Political Ambition Not Enough? Mothers' Economic Roles Hurdle Candidacy Despite Desire for Office

### The Challenge

Women's underrepresentation in U.S. politics persists despite scholarship highlighting the leaky pipeline of qualified political candidates.

### Our Approach

This study employs a multimethod design, including an original survey targeting alumnae from America's largest Democratic campaign training organization.

### Key Findings

While we found no direct income effect on candidacy decisions among politically ambitious women, being the primary bread earner significantly hindered their ambition—especially for mothers. The findings underscore how household economic responsibilities can be major barriers to achieving descriptive representation in American politics.

These insights reveal important constraints on candidate emergence that extend beyond traditional factors like political interest or social capital.