The Family Factor in State Legislative Turnover

For more than forty years, high turnover in state legislatures has been attributed primarily to low salaries for the lawmakers. This study, based on all legislators who voluntarily left the Arkansas state legislature over the last twelve years, suggests that factors explain even more departures than do financial considerations. The general neglect of the family to date is explained in part by traditional methodologies, which largely relied upon aggregate and structural rather than personal data. The factor may also have been overlooked because of common cultural assumptions which have emphasized men's occupational roles more than their familial roles.