New Measures of Economic Insecurity Reveal its Expansion Into EU Middle Classes and Welfare States

Costanzo Ranci, Jason Beckfield, Laura Bernardi and Andrea Parma ()
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Costanzo Ranci: Politecnico Di Milano
Jason Beckfield: Harvard University
Laura Bernardi: Université de Lausanne, Quartier UNIL-Mouline
Andrea Parma: Politecnico Di Milano

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2021, vol. 158, issue 2, No 7, 539-562

Abstract: Abstract Economic instability, social changes, and new social policies place economic insecurity high on the scholarly and political agenda. We contribute to these debates by proposing a new multidimensional, intertemporal measure of economic insecurity that accounts for both its multiplicity and its dynamism. First, we develop three theory-driven, multidimensional measures of economic insecurity. Principal Components Analysis validates the measure. Second, we develop a dynamic approach to insecurity, using longitudinal data and a newly revised headcount method. Third, we then use our new measures to analyze the distribution of insecurity in Europe. Our analysis shows that insecurity is widespread across Europe, even in low-inequality, encompassing welfare states. Moreover, it extends across income groups and occupational classes, reaching into the middle classes.

Keywords: Insecurity; Inequality; Poverty; Middle class; Welfare state (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-021-02709-4

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