Widening economic inequality and economic precarity has potentially pernicious consequences for electoral democracy. However, whilst the contemporaneous (and negative) impact of economic hardship on turnout has been established, questions remain about the influence of longer-term impact of difficult economic conditions on voting behaviour.

Using 16 years of cohort data alongside 30+ years of household panel data in Britain, we examine the impact of economic hardship during the impressionable years – the period from adolescence to early adulthood in which environments and experiences have an outsized influence on political preferences relative to the rest of the life course – on turnout in adulthood. Combining various data sources to assess multiple forms and sites of potential deprivation (at the level of parents, neighbourhood and schools) this study will allow for a comprehensive assessment of the impact of economic conditions during the impressionable years on later participation. Given (a) the importance of the impressionable years for shaping political preferences and practices and (b) the habitual nature of voting, understanding the consequences of economic experiences in the early life course holds substantively important insights for questions of democratic health.