People who grow up in non-intact families tend to have “ a significantly lower degree of participation in civil .jpg)
society later in life,” according to a leading European think-tank.
Researchers for the Ifo Institute, one of Germany’s largest economic think-tanks, examined the extent to which people who were not reared in traditional family structures become civically involved in later life.
Looking at data from German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for 1984 to 2009 they examined information on political interest, party identification, participation in political parties and citizens’ initiatives and the extent of voluntary activity.
Researchers also conducted a sibling-difference analysis based on this information. They compared people who witnessed the divorce of their parents in their first 16 years of life with siblings who were not yet born at the time of the divorce or who were older than 16 years old, and compared the civic engagement in adulthood of each of these groups.
Using this to construct an index of civic engagement, they found that civic engagement among people who experienced the divorce of their parents during childhood was 17pc lower compared to those who grew up in intact family structures.
Specifically, they found that political interest was 4.8pc lower among the children of divorce and party identification 6.9pc lower.
The willingness to engage in political parties, in local politics and citizens’ initiatives was four percent lower and engagement in volunteer activities was 10.1pc weaker.
Civic engagement has decreased significantly in the past few decades. According to the OECD, especially in the political sphere, civic activity has declined in western countries. Voter turnout rates, for example, have fallen strongly, and large organisations such as trade unions and political parties have lost a significant number of members.
Lead researcher Helmut Rainer said that civically involved citizens were vital for a robust civil society.
He added: “One way to counteract the negative effects of fragile family structures on civic engagement is to invest more in civic and political education measures in schools and community organisations.
“However, further studies are needed to improve our understanding of the relationship between families and civic commitment.”