A collection of articles examined the record of the coalition government (mid-way through its term) on issues of income inequality. Despite early suggestions that inequality would be a high priority, the government's record had been mixed.
Source: The Coalition Government and Income Inequality: The half term report, One Society
Links: New Statesman report
Date: 2012-Dec
In 2011, 119.6 million people, or 24.2 per cent of the EU population, were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, compared with 23.4 per cent in 2010 and 23.5 per cent in 2008. This meant that they were at least one of the following: at risk of poverty, severely materially deprived, or living in households with very low work intensity.
Source: Press release 3 December 2012, Eurostat (European Union)
Links: Eurostat press release
Date: 2012-Dec
An article examined the impact on relative income poverty of moving towards the Europe 2020 target of having 75 per cent of the working-age population in work. It was found that employment growth did not necessarily result in lower relative poverty shares – a result that was largely consistent with observed outcomes over the previous decade.
Source: Ive Marx, Pieter Vandenbroucke, and Gerlinde Verbist, 'Can higher employment levels bring down relative income poverty in the EU? Regression-based simulations of the Europe 2020 target', Journal of European Social Policy, Volume 22 Number 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Dec
A think-tank report said that rich, powerful, and well connected groups were depriving the country of at least £750 billion in potential investment and costing the government £170 billion in annual revenues. The 'strikers' were the big corporations that were sitting on huge cash reserves that they refused to invest. The 'scroungers' were the private landlords and multinational house-builders that exploited the housing benefit system. The 'shirkers' were the tax dodgers – the big corporations and rich individuals who refused to pay their fair share and evaded or avoided their duty to their neighbours and the country.
Source: Shuvo Loha, Strikers, Scroungers and Shirkers: The people really holding Britain back and not paying their way, Compass
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Dec
An article examined whether public support for redistribution in European countries was affected by the number of people experiencing economic strain in a country. Individuals reporting economic strain were found to support redistribution more strongly than those who did not experience economic strain. Further, individuals living in countries where many other people reported economic strain also supported redistribution more strongly than individuals living in countries with less economic strain. The results indicated that governments would receive more rather than less public support for redistributive policies during periods of economic strain.
Source: Morten Blekesaune, 'Economic strain and public support for redistribution: a comparative analysis of 28 European countries', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 42 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Dec
A paper examined the determinants of preferences for redistribution in 33 European countries over the period 2002–2010. Income inequality affected positively the individual demand for redistribution, and the actual level of redistribution implemented in a country decreased support for more redistribution. Increases in income inequality over time raised the demand for redistribution.
Source: Javier Olivera, Preferences for Redistribution in Europe, WP2012/25, Geary Institute (University College Dublin)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Dec
An article examined how some key life chances had changed over the previous century, focusing on inequalities in critical outcomes between different groups that had been defined geographically (including income and wealth, mortality, education, and employment).
Source: Danny Dorling, 'Fairness and the changing fortunes of people in Britain', Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A, Volume 176 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Dec
A new book examined poverty in Europe. It said that a 'non-negligible' proportion of inhabitants lived in impoverished conditions – 'albeit mainly relative poverty' – and were denied their rights. The economic and financial crisis had resulted in the loss of millions of jobs, and created job insecurity for many still working. Economic insecurity raised social tensions, for example aggravating xenophobia. But the economic and financial crisis could present a good opportunity to rethink the economic and social system as a whole.
Source: Redefining and Combating Poverty: Human rights, democracy and common goods in today's Europe, Council of Europe
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Dec
A paper examined the interrelationships in European Union countries between work, social redistribution, and poverty. It considered how contemporary European welfare states had responded to change, and the emergence of the European social agenda and its underlying 'social investment paradigm'. Most of the 'old' EU states had not succeeded in closing the 'virtuous circle' of growth, employment, and social inclusion as put forward under the Lisbon strategy. The social investment paradigm had led to an overestimate of the potential of activation and developmental strategies, and an underestimate of the importance of redistribution, social protection, and care for the most vulnerable groups.
Source: Bea Cantillon, Virtuous Cycles or Vicious Circles? The need for an EU agenda on protection, social distribution and investment, Discussion Paper 52, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Dec
A think-tank report said that the poverty lobby focused excessively on government benefits as the solution to poverty, and very rarely addressed government interventions that raised living costs. For example, incomes before housing costs for the least well off had doubled over the previous 50 years, whereas incomes after housing costs had risen by only 60 per cent: the poverty lobby's response was to propose extending housing benefit, rather than liberalizing the planning system (which could reduce housing costs by around 40 per cent). A similar situation existed in the case of the cost of food, energy, and childcare. A market-oriented anti-poverty policy that tackled these problems could leave families up to £750 per month better off. The government's much-trumpeted 'universal credit', on the other hand, would have little, if any, impact.
Source: Kristian Niemietz, Redefining the Poverty Debate: Why a war on markets is no substitute for a war on poverty, Institute of Economic Affairs
Links: Report | Summary | IEA blog post | Daily Mail report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Dec
An article said that the increased concentration of income over the previous three decades had led to more fragile and unstable economies, making it a key cause of the 2008 global economic crash and of the subsequent lack of recovery. Models of capitalism that failed to share the proceeds of growth more evenly would eventually self-destruct. More equal societies had softer business cycles. In contrast, more unequal economies were associated with more extreme cycles, with exaggerated booms, deeper falls, and extended troughs. The scale of inequality was not just an issue about fairness and proportionality: it was integral to economic health.
Source: Stewart Lansley, 'Inequality, the crash and the ongoing crisis', Political Quarterly, Volume 83 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Dec
A report reviewed the 'social exclusion' and 'social justice' strategies of the Labour (1997-2010) and coalition governments with a particular focus on outcomes for people facing multiple disadvantage. The weaknesses of previous approaches to tackling social disadvantage had been exposed by the public spending squeeze – the social exclusion agenda in particular relied too heavily on large, one-off investments and levels of marginal spending that were unlikely to be so high again. Disadvantaged groups continued to be excluded from the decision-making processes that shaped their lives, including their care, how services were delivered, and public and political forums. A combination of hardening public attitudes towards the poorest in society and the political battle over the centre-ground meant that the most disadvantaged groups were likely to continue to miss out in terms of the quality of support that they received from public services.
Source: Clare McNeil, The Politics of Disadvantage: New Labour, social exclusion and post-crash Britain, LankellyChase Foundation
Links: Report | LCF press release
>Date: 2012-Dec
A report summarized the main findings by independent experts of the extent to which measures outlined in national reform programmes (NRPs) and national social reports (NSRs) were likely to ensure progress towards the social inclusion objectives in the Europe 2020 strategy for inclusive growth. It also put forward suggestions for strengthening the social inclusion dimension of the NRP process in future.
Source: Hugh Frazer and Eric Marlier, Assessment of Progress towards the Europe 2020 Social Inclusion Objectives, European Commission
Links: Report | European Commission press release
Date: 2012-Dec
A paper compared the level, composition, and distribution of household wealth in five industrial countries: the United Kingdom, United States of America, Italy, Finland, and Sweden. Increases in owner-occupation and house prices in the UK over the period 2000–2005 had led to substantial increases in wealth, particularly median wealth holdings: this had led to falls in relative measures of wealth inequality such as the Gini coefficient, even though absolute gaps between high- and low-wealth households had grown substantially. There were underlying country differences in terms of distributions of age, household composition, educational attainment, and income, as well as wealth and debt portfolios. Educational loans were increasing in their size and prevalence in some countries and looked set to create some marked differences in the distribution of wealth for different age cohorts.
Source: Frank Cowell, Eleni Karagiannaki, and Abigail McKnight, Mapping and Measuring the Distribution of Household Wealth: A cross-country analysis, LWS Working Paper 12, Luxembourg Income Study
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Nov
An annual monitoring report highlighted the links between poverty and job insecurity. 6.1 million people were living in households that were in poverty despite having one or more earners. Underemployment – the number of people lacking the paid work they wanted – stood at 6.5 million. 1.4 million people were working part time but wanted full-time work – up by 500,000 since 2009. 3.3 million families with one or more earners received working tax credit – up 50 per cent since 2003. 4.4 million jobs paid less than £7 per hour. Almost 5 million people had claimed jobseeker's allowance (JSA) at least once in the previous two years (around 1 in 6 of economically active people). The turnover of people moving on and off JSA was substantial: 42 per cent of claims were made within six months of the previous claim. Although 18 per cent of people were on a low income at any one time, 33 per cent experienced at least one period of low income in a four-year period, and 11 per cent were on a low income for more than half of that time.
Source: Hannah Aldridge, Peter Kenway, Tom MacInnes, and Anushree Parekh, Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion 2012, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report | Summary | JRF press release | NPI blog post | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Nov
A new book examined minimum income protection policies in Europe and the United States of America.
Source: Ive Marx and Kenneth Nelson (eds), Minimum Income Protection in Flux, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Nov
An article examined inequality of opportunity in 23 European countries in 2005.
Source: Gustavo Marrero and Juan Gabriel Rodriguez, 'Inequality of opportunity in Europe', Review of Income and Wealth, Volume 58 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Nov
A think-tank report said that poverty was not just about income: it was a complex, multi-dimensional phenomenon. The way poverty was currently measured, based purely on income, was both too abstract to relate to people's everyday lives and not informative enough to help practitioners tackle entrenched poverty. The report developed a model designed to show how poverty manifested itself in different ways in different households. It identified 20 'indicators' of poverty, from housing, health, and education to employment and family support. Combinations of these indicators created 15 different 'types' of poverty across three cohorts – providing a basis for a more nuanced, tailored approach to tackling poverty on the ground.
