and West Germany, both before and after reunification, to investigate a causal relationship. Instrumental variables estimates suggest strong and significant effects of parental unemployment on right-wing extremism. This is consistent with classical theories of economic interest and voting behaviour which predict that persons who develop feelings of economic insecurity are more susceptible to right-wing extremism and anti-foreign sentiments.
        KW  - intergenerational links
KW  - instrumental variable
KW  - unemployment
KW  - right-wing extremism
KW  - panel estimators
KW  - matching
        ER  -