The poor “sociological imagination” of the rich: Explaining attitudinal divergence towards welfare,inequality, and redistribution

Quantitative research has tended to explain attitudinal divergence towards welfare and redistribution through self‐interested rationalities. However, such an approach risks abstracting individuals from the structural determinants of resource allocation and biographical experience. With that in mind, this article draws on a qualitative study of 50 individuals experiencing relative deprivation and affluence in the United Kingdom and New Zealand to examine how lived experiences of inequality affect attitude formation towards welfare and redistribution. Scenario‐driven vignettes were used to stimulate an applied discussion of abstract principles pertaining to welfare and inequality. Use of this methodological device proffered novel insight into the phenomenological effects of material position on public attitudes and policy preferences in a comparative context. The findings suggest that affluent individuals are less likely to acknowledge systemic features shaping socioeconomic life. As a result, they exhibit a poor sociological imagination that is deployed in distinct and patterned ways to make sense of, and at times justify, economic restructuring. By contrast, those living in relative deprivation are more likely to advance accounts of intergroup relations and social location that emphasize the structuration of (dis‐)advantage. Based on the findings, policy and political implications are considered for welfare and redistribution amidst rising structural inequality.     

Reducing Inequality in Childcare Service Use across European Countries: What (if any) Is the role of Social Spending?

Childcare services are increasingly put forward as one of the most important policy levers to combat poverty and inequality. However, higher income families use childcare services to a much larger extent than lower income families. Almost all European countries increased expenditures on childcare over the past years, but has an ever‐increasing public spending on childcare provision led to more equality in its use? In this article, the relationship between spending and childcare use as well as between spending and inequality in childcare use over the period 2006–12 is empirically analyzed using a random effects model drawing on country‐level panel data (n = 156), derived from the EU‐SILC and OECD SOCX databases. Since governments can spend money in different ways, it is discussed whether a public or a market‐based strategy to subsidize childcare provision is related to more equality. The results suggest that more spending leads to higher levels of childcare use, but not directly to lower levels of inequality. For achieving equity in childcare use, government investment should lead to an expansion of childcare places across the income distribution. The findings allow the formulation of new hypotheses regarding the role of the private market in childcare services provision.     

Concern about the rise of lazy welfare queens? An empirical explanation of the underdevelopment of the redistributive welfare system in South Korea

This study investigates why South Korea has maintained a minimalist welfare state with little redistribution of income. Inspired by the behavioral/attitudinal approach of Alesina and his colleagues, this study focuses on the perception that people who do not work become lazy. This belief is related to the anti-welfare sentiment that non-working benefits encourage laziness. This study shows that perceptions of work and laziness are associated with preferences for redistribution, not only among South Koreans, but also among individuals in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries. Further, such perceptions are also associated with the redistribution policies chosen in a country. This study provides evidence that societal beliefs about work and laziness, along with several other political and economic factors, such as pre-tax income inequality, political institutions, and union density, may explain the small-scale redistribution in South Korea.     

Has the redistributive effect of social transfers and taxes changed over time across countries?

In most Member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation Development (OECD), the income gap between rich and poor has widened over the past decades. This article analyses whether and to what extent income taxes and social transfers have contributed to this trend. Has the redistributive impact of different social programmes changed over time? We use microdata from the LIS Cross National Data Center in Luxembourg for the period 1982–2014 and study both the total population and the working‐age population. In contrast to the results of some other studies, especially by the OECD, we do not find that redistribution has declined. Tax‐benefit systems around 2013 are more effective at reducing income inequality compared to the mid‐1980s and the mid‐1990s, especially among the total population. Changes in social programmes are not a driver of greater income inequality across the countries included in this study.     

Changing preferences towards redistribution: How deliberation shapes welfare attitudes

The article departs from the argument that research on welfare attitudes is, so far, dominated by large‐scale survey‐studies, which allow for generalizable insights into citizens' preferences and evaluations, but are necessarily limited in their ability to capture the dynamic and contextual aspects of attitude formation. In order to broaden the horizon of welfare attitudes' research, this article introduces a new qualitative method, namely deliberative forums. In these large group discussions—originally developed for participatory decision‐making—attitudes, opinions, and preferences are core aspects of the deliberation process, and the article argues that by observing deliberation, we can observe attitude construction “in vivo ”. The evidence from a two‐day German deliberation event illustrates in an exploratory manner how information, reasoning, and group processes can influence people's evaluations and expressed policy preferences with regard to redistribution. By linking participants' answers from a survey before and after the event to their statements during the discussions, the article not only shows that the preferences for redistribution people expressed in the survey answers are often higher after the deliberative event, but also seeks to make sense of attitudinal dynamics on the basis of the qualitative material by pointing towards the role of information, reasoning, and group processes.     