Source: Claudia Wood, Jo Salter, Gareth Morrell, Matt Barnes, Ally Paget, and Duncan O Leary, Poverty in Perspective, Demos
Links: Report | Summary | Demos blog post | Inside Housing report
Date: 2012-Nov
An article examined the coalition government's fairness strategy. Although continuing to pay lip service to the goal of ending child poverty, the government was seeking to redefine the problem, away from a narrow focus on relative low income. Far from offering a 'step change' in provision, the coalition would struggle to make any positive progress on tackling poverty and improving the relative life chances of disadvantaged children.
Source: Louise Bamfield, 'Child poverty and social mobility: taking the measure of the coalition's "new approach"', Political Quarterly, Volume 83 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Nov
A briefing paper provided an overview of European Union policies and approaches towards active inclusion and social innovation. It suggested enhancing the Commission's active inclusion strategy with a 'learning society' approach, and strengthening integration between different strategy strands.
Source: Adeline Otto and Elsa Laino, Facing New Challenges: Promoting active inclusion through social innovation, SOLIDAR
Links: Briefing
Date: 2012-Nov
An article examined the macroeconomic and institutional determinants of inequality and poverty in the European Union over the period 1994 2008. Social transfers in cash, and principally the transfers that did not include pensions, exerted a prominent impact on inequality and poverty. The impact of employment on inequality and poverty was not empirically sound. The same held for the labour market institutions: an exception was union density, which appeared conducive to a less dispersed personal income distribution. The results supported the view that the social protection system acted as a catalyst in determining the effectiveness of social spending and the distributive role of economic growth and employment.
Source: Yannis Dafermos and Christos Papatheodorou, 'What drives inequality and poverty in the EU? Exploring the impact of macroeconomic and institutional factors', International Review of Applied Economics, Volume 27 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Nov
A paper examined trends in minimum income guarantees for able-bodied persons of working age in Europe and three American states. The broad picture was one of eroding benefit levels relative to the general living standard. In the 1990s benefit levels had declined almost everywhere, although the decline had been less uniform since then. In the countries where benefits had kept pace with average wages or median equivalent income, this was generally because governments (consciously) increased benefits over and above the growth in average living standards.
Source: Natascha Van Mechelen and Sarah Marchal, Struggle for Life: Social assistance benefits, 1992–2009, Discussion Paper 55, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Nov
A report said that public social spending had increased to 22 per cent of national income on average across developed (OECD) countries in 2012, up from 19 per cent in 2007. This was due to increased government expenditure on social supports (such as unemployment and income support benefits) combined with stagnating or declining national income in many countries. The United Kingdom, along with Ireland, spent the most on family benefits, at around 4.2 per cent of national income.
Source: Social Spending after the Crisis, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Report | OECD press release
Date: 2012-Nov
A trade union report examined the potential impact of public spending cuts (excluding cuts in benefits and tax credits) on different family and household types. Families with children were at risk of the greatest cuts in services. A single-earner household with children was set to lose over £6,100 per year by 2016-17 (equivalent to around 11 per cent of average income for a household of this type), and workless couple households with children were set to lose over £8,700 over the same period (around 28 per cent of average income for a household of this type). Although those out of work were set to lose more than those in work, the cash impacts for families with children were far worse than for households without them, whether they were in or out of employment.
Source: Families First: Who loses most from cuts in public services, Trades Union Congress
Links: Report | TUC press release
Date: 2012-Nov
A paper examined the relationship between economic and political conditions and support for democracy in developed countries. Support for democracy tended to be highest in countries with a high level of economic development: but income inequality mattered much more. Citizens from countries with relatively low levels of income inequality tended to be more likely than others to support democracy. Household income was positively related to support for democracy in most countries: but the effect was strongest if economic development was high and income inequality was low.
Source: Robert Andersen, Support for Democracy in Cross-National Perspective: The detrimental effect of economic inequality, Discussion Paper 47, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
See also: Robert Andersen, 'Support for democracy in cross-national perspective: the detrimental effect of economic inequality', Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Volume 30 Issue 4
Date: 2012-Nov
An article examined the evolution of different economies in which redistributive policies, perception of fairness, inequality and growth were jointly determined. Including beliefs about fairness could keep two otherwise identical countries on different development paths for a very long time. Different initial conditions regarding the 'fairness' of the same level of inequality could lead to two permanently different steady states. The authors also explored how bequest taxation could be an efficient way of redistributing wealth to correct 'unfair' past accumulation of inequality.
Source: Alberto Alesina, Guido Cozzi, and Noemi Mantovan, 'The evolution of ideology, fairness and redistribution', Economic Journal, Volume 122 Issue 565
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Nov
A paper examined the relationship between business cycles and inequality in developed (OECD) countries. At the business cycle frequencies, income inequality was counter-cyclical, whereas consumption inequality was pro-cyclical. There was a stronger correlation of the business cycle with inequality in hours of work than in hourly wages. There was 'considerable evidence' of a two-way causal relationship between macroeconomic variables and inequality at the business cycle frequencies.
Source: Virginia Maestri and Andrea Roventini, Stylized Facts on Business Cycles and Inequality, Discussion Paper 30, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Nov
A new book critically examined the pledge made by the coalition government in 2010 that it would deliver not just austerity but also fairness. It exposed the interests behind the policy programme pursued, and their damaging effects on class inequalities. Topics covered included education, family policy, community, crime, and consumption.
Source: Will Atkinson, Steven Roberts, and Mike Savage (eds), Class Inequality in Austerity Britain: Power, difference and suffering, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Oct
A paper examined improved measures of material deprivation (MD) in European Union countries. It focused on an ad hoc MD module that was included in the 2009 wave of EU-SILC, in order to help prepare the required revision of the MD variables by 2015. These analyses included a detailed assessment of the dimensional structure of the whole set of 50 MD items from the 2009 wave of EU-SILC as well as their suitability, validity, reliability, and additivity. The aggregation of MD items was also analyzed, and robust MD indicators for the whole population and for children were proposed.
Source: Anne-Catherine Guio, David Gordon, and Eric Marlier, Measuring Material Deprivation in the EU: Indicators for the whole population and child-specific indicators – 2012 edition, Eurostat (European Union)
Links: Paper
Notes: EU-SILC = European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. The concept of MD is based on the affordability of a selection of items (goods or services) that are considered to be necessary or desirable for people to have an 'acceptable' standard of living in the country where they live.
Date: 2012-Oct
The coalition government published a framework for implementing its social justice strategy. It said that the indicators within the framework were not a set of targets, but were designed to highlight priorities, and to identify where good progress was being made and where more work needed to be done. The framework was divided into five areas: supporting families; keeping young people on track; the importance of work; supporting the most disadvantaged adults; and delivering social justice. The proportion of children living with the same parents from birth would be one of the main indicators of the success of government policy.
Source: Social Justice Outcomes Framework, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Framework | Speech | Gingerbread press release | Daily Mail report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Oct
A report summarized the findings of a European research project that considered the impacts of inequalities in education and income/wealth on political and cultural outcomes. The growth in inequality had been variously found to result in:
• Greater acceptance of inequality.
• No significant effect on dissatisfaction with the level of perceived inequality.
• A reduction in all forms of political, civic, social, and cultural participation.
• Stronger support for redistribution.
Source: Herman Van de Werfhorst, Istvan Gyorgy Toth, Daniel Horn, Marton Medgyesi, Natascha Notten, Christina Haas, and Brian Burgoon, Political and Cultural Impacts of Growing Inequalities, Intermediate Work Package 5 Report, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Oct
A report examined the emerging policy implications of a European Union-funded project on poverty. Although giving more people access to work was important for a wide range of reasons, increasing the proportion of people in work did not automatically translate into less poverty and inequality. The report highlighted the key importance of adequate minimum income protection provisions for workers and non-workers alike. Adequate poverty relief did, however, require more than minimally adequate social safety nets: it required substantial social spending channelled through various programmes. Programmes exclusively or very strongly targeted at those in poverty had historically tended to be less effective in reducing poverty than expected: targeting within universalism broadly appeared to be the model to aim for. The best performers among the European countries in terms of economic, employment, social cohesion, and equality outcomes had one thing in common – a large welfare state that sought to do several things at the same time, investing in people, stimulating and supporting them to be active, and also adequately protecting them and their children when everything else failed.
Source: Ive Marx and Tim Van Rie, Policy Analysis, Intermediate Work Package 6 Report, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Oct
A think-tank report said that the previous 30 years had seen an increasing proportion of households becoming overall net recipients of the state – to the point where, in 2010-11, 53.4 per cent received more in benefits than they paid in taxes. Over this period, even middle-income households had moved from being significant net contributors to significant net recipients. These trends raised the issue of whether the 'safety net' provided by the welfare state had been extended too far up the income scale; and whether this level of transfer was affordable in either the short or the medium term, particularly given the budget deficit.
Source: Ryan Bourne, The Progressivity of UK Taxes and Transfers, Centre for Policy Studies
Links: Report | Full Fact commentary
Date: 2012-Oct
An article said that promoting social protection in Europe as part of a social investment approach was an excellent means of reconciling the objectives of equal opportunity over the life cycle, sustained economic performance, and strengthened social cohesion. It emphasized the need to promote universal and individual rights to mobility and lifelong training, which would constitute new social guarantees, offsetting requirements linked to labour market flexibility. It also highlighted the importance of incorporating these rights throughout the European Union as part of a wider social protection floor. This would offer permanent protection against the risk of exclusion, promote the economic and social integration sought since the revised Lisbon Strategy, and create confidence and hope among Europe's citizens.
Source: Chantal Euzeby, 'Social protection to achieve sustainable inclusion: a European imperative in the current economic crisis', International Social Security Review, Volume 65 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Oct
A paper provided an approach to poverty measurement that relied on the interpretation of poverty as a welfare loss. It introduced the notion of 'distributive impact of poverty' (a measure of the poverty loss due to inequality among people in poverty). A welfare inequality measure could be expressed as the sum of the average individual welfare poverty plus the distributive impact of poverty. The author illustrated this approach in relation to educational poverty in developed (OECD) countries.
