How gender affects the response rates of politicians to inquiries about healthcare and unemployment support

Are women and men equally likely to receive answers when they contact politicians for information about healthcare and unemployment benefits? Drawing on a new study, Zoila Ponce de Leon and Gabriele Magni find that MPs are significantly more likely to respond to women overall, and that female legislators are more responsive, in general, than their male counterparts. Increasing the numbers of women in office would therefore lead to a higher quality of representation.