Income redistribution in 20 countries over time

In most OECD countries, the gap between rich and poor has widened over the past decades. The present study analysed whether and to what extent direct taxes and social transfers contribute to this trend. The study contributes to the literature by disentangling several parts of fiscal redistribution in a comparative setting. We used micro‐data from the Luxembourg Income Study to examine household market inequality and redistribution from transfers and taxes for 20 countries from the mid‐1980s to the mid‐2000s. The contribution of each programme was estimated using a sequential accounting budget incidence decomposition technique. We observed a sizeable increase in primary household inequality, but tax‐benefit systems have offset two thirds of the average increase in primary income inequality. The public old‐age pensions attributed 60 per cent to the increase in redistribution, while social assistance accounted for 20 per cent. Direct taxes slowed down redistribution by 16 per cent.     

The redistributive effect of public and private social programmes: A cross‐country empirical analysis

A function of many national social protection systems is to substantially redistribute income. However, the size and nature of social protection programmes are changing. In a number of countries there has been a shift from public towards private social protection arrangements, with the latter substituting for, or complementing, public programmes. Developing earlier work, this present article analyses the redistributive impact on income of public versus private social protection programmes. Using recent data from the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, we find a strong positive relationship between public social expenditures and income redistribution across countries. For private social expenditures, we find a weak, but statistically significant, negative relationship with the level of redistribution. In countries where a larger share of total social expenditure is accorded to private arrangements there is less income redistribution. We conclude that the choice between the relative weight of public and private provision of social protection affects the redistributive impact of the welfare state.     

社会资本与不平等的再生产：以农民工与城市职工的收入差距为例

本文以农民工与城市职工收入差距研究为切入点,探讨社会资本对收入不平等的影响路径及其程度。通过分析中国8城市的调查数据,运用收入分解方法,考察社会资本影响农民工与城市职工收入差异的两条路径,即进入职业的机会差异和职业内的收入差异。研究结果表明,户籍制度和交往同质性原则导致农民工（相比城市职工）在社会资本存量方面更加欠缺,难以进入收入高的职业,且职业内的讨价还价能力也很有限。两种路径差异的综合,是导致农民工收入较低的重要社会原因,因此,社会资本是维持和固化社会不平等的微观机制。     

The distributive impact of private pensions in the context of the institutional designs of public pension systems across OECD countries

Income inequality has been increasing across the developed world for the last few decades. The welfare state has played an important role in reducing income inequality, but it has now entered into an era of transformation. The shift from public to private pension schemes is one of the main policy instruments in this shift. An increase in private pensions is expected to create an increase in income inequality. Therefore, using data from OECD SOCX, this study examined how the effect of private pensions on income inequality might be changed by the institutional design of public pension systems. The results suggest that the effect of private pensions differs when the institutional design of the public pension system is considered. An increase in private pensions is related to an increase in income inequality when the public pension has a low level of coverage and a high level of earnings‐relatedness.     

The Racial Structure of Economic Inequality in the United States: Understanding Change and Continuity in an Era of “Great Divergence”*

The “great divergence” of America's rich from its middle class and poor has led some observers to see a country increasingly stratified by income and wealth, more so than by race. In this article, the first in a two‐part series, we argue that this conclusion overlooks the persistent importance of the racial “structure” of inequality. A decomposition of income inequality between 1980 and 2010 using the Theil Index shows that inequality between racial groups accounts for a rising share of total income inequality over this period nationally and in most states. We also demonstrate that within‐state trends in the between‐race component of inequality are not fully accounted for by trends in income inequality and racial diversity per se. These findings lay the groundwork for a forthcoming companion piece in Social Science Quarterly that shows that between‐race inequality is strongly linked to welfare policy outcomes in the United States.     