Source: Antonio Villar, Welfare-Poverty measurement, Working Paper ECON 12.02, Pablo de Olavide University. Seville (Spain)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Oct
A report summarized the findings of a European research project that considered the drivers of growing inequalities in education, income, and wealth. The main drivers of growing income inequalities were identified as: globalization; skill-biased technical change; labour market reforms; changes in household structure and assortative mating; the increasing importance of capital earnings; and changes in taxation and transfers.
Source: Gabriele Ballarino, Francesco Bogliacino, Michela Braga, Massimiliano Bratti, Daniele Checchi, Antonio Filippin, Virginia Maestri, Elena Meschi, and Francesco Scervini, Drivers of Growing Inequalities, Intermediate Work Package 3 Report, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Oct
A report examined the key channels of influence and causal relationships through which the social impacts of inequality could potentially arise, drawing on a large-scale European research project. It focused on five areas: poverty, deprivation, and social 'risks'; gender, the family, and fertility; health and health inequalities; wealth, inter-generational transmission, and housing; and social cohesion and well-being. It highlighted the perpetual character of many forms of social disadvantage, whereby the impact of past inequalities could themselves lead to future inequalities both for the individuals concerned but also for their children.
Source: Abigail McKnight and Brian Nolan, Social Impacts of Inequalities, Intermediate Work Package 4 Report, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Oct
A think-tank report set out the case for making the fight against inequality a higher political priority. It drew on evidence contained in the book The Spirit Level to argue that most social problems were worse in more unequal societies, and that inequality lay at their root. In addition, inequality had had a significant role in the global economic crisis: the pursuit of equality was not just a moral and social imperative, it was also necessary for a stable economy.
Source: My Fair London Group, Why Equality Matters, Centre for Labour and Social Studies
Links: Report | CLASS press release
See also: Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, The Spirit Level: Why Equality Is Better for Everyone, Penguin
Date: 2012-Sep
The equality and human rights watchdog in Scotland published a rapid review of place-based policies and equality, highlighting their relevance for Scotland. Policies that were aimed at tackling poverty in the most deprived areas did not always benefit the poorest people, particularly those in minority communities. Although many of those experiencing the greatest poverty did live in the poorest areas, some did not. This meant that policies that targeted particular areas, or 'place-based policies', did not always benefit everyone equally.
Source: Peter Matthews, Gina Netto, and Kirsten Besemer, 'Hard-to-Reach' or 'Easy-to-Ignore'? A rapid review of place-based policies and equality, Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland
Links: Report | EHRC press release
Date: 2012-Sep
A study found that a rise in the profit share of national income in advanced economies was linked to a rise in inequality of incomes and in poverty. Policies targeting liberalization, deregulation, and in general the slow erosion of the welfare state, were the major factors explaining the observed trends.
Source: Olivier Giovannoni, Functional Distribution of Income, Inequality and the Incidence of Poverty: Stylized facts and the role of macroeconomic policy, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Sep
The opposition Labour Party leader said that a new agenda was needed on the distribution of income. Society needed to care about 'predistribution' as well as redistribution. It was not acceptable to be stuck with permanently being a low-wage economy: the aim should be to transform the economy so that it was based on high skills and high wages. Centre-left governments of the past had tried to make work pay better by spending more on transfer payments: in future they would have to also 'make work pay better by making work itself pay'.
Source: Speech by Ed Miliband MP (Labour Party leader), 6 September 2012
Links: Speech | BBC report | Independent report | New Statesman report
Date: 2012-Sep
An article examined the evolution of inequality in well-being across European Union countries between 1994 and 2001. It focused on the effect of both the dispersion of well-being attributes across individuals and the interaction among attributes on the measurement of multi-dimensional well-being.
Source: Elisabetta Croci Angelini and Alessandra Michelangeli, 'Axiomatic measurement of multidimensional well-being inequality: some distributional questions', Journal of Socio-Economics, Volume 41 Issue 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Sep
An article examined voting on redistribution between two income classes. The effect of inequality aversion was asymmetric. Inequality aversion was more likely to matter if the 'rich' were in majority. With a 'poor' majority, redistribution outcomes looked as if all voters were exclusively motivated by self-interest.
Source: Wolfgang Hochtl, Rupert Sausgruber, and Jean-Robert Tyran, 'Inequality aversion and voting on redistribution', European Economic Review, Volume 56 Issue 7
Date: 2012-Aug
A paper compared the structural features of home-ownership systems in 15 European Union countries (home-ownership rates, mortgages, and public subsidization) with data on inequalities in outcomes (variations in home-ownership access, risks, and standards between income groups). Elements of both convergence and divergence were evident in western European home-ownership systems. The comparative housing literature had largely failed to capture the key inter-country cleavages in home-ownership systems between the northern and southern countries.
Source: Michelle Norris and Nessa Winston, Home-Ownership, Housing Regimes and Income Inequalities in Western Europe, Discussion Paper 42, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
See also: Michelle Norris and Nessa Winston, 'Home-ownership, housing regimes and income inequalities in western Europe', International Journal of Social Welfare, Volume 21 Issue 2
Date: 2012-Aug
A briefing paper examined how income inequality contributed to the outbreak of widespread social unrest in English cities in the summer of 2011. The evidence showed that income inequality negatively affected children and parents, personal resilience, and hopes and dreams; drove consumerism; and increased violent crime and excessive force by police. In order to prevent future unrest action should be taken to promote a less unequal society, with high levels of trust and strong communities.
Source: Inequality and the 2011 England Riots, Research Digest 5, Equality Trust
Links: Briefing
Date: 2012-Aug
An article said that the coalition government's cut-backs and restructuring of the welfare state implied considerable risks for citizens and for the economy. Any viable alternative programme needed to be eclectic, and to accept that some parts of a good welfare state could not be justified on practical economic or human capital grounds: they needed to be included because they were good in themselves.
Source: Peter Taylor-Gooby, 'Overview: resisting welfare state restructuring in the UK', Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, Volume 20 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Aug
An article said that successful proposals to combat social security cuts needed to: lead to reductions in poverty/inequality; fit existing perceptions of claimant 'deservingness'; and change deservingness perceptions in the long run. Three influential recent proposals – 'Decent Childhoods', 'National Salary Insurance', and 'The Solidarity Society' – were only partially successful in meeting these criteria, and successful reform required a fusion of the respective insights of each proposal.
Source: Ben Baumberg, 'Three ways to defend social security in Britain', Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, Volume 20 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Aug
A paper examined recent changes in income inequality, focusing on why it had risen very rapidly over the period 1978–1991 but remained relatively flat thereafter. Inequality in employment and self-employment income among economically active people had grown both before and after 1991: but since 1991 a number of factors had mitigated the effect of this on inequality in total income. These factors included a fall in the number of unemployed people, a rise in employment taxes, less inequality in investment income, and a rise in the relative incomes of pensioners and households with children under 5.
Source: Mike Brewer and Liam Wren-Lewis, Accounting for Changes in Income Inequality: Decomposition analyses for Great Britain, 1968–2009, Working Paper 2012-17, Institute for Social and Economic Research (University of Essex)
Links: Working paper
Date: 2012-Aug
A report said that a significant majority of people prioritized an equal and just society with strong values of equality as a goal, and that this proportion was slowly increasing – although it remained slightly lower than the European Union average. The evidence was unable to indicate a specific government effect on attitude change.
Source: Changing Attitudes to Equality: Key findings, Government Equalities Office
Date: 2012-Aug
A paper examined the impact of welfare services, as opposed to cash benefits, on inequality and poverty in European Union countries. Compulsory education and healthcare both reduced inequality and poverty when compared with a hypothetical situation without these publicly provided services. But cash transfers were more pro-poor than in-kind benefits in most countries.
Source: Gerlinde Verbist and Manos Matsaganis, The Redistributive Capacity of Services in the EU, Discussion Paper 53, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Aug
An article examined whether welfare states were in terminal decline in the face of a new 'austerity consensus'.
Source: Kevin Farnsworth and Zoe Irving, 'Varieties of crisis, varieties of austerity: social policy in challenging times', Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, Volume 20 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Aug
A paper examined the relationship between economic inequality – at both individual and national level – and attitudes toward income inequality in 20 developed capitalist societies. Experience of economic inequality had an enduring effect on attitudes. Specifically, respondents' own social class and their father's social class were both significantly related to attitudes, with working-class individuals tending to be more egalitarian in their views than others. But attitudes were unrelated to experience of social mobility per se. As income inequality rose, people of all classes tended to have less egalitarian views. No evidence was found that economic development or equality of opportunity influenced public opinion on what was considered fair income differences.
Source: Robert Andersen and Meir Yaish, Public Opinion on Income Inequality in 20 Democracies: The enduring impact of social class and economic inequality, Discussion Paper 48, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Aug
A paper examined the relationship between income inequality and solidarity (willingness to contribute to the welfare of other people) among Europeans. In more unequal countries people were less willing to take action to improve the living conditions of their fellows. This was true for respondents living in both low- and high-income households. Feelings of solidarity seemed to be influenced more strongly by affective, rather than by calculating, considerations.
Source: Marii Paskov and Caroline Dewilde, Income Inequality and Solidarity in Europe, Discussion Paper 33, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Aug
A paper examined the literature on the issue of growing inequalities in advanced countries. It associated the rise in inequality with three key developments: globalization, skill-biased technological progress, and institutional changes. The effect of these developments might differ substantially across countries and sectors, and they also interacted in the determination of inequality.
