Income Inequality and Affective Social Solidarity

Research Seminar Solidarity and Diversity

November 29, 2010Amsterdam

Marii Paškov & Caroline DewildeUvA/AISSR

Aim of the Paper• Make a distinction between calculating and affective

solidarity (Beer and Koster, 2009)

• Relate calculating and affective solidarity to research studying attitudes towards the welfare state

• Focus on Affective SolidarityRodger (2003): Research on popular support for the welfare state has overlooked the question of how people feel

• Study the relationship between income inequality and affective solidarity

Solidarity

Calculating• Economic approach

• Self-interest – rationally calculating individuals

• Fostered by awareness of mutual dependence

Affective• Sociological approach

• Feeling of affection, sympathy, care and concern for others

• Fostered by a sense of community, fellowship and neighborliness, strive for a common good

Welfare State and Solidarity

• Calculating Solidarity– Self-interest and mutual dependence

(interdependency) (De Swaan, 1988)

• Affective Solidarity– Expresses concern, care and a wish to assist the

survival of others (Titmuss, 1976)

Measuring Attitudes towards the Welfare State

• Demand for redistribution• E.g. ‘government should take measures to reduce

differences in income levels’ • Blurry variable Inconsistent results

E.g. Finseraas, 2009; Lane Kenworthy & McCall, 2008; Lübker, 2007

• ‘Dependent variable’ challenge (Jæger, 2006): difficulty of creating exhaustive dependent variables to study support for the welfare state

Inequality and Calculating Solidarity Meltzer-Richard Model

• Higher inequality – greater distance between the mean and median income

• Under majority rule the median income holder is decisive

• Decisive actor will make a decision to maximize his or her utility – demand for redistribution

Calculating Solidarity

Self-interest

Macro condition: Income Inequality

Inequality*self-interest =

More calculating solidarity

Inequality*self-interest =

More calculating solidarity

Inequality and Affective Solidarity

Calculating Solidarity

Self-interest Moral considerations

Macro condition: Income Inequality

Affective Solidarity

Inequality*self-interest =

More calculating solidarity

Inequality*self-interest =

More calculating solidarity

Inequality*moral considerations =

?

Inequality*moral considerations =

?

Heterogeneity and Solidarity

• Heterogeneity – difference, diversity

• Heterogeneity (ethnic, religious, linguistic) destructs social cohesion, trust and solidarity

E.g. Alesina et al., 2001; Putnam, 2000; Schubert & Tweed, 2004

• Homogeneity (similarity) breeds feelings of fellowship and solidarity

Income inequality and Affective Solidarity

• Income inequality – heterogeneity of economic conditions

• Inequality creates mental and physical distance• Inequality poisons social relationships (Titmuss, 1976)• Different life-style• Less daily interaction (schools, hospitals, neighborhoods),

but community spirit is fostered by face-to-face interaction

Hypothesis: There is a negative relationship between income

inequality and affective solidarity

Calculating Solidarity

Self-interest Moral considerations

Macro condition: Economic Inequality

Affective Solidarity

Inequality*self-interest =

More calculating solidarity

Inequality*self-interest =

More calculating solidarity

Inequality*moral considerations = Less affective

solidarity

Inequality*moral considerations = Less affective

solidarity

Support for the Welfare State

Data and Method

• European Value Survey 1999

• 28 countries and 33 997 individuals in Europe

• Multilevel Analysis

Affective Solidarity

• Concerned about elderly“To what extent do you feel concerned about the living conditions of elderly

people in your country?”• Concerned about sick and disabled“To what extent do you feel concerned about the living conditions sick and

disabled people in your country?”• Willingness to help elderly

“Would you be prepared to actually do something to improve the conditions of elderly people in your country?”

• Willingness to help sick and disabled“Would you be prepared to actually do something to improve the conditions

of sick and disabled people in your country.”

Cronbach’s alpha: 82.5

Independent Variables• Income inequality – GINI coefficient

• Poverty, GDP

• Neo-liberalism (welfare regime) (Coburn, 2000)

• Ethnic fractionalization (Alesina et al., 2003)

• Religion

• Individual level variables: gender, education, income, retired (dummy)

Comparison of country means

Income Inequality and Affective Solidarity

Affective Solidarity, Multilevel Analysis

Support for Redistribution

• Should the state eliminate big inequalities in income between citizens?

No effect of income inequality

• Individuals should take more responsibility for providing for themselves vs. The state should take more responsibility to ensure that everyone is provided for

No effect of income inequality

Conclusion• We find a negative relationship between income

inequality and affective solidarity

• Higher income inequality is related to lower levels of concern for the living conditions of the needy and less willingness to help to improve the living conditions of the needy

• Relationship between income inequality and affective

solidarity is different from what has been proposed so far about the relationship between inequality and calculating solidarity

Remarks on Methodology• Nature of the research question: macro*micro • Time dimension (1999, 2008)

• Relation to previous research

• Measuring affective solidarity

• Causality