Testing the affluence hypothesis: A cross-cultural analysis of the determinants of environmental action

This paper tests empirically the “affluence hypothesis” that states that the level of national income per capita influences the level of environmental concern expressed by the population. The hypothesis is tested in cross-sectional analyses of five aggregate variables measuring involvement in environmental protection. These variables are derived from answers to the World Values Survey (third wave). The interdisciplinary literature on the emergence of environmental awareness suggests that, in addition to national income, levels of education, subjective well-being, population density and income inequality may positively impact national preferences regarding environmental protection. The analysis conducted in this paper shows some statistical evidence of a U-shaped relationship between GDP per capita and some measures of environmental action. Furthermore, it is found that income inequality, education, population density and subjective well-being play a role in explaining cross-cultural differences in preferences over specific environmental actions. Overall the evidence included in this paper lends qualified support to the “affluence hypothesis.” However, it also indicates that involvement in environmental protection may be stronger in poorer countries than is commonly thought.     

Standardizing the World Income Inequality Database*

Objective. Cross‐national research on the causes and consequences of income inequality has been hindered by the limitations of existing inequality data sets: greater coverage across countries and over time is available from these sources only at the cost of significantly reduced comparability across observations. The goal of the Standardized World Income Inequality Database (SWIID) is to overcome these limitations. Methods. A custom missing‐data algorithm was used to standardize the U.N. University's World Income Inequality Database; data collected by the Luxembourg Income Study served as the standard. Results. The SWIID provides comparable Gini indices of gross and net income inequality for 153 countries for as many years as possible from 1960 to the present, along with estimates of uncertainty in these statistics. Conclusions. By maximizing comparability for the largest possible sample of countries and years, the SWIID is better suited to broad cross‐national research on income inequality than previously available sources.     

The limits of inequality: Public support for social policy across rich democracies

Does public opinion react to inequality, and if so, how? The social harms caused by increasing inequality should cause public opinion to ramp up demand for social welfare protections. However, the public may react to inequality differently depending on institutional context. Using ISSP and WID data (1980?2006), we tested these claims. In liberal institutional contexts (mostly English‐speaking), increasing income inequality predicted higher support for state provision of social welfare. In coordinated and universalist contexts (mostly of Europe), increasing inequality predicted less support. Historically higher income concentration predicted less public support, providing an account of the large variation in inequality within the respective liberal and coordinated contexts. The results suggest opinions in liberal societies – especially with higher historical inequality – reached the limits of inequality, reacting negatively; whereas in coordinated/universalist societies – especially with lower historical inequality – opinions moved positively, as if desiring more inequality.     

On Inter‐ and Intra‐Individual Redistribution of the Welfare State*

Objective. The redistributive effect of the welfare state is traditionally measured by comparing the gross and net distribution of annual income among adults. This standard approach does not account for the fact that a large share of the taxes paid by adults are paid back to the very same individuals later in life. The objective of this article is to examine the factors that determine the difference between redistribution according to the standard approach and redistribution of lifetime incomes. I also discuss under what circumstances intra‐individual redistribution is beneficial for low‐income earners. Methods. A formal model of a simple welfare state in a society with low‐ and high‐income earners is used to describe inequality of gross and net income among adults and for complete lifetime incomes. The model is calibrated with data describing the Swedish welfare state. Results. Theoretically, the redistribution of lifetime income can be bigger or smaller than the redistribution indicated by the standard approach. Swedish data suggest that most welfare states are more redistributive when a lifetime perspective is used compared to the standard approach. Conclusions. Most of the redistribution carried out by modern welfare states is so‐called intra‐individual redistribution. Compared to the situation that would arise without the welfare state, intra‐individual redistribution is likely to be favorable for low‐income earners because it compensates for inequalities in the distribution of assets and access to capital markets.     

Trends of Income Inequality Among the Elderly in Korea

This study investigates the overall trend of inequality among the elderly in Korea and to examine what the most influential factor is for these changes. Although inequality among the elderly is far greater than it is for any other group, little attention has been given to how inequality changes over time. Used are data from the Urban Household Survey with five‐year intervals from 1986 to 2006. The results show that inequality within a cohort increases over time and that earnings and benefits from occupational retirement plans are the most influential factors on overall inequality changes. In addition, the impact of public transfers has gradually increased during the past twenty years. The results imply that our society needs to enact a social policy for lessening earnings inequality in the labor market and to increase public transfers for the elderly.     