Source: Nathalie Chusseau and Michel Dumont, Growing Income Inequalities in Advanced Countries, Working Paper 2012-260, ECINEQ: Society for the Study of Economic Inequality
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Aug
An article examined the views of young people (aged 11–16) about economic inequality. Young people often felt very strongly about experiences where economic inequality was visible in consumption patterns. They interpreted economic inequality using ideas of neo-liberal meritocracy, saying that the existence of economic inequality was the fair result of different skills or effort: but at the same time they used a more egalitarian interpretation to claim that rich people and poor people were the 'same kind of people', and that luck played a great part in the different levels of wealth and possessions. This led them to argue that everyone should be treated the same and granted the same respect, regardless of whether they were rich or poor.
Source: Sarah Smart, 'Feeling uncomfortable: young people's emotional responses to neo-liberal explanations for economic inequality', Sociological Research Online, Volume 17 Issue 3
Links: Article
Date: 2012-Aug
A report examined progress on delivering poverty reduction, and other key social employment and education targets of the Europe 2020 strategy, through the 2012 National Reform Programmes and National Social Reports. It highlighted the 'serious failure' of the Europe 2020 project to promote coherent anti-poverty strategies.
Source: Sian Jones, Amana Ferro, Vincent Caron, and Tanya Basarab, An EU Worth Defending: Beyond austerity to social investment and inclusive growth, European Anti-Poverty Network
Links: Report | EAPN press release
Date: 2012-Jul
A paper examined individuals' inequality perceptions, distributional norms, and redistributive preferences in a panel of developed (OECD) countries. There was a positive correlation between these subjective measures and the effective level of inequality and redistribution. There was also evidence showing that the subjective and objective dimension of inequality and redistribution were, at least partially, linked with individuals' political preferences and their voting behaviour. The association between objective and subjective measures of inequality and redistribution vanished, however, once more fundamental country characteristics were taken into account: this suggested that these characteristics explained both redistributive preferences as well as the effective level of redistribution and inequality.
Source: Andreas Kuhn, Redistributive Preferences, Redistribution, and Inequality: Evidence from a panel of OECD countries, Discussion Paper 6721, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jul
An article examined the redistributive impact of social transfer programmes and taxes in developed (OECD) countries. Welfare states on average reduced inequality by 35 per cent. Social benefits had a much stronger redistributive impact than taxes. As far as social programmes were concerned, public pensions accounted for the largest reduction in income inequality, although the pattern was diverse across countries. Social assistance, disability, and family benefits also contributed – to a lesser extent – to smaller income disparities.
Source: Chen Wang, Koen Caminada, and Kees Goudswaard, 'The redistributive effect of social transfer programmes and taxes: a decomposition across countries', International Social Security Review, Volume 65 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
An article said that the European welfare state was in a state of crisis. The driving forces and conceptual framework that led to the growth of the European welfare state were becoming obsolete.
Source: Roland Poirier Martinsson, 'The demise of the driving forces behind the liberal and social democratic welfare state', European View, Volume 11 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
A government-appointed commission began consultation (for a second time) on whether there should be a Bill of Rights for the United Kingdom – including socio-economic rights such as adequate healthcare and housing, a right to education, a right to a minimum standard of living, and a range of other social security entitlements.
Source: A Second Consultation, Commission on a Bill of Rights
Links: Consultation document | UK Human Rights blog post | Law Gazette report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Jul
A paper examined the psychological and social mechanisms linking inequality to social cohesion and other macro-social outcomes. It considered how individuals perceived and experienced inequalities; and how these perceptions related to civic participation, tolerance, trust, and other outcomes relevant for social cohesion. It focused on inequalities as perceived and understood by young people.
Source: Christine Han, Jan Germen Janmaat, Bryony Hoskins, and Andy Green, Perceptions of Inequalities: Implications for social cohesion, LLAKES Research Paper 35, Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jul
A paper examined the role that educational improvements were expected to play as a driver of future income convergence in Europe.
Source: Jesus Crespo Cuaresma, Miroslava Havettova, and Martin Labaj, Income Convergence Prospects in Europe: Assessing the role of human capital dynamics, Working Paper 143, Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jul
A paper proposed recalibrating the European Union's socio-economic governance in line with the new priorities of Europe 2020, in order to achieve a better balance between EU and national competences for: fighting poverty and social exclusion, employing stronger legal provisions to settle minimum income requirements, and strengthening access to social services.
Source: Jerome Vignon and Bea Cantillon, Is There a Time for 'Social Europe'? Looking beyond the Lisbon Strategy paradigm, Opinion Paper 9, European Social Observatory (Brussels)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jul
An article examined how the coalition government's 2010 Green Paper and White Paper on social security reform assisted in constructing a 'discourse' about social security that favoured a renewal and deepening of neo-liberalization in the context of threats to its hegemony. The documents concerned marginalized the structural aspects of persistent unemployment and poverty by transforming these into individual pathologies of benefit dependency and worklessness. The consequence was that familiar neo-liberal policy measures favouring the intensification of punitive conditionality and economic rationality could be portrayed as new and innovative solutions to address Britain's supposedly broken society and restore economic competitiveness.
Source: Jay Wiggan, 'Telling stories of 21st century welfare: the UK coalition government and the neo-liberal discourse of worklessness and dependency', Critical Social Policy, Volume 32 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
An article offered a critical account of the 'social' in the Europe 2020 strategy, focusing on the new poverty target and the European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion. Although poverty was given a prominent place in the strategy, and the use of targets was intended to harden up member state/EU co-ordination, the poverty target was loose and risked being rendered ineffective. The social goals and philosophy of Europe 2020 were under-elaborated: it was not clear how growth would bring about the planned reduction in poverty – 'inclusive growth' had little meaning in itself. The strategy drew mainly from social investment and liberal approaches, neither of which had a strong orientation to addressing poverty.
Source: Mary Daly, 'Paradigms in EU social policy: a critical account of Europe 2020', Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, Volume 18 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
A paper examined the impact of income inequality on the values endorsed by people in developed (OECD) countries. It considered work ethic, civism, obedience, honesty, altruism, and tolerance. In most cases, no robust effects on values from inequality were detected. However, there was evidence that a more unequal income distribution strengthened the work ethic of the population. Thus, income inequality seemed to generate work incentives not only via the pecuniary reward of work but also through the symbolic reward it received.
Source: Giacomo Corneo and Frank Neher, Income Inequality and Self-Reported Values, Discussion Paper 382, Governance and the Efficiency of Economic System (c/o Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jul
A new book examined the interaction in Europe between legal instruments and policy co-ordination in the field of social inclusion and social protection.
Source: Bea Cantillon, Herwig Verschueren, and Paula Ploscar (eds), Social Inclusion and Social Protection in the EU: Interactions between law and policy, Intersentia
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jul
An article examined the link in west European countries between religious belief and opposition to income redistribution. It was found that both Catholics and Protestants were more likely to exhibit strong opposition to income redistribution by the state. The overall level of support for redistribution was lower in cases where the polarization between religious and secular groupings was greatest.
Source: Daniel Stegmueller, Peer Scheepers, Sigrid Rossteutscher, and Eelke de Jong, 'Support for redistribution in western Europe: assessing the role of religion', European Sociological Review, Volume 28 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
A new book examined the causes and consequences of economic inequality in the advanced market economies. It looked at the power structures constituting the class system: employers' power over employees; the power of certain businesses over others; professionals' power over their clients and other employees; cultural power in the media and education systems; and political power in 'democratic' government. It highlighted what was wrong with power-based inequality in terms of distributive justice and economic functionality.
Source: Eric Schutz, Inequality and Power: The economics of class, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined how social capital influenced individual preferences for income redistribution. People were more likely to express preferences for income redistribution in areas with higher rates of community participation. This was more clearly so in high-income groups than in low-income groups.
Source: Eiji Yamamura, 'Social capital, household income, and preferences for income redistribution', European Journal of Political Economy, Volume 28 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
A report examined the at-risk-of-poverty rate for the United Kingdom in comparison to other countries in the European Union and how this rate had changed over time, using data from European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. Key points:
• In 2010, 17.1 per cent of the UK population were defined as being at risk of poverty, equivalent to 10.7 million people. This was higher than the overall EU at-risk-of-poverty rate of 16.4 per cent.
• The at-risk-of-poverty rate in the UK decreased by 1.9 percentage points between 2005 and 2010. In comparison, the EU average remained relatively stable over this period.
• The overall decrease in at-risk-of-poverty rates in the UK between 2005 and 2010 was most pronounced among young people and those aged 65 and over, though rates remain highest for these groups.
• Among those aged 65 and over, in 2010, the at-risk-of-poverty rate in the UK was considerably higher than the EU average, a difference of 5.5 percentage points.
• Females in both the UK and the majority of other EU countries were more likely to be defined as being at risk of poverty throughout this period.
Source: Comparison of UK and EU At-Risk-Of Poverty Rates 2005-2010, Office for National Statistics
Links: Report | ONS press release | Independent report
Notes: The EU at-risk-of-poverty rate is the share of people in households with an equivalized disposable income (after social transfers) below 60 per cent of the national median (before housing costs).
Date: 2012-Jun
A report examined ways of promoting inclusive economic growth in Europe. The second part focused on the relationship between social policies and economic growth, including chapters on income inequality, family services, health systems, and job flexibility.
Source: Claudio De Vincenti (ed.), Fair, Robust and Sustainable: A recipe for Europe s growth, Foundation for European Progressive Studies
Links: Report
Notes: Chapter details: Vito Peragine, 'Income and inequality: a contribution to a European strategy from the equality of opportunity perspective' | Jeanne Fagnani, 'The development of family services: a precondition for promoting economic growth and social development in Europe' | Naomi Chambers, 'Health systems: challenges and growth strategies' | Andranik Tangian, 'Flexicurity: promises and outcomes' | Elsa Fornero, 'The "good" flexibility in individuals life cycle: an achievable goal or a chimera?'
