Youth representation in Latin American legislatures: Cross-national party-level evidence from the PELA project
2026-05-19
Despite relatively low legal age thresholds for legislative office in Latin America, young people remain markedly underrepresented in national parliaments. Drawing on more than 9,000 individual interviews from the Parliamentary Elites of Latin America (PELA-USAL) project covering 18 countries between 1994 and 2024, this research note provides a cross-national descriptive overview of the age profile of legislators. The analysis examines age distributions across countries, political parties, gender, and ideological positioning. The findings show that only 12.2% of deputies are under 35, with substantial cross-national variation: while only 3.4% of legislators in Argentina fall into this category, the share reaches 14.8% in Mexico. Using individual-level survey data, the study documents persistent youth underrepresentation and highlights important variation across party systems and ideological orientations in Latin American legislatures.