Public/Private Pension Mix,Income Inequality and Poverty among the Elderly in Europe: An Empirical Analysis Using New and Revised OECD Data

Prior studies have suggested that higher public pensions are associated with lower income inequality among the elderly, whereas the reverse is true for private pensions. Van Vliet et al. ( 2012 ) empirically test whether relative shifts from public to private pension schemes entail higher levels of income inequality among the elderly using panel data from the OECD SOCX and the EU‐SILC databases. Contrasting earlier empirical studies using either cross‐sectional or time‐series data, they do not find evidence that shifts from public to private pension provision are associated with higher levels of income inequality or poverty among the elderly. The aim of the current article is to extend the analysis of Van Vliet et al. by: (1) adding additional countries; (2) adding additionally available years; and (3) using revised OECD SOCX data. In contrast to Van Vliet et al., we find that a greater relative importance of private pensions is associated with higher levels of income inequality and poverty among the elderly. A central explanation of the difference in conclusions stems from the revision of OECD SOCX data.     

Within‐ and between‐individual variation in fathers’ emotional expressivity in Chinese families: Contributions of children’s emotional expressivity and fathers’ emotion‐related beliefs and perceptions

Parental emotion socialization is a dynamic process encompassing moment‐to‐moment fluctuations in parents’ emotional displays and responsiveness. This study attempted to examine the within‐ and between‐individual variation in fathers’ emotional expressivity during a real‐time father–child interaction in Chinese families. Eighty‐five children (M_age = 7.58 years, SD = 0.50 years, 47.1% boys) from east China and their biological fathers participated in the study. Fathers’ and children’s emotional expressivity were observed during a problem‐solving interaction task. Fathers’ beliefs about children’s negative emotions and fathers’ perceptions of their children’s emotion regulation ability were assessed via self‐report questionnaires. Results showed that (1) At the within‐individual level, fathers’ and children’s emotional expressivity covariated with each other in concurrent intervals when controlling for their emotional expressivity in previous intervals; fathers’ emotional expressivity gradually became less positive over time whereas children’s emotional expressivity did not change significantly over time; (2) At the between‐individual level, fathers’ perceptions of children’s emotion regulation accounted for the between‐individual variance in the dynamics of fathers’ emotional expressivity. These findings chart the dynamics of paternal emotion expressivity during father–child interactions and shed light on the relevant roles of children’s emotional expressivity and fathers’ emotion‐related beliefs and perceptions.     

市场转型与职业性别垂直隔离

在社会学研究中,把男女劳动者进入不同职业称之为职业性别的水平隔离,而男女劳动者在同一类职业中从事地位不同的工作,则是职业性别的垂直隔离。本文关注中国市场转型过程中职业性别垂直隔离的趋势。笔者从2009年八大城市调查数据发现：即使在没有性别水平隔离的中性职业中,也同样存在着性别垂直隔离,且市场转型加剧了职业性别垂直隔离程度。     

The redistributive effect of social transfer programmes and taxes: A decomposition across countries

The aim of this article is to offer detailed information of the redistributive impact of social transfer programmes and taxes in 28 Member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, employing data that have been computed from the Luxembourg Income Study's micro‐level database. We find that welfare states on average reduce inequality by 35 per cent. Social benefits have a much stronger redistributive impact than taxes. As far as social programmes are concerned, public pensions account for the largest reduction in income inequality, although the pattern is diverse across countries. To a lesser extent, social assistance, disability and family benefits also contribute to smaller income disparities.     

Women's Wages: Cohort Differences in Returns to Education and Training Over Time*

Objective. This article examines the effects of education and work‐related training on wage‐growth trajectories for two cohorts of women as they aged from their early 20s and 30s into their early 30 s and 40 s. I test whether occupational training compensates for an earlier lack of education, thereby decreasing earnings inequality over time within cohorts. Because the broader economic context may influence the relationship between wages, education, and training, I test the assumption that the experiences of a given cohort may be generalized to others. Methods. Following NLS Young Women between 1977 and 1987 and NLSY79 Women between 1988 and 1998, growth‐curve analyses test whether returns to investments in human capital vary over time, across and within cohorts. Results. Women who did not update their skills over time experienced stagnation or declines in real wages, leading to growing wage inequality within education levels. However, women without a high school degree who engaged in on‐the‐job training experienced the greatest returns to training, thus reducing the initial education‐based wage gap. Conclusion. Education and training in adulthood can deflect the accumulation of disadvantage, but can also solidify an already uneven distribution of resources across social strata.