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined the possible impact of income inequality on values and attitudes in industrial nations, from an economic perspective. The results showed that inequality had a significant impact on values and attitudes, especially concerning religion and the family.
Source: Frederic Pryor, 'The impact of income inequality on values and attitudes', Journal of Socio-Economics, Volume 41 Issue 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
The Welsh Government published an action plan for preventing poverty, helping people out of poverty, and mitigating the impact of poverty. It said that it did not accept that a general increase in the wealth of society would inevitably 'trickle down' to individuals and communities in poverty. There were multiple barriers that prevented people from fulfilling their potential, and the government needed to tackle these across the whole range of its portfolios.
Source: Tackling Poverty: Action Plan 2012-2016, Welsh Government
Links: Plan | Welsh Government press release | Bevan Foundation press release | WCVA press release
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined ways of improving the analysis of multi-dimensional inequality in European Union countries. It looked at the effect of both the dispersion of well-being attributes across individuals and the interaction among attributes on the measurement of multi-dimensional well-being.
Source: Elisabetta Croci Angelini, 'Axiomatic measurement of multidimensional well-being inequality: some distributional questions', Journal of Socio-Economics, Volume 41 Issue 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
A paper examined the relationship between income inequality and support for redistribution in developed (mainly European) countries. The share in the population who thought that it was the government's role to reduce income differences was a far better predictor for actual redistribution than models based on rational utility maximization. The direction of causality was, however, subject to debate: people's views on what was just and fair, and on how the government should intervene in market outcomes, were influenced by the performance of the institutions that redistributed income – primarily the tax system and social security institutions.
Source: Malte Luebker, Income Inequality, Redistribution and Poverty: Contrasting rational choice and behavioural perspectives, Working Paper No. 2012/44, World Institute for Development Economics Research (United Nations University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jun
A paper examined the role of social identity in explaining redistribution preferences as well as attitudes towards redistribution and pro-social behaviour.
Source: Joan Costa Font and Frank Cowell, Social Identity and Redistributive Preferences: A Survey, Public Economics Programme Discussion Paper 15, Suntory and Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines (London School of Economics)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jun
A new book examined the development of political cultural processes in Europe, highlighting the way in which social protection and social justice had gradually became interwoven with systems of social protection, or welfare states. It showed how sociological and ethnographic analysis could help in understanding the existing and future challenges of European integration.
Source: Jean-Claude Barbier, The Road to Social Europe: A contemporary approach to political cultures and diversity in Europe, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jun
An article said that immigration had varying implications for attitudes about government redistribution in European countries, depending on the level at which immigration was experienced. Although national-level exposure to foreign-born populations tended to have little effect on support for government redistribution, occupational-level exposure to immigration tended to spur such support. These results suggested that immigration directly influenced the politics of inequality – but in more complicated ways than recent scholarship suggested.
Source: Brian Burgoon and Ferry Koster, 'Support for redistribution and the paradox of immigration', Journal of European Social Policy, Volume 22 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
A paper examined the idea that the European Union should be involved in the governance of minimum income protection. Since a harmonized minimum income scheme would require a significantly greater budgetary effort on the part of some of the poorer member states in eastern and southern Europe, it raised a complex question about the meaning of EU solidarity. The prospect of a more binding framework on minimum income protection might become realistic – albeit introduced gradually and flexibly – provided the EU put positive pressure on poorer and richer member states to gradually improve the overall quality and efficiency of their welfare regimes.
Source: Frank Vandenbroucke, Bea Cantillon, Natascha Van Mechelen, Tim Goedeme, and Anne Van Lancker, The EU and Minimum Income Protection: Clarifying the policy conundrum, Working Paper 12/05, Centre for Social Research (Antwerp University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jun
A paper examined the impact of economic vulnerability and economic recession on political trust, satisfaction with democracy, and attitudes towards welfare state redistribution across different European Union countries. Significant recession effects were found for political trust and satisfaction with democracy in Eurozone countries. The evidence regarding recession effects on attitudes to redistribution was, however, inconclusive.
Source: Javier Polavieja, The Great Recession: Political Trust, Satisfaction with Democracy and Attitudes to Welfare-State Redistribution in Europe, Working Paper 2012/08, IMDEA Social Sciences Institute (Madrid)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined whether motivations characteristic of 'homo reciprocans', as described in experimental economics, could account for the support for the redistributive role of the state. Using data from the 2008 European Social Survey, it showed how this picture of human motivations provided a fertile framework to interpret support for redistribution among the general public. Variables associated with 'reciprocity' were better predictors of support for the redistributive role of the state than those associated with 'self-interest', including the traditional socio-economic variables, although both types of variables offered useful insights into the question of why people supported redistribution.
Source: Francisco Jose Leon, 'Reciprocity and public support for the redistributive role of the state', Journal of European Social Policy, Volume 22 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
A new book examined the psychology behind the 'fetishization' of profit in modern society. It highlighted the threat that neo-liberalism posed to public services, and put forward the case for a return to a more socialistic consciousness.
Source: Stuart Sim, Addicted to Profit: Reclaiming our lives from the free market, Edinburgh University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-May
A new book said that the basis of the development of the European Union – the free movement of capital, goods, services, and people – was fundamentally at odds with the creation of an interventionist regime that the construction of a 'social Europe' would require. The European Union did not possess the budget or the economic tools to pursue such a strategy; and in political terms almost no EU institution backed it.
Source: Philip Whyman, Mark Baimbridge, and Andrew Mullen, The Political Economy of the European Social Model, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-May
An article examined how family background influenced income acquisition in 17 European countries, focusing on how governments affected equality of opportunity through redistributive policies. A clear country clustering was found for Nordic, continental European, and Anglo-Saxon countries. For Eastern Europe the results were less definitive. Both taxes and transfers reduced inequality of opportunity, with social benefits typically playing a key role. The equalizing impacts of the tax-benefit system differed substantially from the ones observed in the traditional notion of inequality of outcomes.
Source: Lina Dunnzlaff, Dirk Neumann, Judith Niehues, and Andreas Peichl, 'Equality of opportunity and redistribution in Europe', Research on Economic Inequality, Volume 19
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
A paper examined how the poverty-reduction capacity of social security in European countries had evolved in the 'boom' years prior to the global economic crisis. During the 1990s the adequacy of social transfers had declined significantly in the traditionally strong welfare states in the Nordic countries. Conversely, the southern states in the 1990s, and the new member states in the 2000s, had displayed a significant increase in poverty reduction by social transfers. During the first years of the crisis the poverty-reducing impact of social transfer systems seemed to have been on the decline in all countries. There was a striking – and in many countries rising – inadequacy of social protection for individuals living in households with a low work intensity. This pointed to a tension between the adequacy of income protection and activation – lending credence to the notion that policies had sought to raise employment at least partially by reducing reservation wages.
Source: Bea Cantillon, Natascha Van Mechelen, Olivier Pintelon, and Aaron Van den Heede, Household Work Intensity and the Adequacy of Social Protection in the EU, Working Paper 12/04, Centre for Social Research (Antwerp University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-May
An annual report examined social developments in the European Union in 2011. 'Punitive' austerity measures being pursued by member states represented worrying signs for the future of the European social model.
Source: David Natali and Bart Vanhercke, Social Developments in the European Union 2011, European Trade Union Institute
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-May
An article developed a new account of liberal justice – 'free market fairness' – in order to show how limited government and the material betterment of people in poverty could be reconciled. It called on the political left to rethink its attitude towards private economic liberty.
Source: John Tomasi, 'Social justice, free market style', Public Policy Research, Volume 19 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
A new book examined how the principle of universalism in social policy could be understood, and how it had been put into practice in various national contexts. Universalism was contrasted with the idea of diversity, which had gained strength in highly developed welfare states as a result of the growing affluent middle classes and of multiculturalism. The contributors highlighted the multiple nature of universalism: universalism was defined and implemented differently in British and Scandinavian social policy, and service universalism was different from universalism in pensions. Yet, universalism remained an essential principle for planning and implementing sustainable and legitimate policies in times characterized by complex interdependences and contradictory political aims.
Source: Anneli Anttonen, Liisa Haikio, and Kolbeinn Stefansson (eds.), Welfare State, Universalism and Diversity, Edward Elgar Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-May
A think-tank pamphlet said that sustainable recovery from the financial crisis would require the restoration of the wage share to post-war levels, and the breaking-up of concentrations of income and wealth. Historical evidence suggested a strong link between inequality and economic instability.
Source: Stewart Lansley, Rising Inequality and Financial Crises: Why greater equality is essential for recovery, Centre for Labour and Social Studies
Links: Pamphlet
Date: 2012-May
A paper said that efforts to measure multidimensional poverty and social exclusion in rich countries had hitherto been 'predominantly ad hoc', and had relied on data that were far from ideal. It applied an approach to European countries that had mostly been discussed in a development context, using newly available microdata on deprivation. Multidimensional poverty was characterized and decomposed in terms of the contribution of different deprivation dimensions, and an account of cross-national and socio-economic variation in risk levels was presented that was in line with theoretical expectations. Multilevel analysis of multi-dimensional poverty provided the basis for assessment of the role of macro and micro characteristics and their interaction in relation to levels and patterns of multidimensional poverty and social exclusion.
Source: Christopher Whelan, Brian Nolan, and Bertrand Maitre, Multidimensional Poverty Measurement in Europe: An application of the adjusted headcount approach, WP2012/11, Geary Institute (University College Dublin)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-May
The European Commission published an assessment of the progress made by member states in 'reforming' their budgets in line with the priorities set by the European Union, and made country-specific recommendations. It noted in respect of the United Kingdom that: 'considerable risks remain that the positive impact of new policies on employment and incomes will be more than offset by declining amounts available for benefits, so poverty, particularly for families with children, risks increasing'.
