High school attendance influences political preferences later in life, particularly through economic impacts. Using a generalized difference-in-differences design and leveraging variation in U.S. state dropout laws across cohorts, this study finds that raising the minimum school age reduces Democratic partisan identification by about 15 percentage points among affected individuals.

Data & Methods:

The analysis employs a GDD design exploiting cohort-specific changes in US state dropout laws from mandatory attendance laws.

Key Findings:

High school completion increases income and promotes support for conservative economic policies, especially at midlife earnings peaks. This effect significantly reduces Democratic partisan identification by approximately 15 percentage points among those induced to stay longer due to legal changes.

The study's results contrast with findings that show high school education does not impact political attitudes on non-economic matters or levels of political engagement.