Source: Action for Stability, Growth and Jobs, European Commission | Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the United Kingdom's 2012 National Reform Programme and Delivering a Council Opinion on the United Kingdom's Convergence Programme for 2012-2017, European Commission
Links: Report | UK report | European Commission press release
Date: 2012-May
A report said that more resources and targeted actions were needed to tackle poverty and social exclusion in the European Union. The role of mechanisms put in place to promote social inclusion had to be strengthened, such as the European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion, and the social open method of co-ordination. All structural funds should be used to promote social inclusion and combat poverty, in particular child poverty. The objective of economic growth should not prevail over the other EU priorities, and should not prevent structural funds from reaching those most in need.
Source: EU Budget 2014-2020: Making Children Visible, Children s Rights Action Group
Links: Report
Date: 2012-May
An article examined whether the relationship between own income and redistributive preferences depended on the regional level of poverty and the ethnic composition of people in poverty. Using data from the European Social Survey, it was found that support for redistribution among rich people was lower when the proportion of ethnic minorities among people in poverty was high. Several possible mechanisms to account for this relationship were examined. No support was found for explanations based on more animosity towards people in poverty or towards ethnic minorities, or for explanations based on lower social trust or social capital: instead, rich people were less concerned with downward income mobility when the proportion of minorities among people in poverty was high.
Source: Henning Finseraas, 'Poverty, ethnic minorities among the poor, and preferences for redistribution in European regions', Journal of European Social Policy, Volume 22 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
An article examined the link between social assistance benefit levels and material deprivation in European countries. The relationship between assistance and deprivation was negative, indicating that material deprivation was less extensive in countries with higher benefit levels. The influence of other relevant contextual effects did not change this relationship to any serious extent. There was no clear effect of public services or active labour market policy on material deprivation – factors essential in the European Union discussion on poverty and social inclusion. The results demonstrated that the role of social assistance in combating material hardships should perhaps be strengthened in future EU policy frameworks.
Source: Kenneth Nelson, 'Counteracting material deprivation: the role of social assistance in Europe', Journal of European Social Policy, Volume 22 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
An article examined the relationship between the so-called old, 'economic' left/right alignment (egalitarianism) and the new, 'cultural' alignment. Less educated people occupied an apparently contradictory position – combining leftist views on equality and government intervention with a rightist stand on issues such as minority rights and the treatment of criminals. This could be explained in terms of vulnerability, and the way in which it was culturally processed. Less educated people were often vulnerable and longed for more equality. The stronger their desire for equality, the greater their frustration when feeling vulnerable, and the greater the need to cope with that vulnerability based on feelings of relative deprivation. When taking feelings of deprivation into account, the two left/right dimensions were in fact independent of each other at all levels of education, creating a situation that led to tensions within parties that pursued egalitarian policies. The stronger the longing for equality among the vulnerable members of society, the more likely they were to opt for right wing positions on the new left/right dimension.
Source: Mark Elchardus and Bram Spruyt, 'The contemporary contradictions of egalitarianism: an empirical analysis of the relationship between the old and new left/right alignments', European Political Science Review, Volume 4 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
The coalition government published a report on the social situation in the United Kingdom, highlighting the challenges involved in meeting the objectives of the European Union's open method of co-ordination for social protection and social inclusion. The report (based on the 2012 National Reform Programme) set out the responses to these challenges on the part of the UK and devolved governments.
Source: National Social Report, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Report
See also: Europe 2020: UK National Reform Programme 2012, HM Treasury (April 2012)
Date: 2012-May
A paper examined how poor people and welfare recipients were depicted in British, Danish, and Swedish newspapers. It said that they were depicted negatively in a liberal welfare-regime – the United Kingdom – where most of them were perceived to be white. But they were depicted positively in two social-democratic welfare regimes – Sweden and Denmark – where they had increasingly come to be perceived as non-white, especially in Denmark.
Source: Christian Albrekt Larsen and Thomas Engel Dejgaard, The Institutional Logic of Images of the Poor and Welfare Recipients: A comparative study of British, Swedish and Danish newspapers, Working Paper 2012-78, Centre for Comparative Welfare Studies (Aalborg University, Denmark)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-May
An article examined the education-inequality nexus in the context of the European Union's 2020 strategy for inclusive economic growth. It highlighted the strategic and institutional measures that needed to be implemented for a 'smarter' social inclusion policy:
• A better balance between knowledge-intensive and knowledge-extensive policies.
• An extension of EU anti-discrimination law in the field of education.
• Integration of the open method of co-ordination (OMC) in education and training with the social OMC.
Peer learning focused on structural reform of employment and training systems.
Source: Ides Nicaise, 'A smart social inclusion policy for the EU: the role of education and training', European Journal of Education, Volume 47 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
A new book set out why, under the right conditions, constitutionalizing social rights could be a good way to advance social justice.
Source: Jeff King, Judging Social Rights, Cambridge University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-May
A think-tank pamphlet examined the potential of the 'Big Society' agenda for delivering greater social justice and reducing poverty (drawing on contributions at a roundtable discussion in November 2011). The voluntary and community sector wanted those in poverty to have a demonstrable voice in decision making: local community organizations were better placed than government to increase social action and influence the delivery of public services, and had a long track record in the area. But the sector should take the initiative rather than let itself be led by the state through commissioning and resource dependency. The sector should use the term 'Big Society' for its own purposes: it should define its preferred relationship between the state, the market, and civil society; and it should set out what it wanted to achieve in terms of democracy, social justice, and poverty and inequality reduction.
Source: Ines Newman, Poverty and the Big Society: Views from the community sector, New Policy Institute
Links: Pamphlet | NPI blog post
Date: 2012-Apr
An article said that the global economic crisis of 2007-08 had been sparked primarily by mismanagement of capital markets through speculation and excessive risk-taking by very highly paid men (predominantly) in the financial centres of the western world: but the underlying causes were deeply rooted in the neo-liberal model of global development itself. Neo-liberalism was associated with unsustainable increases in earnings inequalities, and a related imbalance between productivity and wages, resulting in a fall in the share of output accruing to labour. These inequalities formed a key element in generating the crisis.
Source: Diane Perrons, '"Global" financial crisis, earnings inequalities and gender: towards a more sustainable model of development', Comparative Sociology, Volume 11 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Apr
An article examined the impact of economic conditions – at both individual and national level – on social class identification in 44 countries. There was a positive relationship between household income and class identification in all countries, though this relationship varied substantially. 'Low' class identifications were more likely in poor countries than in rich ones: but the effect of economic development diminished if income inequality was considered in the same model. Income inequality had an important polarizing effect on class identification. Specifically, the relationship between household income and class identity tended to be strongest in countries with a high level of income inequality.
Source: Robert Andersen and Josh Curtis, 'The polarizing effect of economic inequality on class identification: evidence from 44 countries', Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Volume 30 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Apr
A paper examined inequality trends in developed (OECD) countries since the 1980s. It investigated the development of inequality over time before analyzing the question of whether governments could effectively reduce inequality. There was some evidence that governments were capable of reducing income inequality despite countervailing behavioural adjustments. The effect was stronger for social expenditure policies than for progressive taxation, which seemed to trigger more inequality-increasing indirect behavioural effects. The results also suggested that the use of secondary inequality data should be handled with caution.
Source: Philipp Doerrenberg and Andreas Peichl, The Impact of Redistributive Policies on Inequality in OECD Countries, Discussion Paper 6505, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Apr
A new book examined the relationship between social justice and social policy in Scotland. It considered a wide range of topics and issues, including income inequalities, work and welfare, criminal justice, housing, education, health, and poverty.
Source: Gerry Mooney and Gill Scott (eds.), Social Justice and Social Policy in Scotland, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Apr
The coalition government published an annual report on measures taken in accordance with the European Union 2020 strategy for inclusive economic growth. It said that it was committed to making wide-ranging social reforms, including transforming children's life chances, reforming welfare systems, improving education, increasing social mobility, and tackling child poverty. The government aimed to achieve this objective by:
Taking actions that would focus on prevention and early intervention.
Concentrating interventions on recovery and independence, not maintenance.
Promoting work for those who could as the most sustainable route out of poverty, while offering unconditional support to those who were severely disabled and could not work.
Recognizing that the most effective solutions would often be designed and delivered at a local level.
Ensuring that interventions provided a fair deal for the taxpayer.
Source: Europe 2020: UK National Reform Programme 2012, HM Treasury
Date: 2012-Apr
A paper said that the global economic crisis had been caused by the interaction of financial deregulation with rising inequality. Rising inequality created a downward pressure on aggregate demand, since it was poorer income groups that had high marginal propensities to consume. It had led to higher household debt, as working-class families had tried to keep up with social consumption norms despite stagnating or falling real wages. It had also increased the propensity to speculate, because richer households tended to hold riskier financial assets than other groups – the rise of hedge funds, and of subprime derivatives in particular, had been linked to the rise of the 'super rich'.
Source: Engelbert Stockhammer, Rising Inequality as a Root Cause of the Present Crisis, Working Paper 282, Political Economy Research Institute (University of Massachusetts, USA)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Apr
A new book said that power and wealth in Britain had slowly been consolidated in the hands of a small elite, while the rest of the country struggled financially and 'switched off' politically. It considered why Britain had become a more unequal society over the previous 30 years; why the banks had been bailed out with taxpayers' money, while bankers were still receiving huge bonuses; and why those responsible had not been held accountable for the financial crash. It set out some of the ways in which democracy could be restored, bringing back real accountability to British business and fairness to society.
Source: Ferdinand Mount, The New Few: Or a very British oligarchy, Simon & Schuster
Links: Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Apr
A new book examined new doctrines, concepts, and interpretations on which a credible centre-left politics could be built in Europe. The editors said that social democracy needed to undergo 'profound renewal' if it were to address the exhausted form of western capitalist democracies: the narratives of both 'third way modernizers' and the 'traditional left' did not offer credible paths forward.
Source: Olaf Cramme and Patrick Diamond (eds.), After the Third Way: The future of social democracy in Europe, I B Tauris
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Apr
An eight-part study examined whether it was possible in developed economies to combine policies to reduce income inequality with those designed to promote economic growth. It suggested that there were 'win-win' policy options: raising human capital was key, various labour market reforms could help, and taxation could be made more equitable and growth-friendly. But there were also reforms that led to a trade-off between growth and equity.
Source:
• Peter Hoeller, Isabelle Joumard, Mauro Pisu, and Debbie Bloch, Less Income Inequality and More Growth – Are They Compatible? Part 1: Mapping Income Inequality Across the OECD, Working Paper 924, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• Isabell Koske, Jean-Marc Fournier, and Isabelle Wanner, Less Income Inequality and More Growth – Are They Compatible? Part 2: The Distribution of Labour Income, Working Paper 925, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• Isabelle Joumard, Mauro Pisu, and Debbie Bloch, Less Income Inequality and More Growth – Are They Compatible? Part 3: Income Redistribution via Taxes and Transfers Across OECD Countries, Working Paper 926, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• Peter Hoeller, Less Income Inequality and More Growth – Are they Compatible? Part 4: Top Incomes, Working Paper 927, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• Mauro Pisu, Less Income Inequality and More Growth – Are they Compatible? Part 5: Poverty in OECD Countries, Working Paper 928, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• Kaja Bonesmo Fredriksen, Less Income Inequality and More Growth – Are they Compatible? Part 6: The Distribution of Wealth, Working Paper 929, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• Jean-Marc Fournier and Isabell Koske, Less Income Inequality and More Growth – Are they Compatible? Part 7: The Drivers of Labour Earnings Inequality – An analysis based on conditional and unconditional quantile regressions, Working Paper 930, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• Rafal Kierzenkowski and Isabell Koske, Less Income Inequality and More Growth – Are they Compatible? Part 8: The Drivers of Labour Income Inequality – A review of the recent literature , Working Paper 931, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Paper (924) | Paper (925) | Paper (926) | Paper (927) | Paper (928) | Paper (929) | Paper (930) | Paper (931)
See also:
• 'Reducing income inequality while boosting economic growth: can it be done?' in Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2012, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• Inequality in Labour Income – What Are Its Drivers and How Can It Be Reduced?, Policy Note 8, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• Income Inequality and Growth: The Role of Taxes and Transfers, Policy Note 9, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Date: 2012-Apr
A paper examined income dispersion in European countries. Towards the end of the 2000s the income distribution in Europe was more unequal than in the average developed (OECD) country, albeit notably less so than in the United States. It was the within-country, not the between-country dimension, that appeared to be most important. Inequality in Europe had risen quite substantially since the mid-1980s. Although the European Union enlargement process had contributed to this, it was not the only explanation, since inequality had also increased within a 'core' of 8 European countries. Large income gains among the 10 per cent top earners appeared to be a main driver behind this evolution.
Source: Kaja Bonesmo Fredriksen, Income Inequality in the European Union, Economics Department Working Paper 952, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Apr
The Scottish Government published a report setting out the actions being undertaken in Scotland in support of the delivery of the Europe 2020 strategy for inclusive growth. It identified priorities for delivering sustainable economic growth, driving recovery, boosting employment, and tackling inequality. On tackling poverty and income inequality, the framework for action aimed to: tackle income inequality by 'making work pay', maximizing the potential for people to work and maximizing income for all; take long-term measures to tackle poverty and inequality; and support those experiencing poverty.
Source: Europe 2020: Scottish National Reform Programme 2012, Scottish Government
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Apr
A report highlighted growing forms of social inequality in all European Union member states. This trend was the result of long-term policy choices for market liberalism, and the prioritization of harsh austerity programmes after the global fiscal crisis. Inequalities were increasing in traditionally more 'egalitarian' societies, and there had been a reversal of historical trends for poorer EU regions to catch up and converge with richer ones. The report criticized the increase in the number of workers (in particular young workers) who were getting trapped in insecure and sub-standard contracts.
Source: Benchmarking Working Europe 2012, European Trade Union Institute/European Trade Union Confederation
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Mar
A paper offered a comprehensive econometric investigation of the impact of income inequality on the values endorsed by people in developed (OECD) countries. The dimensions of value systems investigated were: work ethic, 'civism', obedience, honesty, altruism, and tolerance. In most cases, no robust effects from inequality on values were detected. However, there was some weak evidence that a more equal income distribution might reduce the work ethic of the population and increase its tolerance.
Source: Giacomo Corneo, Income Inequality, Value Systems, and Macroeconomic Performance, Discussion Paper 17, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Mar
A paper provided an updated analysis of income poverty in European countries, using EU-SILC longitudinal data – extending it to 2007 and to the newest member states. The analysis focused on income poverty mobility. Events related to the labour market were the most influential, because of both their frequency and their impact on poverty transitions. Demographic events were, on the contrary, much less relevant.
Source: Veronica Polin and Michele Raitano, Poverty Dynamics in Clusters of European Union Countries: Related events and main determinants, Working Paper 10, Department of Economics, University of Verona (Italy)
Links: Paper
Notes: EU-SILC = European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions
Date: 2012-Mar
The coalition government published its strategy for promoting social justice. It said that for too long success in tackling poverty had been measured in terms of the 'simplistic' concept of income transfer. Instead, the strategy was based on two fundamental principles: prevention throughout a person's life, with carefully designed interventions to stop people falling into difficult circumstances; and a 'second chance society' in which anybody who needed a second chance in society should be able to access the support and tools they needed to transform their lives.
Source: Social Justice: Transforming Lives, Cm 8314, Department for Work and Pensions, TSO
Links: Strategy | Hansard | ABCUL press release | Barnardos press release | CBI press release | Childrens Society press release | Family Action press release | Family Lives press release | FPI press release | 4Children press release | LGA press release | RDA press release | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined the association between social transfer policies and poverty in developed (OECD) countries for the period 1985-2005.
Source: Koen Caminad, Kees Goudswaard, and Ferry Koster, 'Social income transfers and poverty: a cross-country analysis for OECD countries', International Journal of Social Welfare, Volume 21 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Mar
A new book investigated the hypothesis that obesity was a response to stress, and that some types of welfare regimes were more stressful than others. English-speaking market-liberal societies had higher levels of obesity, and also higher levels of labour and product market competition, which induced uncertainty and anxiety.
Source: Avner Offer, Rachel Pechey, and Stanley Ulijaszek (eds.), Insecurity, Inequality, and Obesity in Affluent Societies, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
See also: Avner Offer, Rachel Pechey, and Stanley Ulijaszek, 'Obesity under affluence varies by welfare regimes: the effect of fast food, insecurity, and inequality', Economics & Human Biology, Volume 8 Issue 3
Date: 2012-Mar
A think-tank pamphlet said that co-operation was a key element in human evolution, and that in the future successful societies would be those that were fair and relatively non-hierarchical rather than divided and unequal.
Source: Charles Leadbeater, It's Cooperation, Stupid, Institute for Public Policy Research
Links: Pamphlet | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Mar
A report examined the development of the social charter of the Council of Europe, its relationship with other international agreements on human rights, and the new issues that it would need to confront in the future.
Source: Carole Benelhocine, The European Social Charter, Council of Europe
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Mar
A think-tank paper examined the distributional and fiscal effects of greater income equality, achieved by reducing the incomes of the most wealthy people. 90 per cent of taxpayers would be better off, and the country could save almost £200 billion per year in pay, if income differentials were restored to the level experienced in 1970.
Source: Danny Dorling, The Case for Austerity Among the Rich, Institute for Public Policy Research
Links: Paper | Article | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Mar
A report set out a series of steps designed to build an inclusive Europe, based on alternative and sustainable solutions to the economic crisis. It called for: more open and inclusive governance; putting employment and social protection at the heart of Europe; strengthening the role of the state in delivering universal and equitable welfare; support for a Social and Green New Deal; and fairer distribution of wealth.
Source: Katherine Duffy, Re-Engaging Hope and Expectations: Getting out of the crisis together – Alternative approaches for an inclusive recovery, European Anti-Poverty Network
Links: Report | EAPN press release
Date: 2012-Mar
A report offered a comparative assessment of 31 developed (OECD) countries with regard to six key dimensions of social justice: poverty prevention, equitable access to education, labour market inclusiveness, social cohesion and non-discrimination, health, and intergenerational justice. Scandinavian countries were the most socially just, whereas southern European countries lay considerably below the OECD average. The United Kingdom ranked slightly above the average.
Source: Social Justice in the OECD: How do the member states compare?, Bertelsmann Foundation
Links: Report | Bertelsmann Foundation press release
Date: 2012-Mar
A report by eleven prominent Christians of different denominations explored different gaps or examples of inequality in society, and highlighted Christian teaching on the need for social justice.
Source: Rt Revd John Packer et al., It's Time to Close the Gap Between Rich and Poor: The Basic Case, Church Action on Poverty
Links: Report | CAP press release
Date: 2012-Mar
An article said that singling out 'the vulnerable' for special care and attention was linked to a moralizing agenda in social policy, helping to create and sustain binary oppositions about the 'deserving' and 'undeserving' within society. This had stigmatizing and exclusive effects, at odds with rights-based approaches to citizenship.
Source: Kate Brown, 'Re-moralising "vulnerability"', People, Place & Policy, Volume 6 Issue 1
Links: Article
Date: 2012-Mar
A paper provided a comparative analysis of patterns of deprivation in Europe, based on six relatively distinct dimensions of deprivation. The basic deprivation dimension was the sole dimension to display a graduated pattern of variation across countries. The analysis supported the suggestion that an emphasis on the primary role of income inequality to the neglect of differences in absolute levels of income might be misleading in important respects.
Source: Christopher Whelan and Bertrand Maitre, Understanding Material Deprivation in Europe: A multilevel analysis, WP2012/05, Geary Institute (University College Dublin)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined the way in which the role of the state had evolved within different aspects of welfare activity since 1979, and the possible impacts of the coalition government's plans for changing that role through reform and fiscal retrenchment. Experience suggested that the coalition government's initial ambitions for radically transforming the overall structure of public-private boundaries might be hard to realize.
Source: John Hills, 'The changing architecture of the UK welfare state', Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Volume 27 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
A report examined the social impact in Europe of the global economic crisis, including trends in poverty and social exclusion, labour market developments, and national policy responses. Between 2009 and 2010 there had been a significant increase in the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, and in the number living in severe material deprivation. The situation had probably worsened further since 2010.
Source: Third Report on the Social Impact of the Economic Crisis and Ongoing Fiscal Consolidation, Social Protection Committee/European Union
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Feb
A new book examined the arguments for and against basic income from the point of view of economic and social justice. It said that the basic income proposal provided the foundation for an 'inspiring and attractive' vision of a society that was at the same time economically and socially more equal, more liberal with respect to the diversity of different ways to live, and more environmentally sustainable than existing welfare states.
Source: Simon Birnbaum, Basic Income Reconsidered: Social justice, liberalism, and the demands of equality , Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Feb
A new book examined the process of 'dualization' in developed societies – the creation, widening, and deepening of 'insider-outsider' divides within the context of a seemingly structural trend towards increased inequality. Although increased structural labour market divides could be found across all countries, governments had a strong responsibility for shaping the distributive consequences of these labour market changes. Insider-outsider divides were ultimately the result of political choice.
Source: Patrick Emmenegger, Silja Hausermann, Bruno Palier, and Martin Seeleib-Kaiser (eds.), The Age of Dualization: The changing face of inequality in deindustrializing societies, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Feb
A paper examined how relative poverty should be defined and measured in a European Union where there were substantial variations in income between countries, as well as within countries. Europe-wide comparisons were more important to the perception of poverty than the convention of national relative poverty lines would tend to suggest. Even relative poverty was more prevalent in the new low-income (eastern) countries than in the old high-income (western) countries: but this was as much a political as an empirical issue.
Source: Richard Berthoud, Calibrating a Cross-European Poverty Line, Working Paper 2012-02, Institute for Social and Economic Research (University of Essex)
Links: Working paper | Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
A policy brief examined the impact of the global economic crisis on recent developments in social legislation in Europe. The initial stage had not produced major changes: but the second stage, involving a public debt crisis, promised far more sweeping changes, many of which would represent a step backwards in terms of social policy and call into question the European social model.
Source: Sylvaine Laulom, Emmanuelle Mazuyer, Christophe Teissier, Claude Emmanuel Triomphe, and Pascale Vielle, How Has the Crisis Affected Social Legislation in Europe?, European Trade Union Institute
Links: Briefing
Date: 2012-Feb
A paper examined whether there was a relation between income inequality and trust in a sample of western developed economies. No significant effect of inequality on trust was found when account was taken of national wealth – suggesting that in western countries the amount of resources rather than its distribution explained trust.
Source: Sander Steijn and Bram Lancee, Does Income Inequality Negatively Affect General Trust?, Discussion Paper 20, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Feb
An article developed a method of generating a United Kingdom-wide index of multiple deprivation score, using publicly available data.
Source: Rupert Payne and Gary Abel, 'UK indices of multiple deprivation a way to make comparisons across constituent countries easier', Health Statistics Quarterly 53, Spring 2012, Office for National Statistics
Links: Article
Date: 2012-Feb
In 2010, 23.4 per cent of the population of the European Union were at risk of poverty or social exclusion (either at risk of poverty, severely materially deprived, or living in households with very low work intensity). 27 per cent of children aged below 18 were at risk, compared with 23 per cent of the working-age population (aged 18-64) and 20 per cent of the elderly population (aged 65 and over).
Source: Melina Antuofermo and Emilio Di Meglio, Statistics in Focus 9/2012, Eurostat (European Union)
Links: Bulletin | Eurostat press release | Caritas press release
Date: 2012-Feb
An article examined policy developments on poverty and social protection since 1997. The goal of abolishing child poverty within a generation had been set out by the New Labour government in 1999. It had been pursued by means of promoting paid work, increasing selective benefits to make work pay, and seeking to prevent some of the causes of poverty. Some progress had been made: but it had fallen 'far short' of the target. The coalition government formed in 2010 had maintained the broad goal, and maintained parts of the previous strategy: but it had modified policy in important respects.
Source: David Piachaud, 'Poverty and social protection in Britain: policy developments since 1997', Journal of Policy Practice, Volume 11 Issue 1-2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
A new book examined the shifting balance between state and societal intervention in people's lives. The post-war decades of prosperity and increased public expenditure on the comprehensive provision of public welfare services to all citizens had gone into reverse from the 1970s. The capacity to satisfy the demand for socially protective public services had declined, along with the will to impose the redistributive taxation to pay for them.
Source: James Connelly and Jack Hayward (eds.), The Withering of the Welfare State: Regression, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Feb
A report said that workplace inequalities had increased significantly across Europe as a result of the global economic crisis, and would continue to do so as more and more countries introduced austerity measures and labour 'reforms'.
Source: Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead (ed.), Work Inequalities in the Crisis: Evidence from Europe, International Labour Organization
Links: Summary | ILO press release
Date: 2012-Feb
An article examined methodologies and strategies appropriate for the development of indicators of poverty in deprivation in Europe at the level of sub-national regions.
Source: Gianni Betti, Francesca Gagliardi, Achille Lemmi, and Vijay Verma, 'Subnational indicators of poverty and deprivation in Europe: methodology and applications', Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Volume 5 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
A report examined changes in social protection systems across European Union countries in 2010-11. The financial, economic, and budgetary crisis had not led to a complete re-orientation of social protection policies: but it had often strengthened the rationale for reforms.
Source: Sabine Horstmann, Synthesis Report 2011, Analytic Support on the Socio-Economic Impact of Social Protection Reforms – Expert Network (European Commission)
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Feb
A paper examined the degree of social exclusion at European Union level in 2008, the country clusters related to this, and the level and trend of poverty on a country level. The at-risk-of-poverty rate varied between 9 per cent and 26 per cent across EU member states.
Source: Orsolya Lelkes and Katrin Gasior, Income Poverty and Social Exclusion in the EU: Situation in 2008 and trends (based on EU-SILC 2005-2009), European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research (Vienna)
Links: Briefing
Date: 2012-Feb
A paper examined the balance between private and public sectors in welfare activity over the period 1979-2007 across five different sectors: education, health, housing, income maintenance and social security, and personal social services. There had been a gradual increase in the proportion of welfare activity that was privately financed, controlled, and delivered.
Source: Daniel Edmiston, The Shifting Balance of Private and Public Welfare Activity in the United Kingdom, 1979 to 2007, CASEpaper 155, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (London School of Economics)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jan
A think-tank report said that welfare systems that were tightly targeted to low-income groups tended to be less effective at reducing poverty. A system's success in poverty reduction was instead related to the overall amount of expenditure. The apparent inefficiency of universal systems was more than offset by the higher expenditure they typically secured because of their wider public support.
Source: Andrew Harrop (with Tim Horton), The Coalition and Universalism: Cuts, targeting and the future of welfare, Fabian Society
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jan
A collection of articles examined what visual methodologies and visual 'evidence' could bring to the study of social inequalities.
Source: Critical Social Policy, Volume 32 Issue 1
Links: Table of contents
Date: 2012-Jan
An article examined the relationship between inequality and five crime types at sub-national level across England. Controlling for other factors, inequality was positively associated with higher levels of all five crime types.
Source: Adam Whitworth, 'Inequality and crime across England: a multilevel modelling approach', Social Policy and Society, Volume 11 Issue 1
Links: Article | Abstract | SPA press release | Sheffield University press release
Date: 2012-Jan
A think-tank report examined the long-term effectiveness of strategies to reduce poverty and inequality. The delivery of New Labour's anti-poverty ambitions (1997-2010) had been hampered by an unwillingness to countenance a wider range of labour market interventions to reduce employers' reliance on low pay. Other comparable countries had done significantly better in reducing poverty, especially during the 1980s and 1990s. Getting people back into work was the single most effective policy for poverty reduction. Investing in welfare and work, and supporting non-state institutions that influenced 'pre-distribution', needed to be at the heart of future strategies to reduce poverty and inequality.
Source: David Coats (with Nick Johnson and Paul Hackett), From the Poor Law to Welfare to Work: What have we learned from a century of anti-poverty policies?, Smith Institute
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jan
A new e-book brought together a series of essays challenging the welfare reform agenda pursued by both the former Labour governments (1997-2010) and the new coalition government (2010-).
Source: Jonathan Rutherford and Sally Davison (eds.), Welfare Reform: The dread of things to come, Lawrence & Wishart
Date: 2012-Jan
A new book examined the effects of the global financial crisis on welfare states around the world. One chapter compared reactive policy strategies in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Sweden.
Source: Bent Greve (ed.), The Times They Are Changing? Crisis and the welfare state, Wiley
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jan
An article examined change and continuity in recent social policy, contrasting the 'liberal collectivist' approach of New Labour with the 'reinforced neoliberalism' of the coalition government. Under the latter, the United Kingdom was witnessing a withdrawal of the state, a redrawing or abolition of minimum standards, and failures to meet changing patterns of social needs – combined with 'obtuse' pronouncements about the 'Big Society'.
Source: Damian Grimshaw and Jill Rubery, 'The end of the UK s liberal collectivist social model? The implications of the coalition government s policy during the austerity crisis', Cambridge Journal of Economics, Volume 36 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jan