Welfare resources and social risks in times of social and economic change: a multilevel study of material deprivation in European countries

ABSTRACT

This paper studies the association between collective welfare resources, levels of and inequalities in, material deprivation among ‘new’ as well as ‘old’ social risk groups four years into the global crisis. The data are based on the cross-sectional survey EU-SILC (European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions) 2012. The multilevel analysis includes 27 European countries and 294,803 individuals between 18 and 64 years of age. The results demonstrate that the risk of material deprivation decreased in absolute terms with increasing welfare generosity among all three risk groups studied: individuals facing limiting long-standing illness, the non-employed and the low educated. In some instances the modifying effect of welfare generosity was stronger among the advantaged group than among the disadvantaged groups. The low educated benefitted the most in terms of a substantially lower risk of material deprivation. Results also show that both the absolute inequalities and levels of material deprivation were consistently lower in generous welfare states. The findings support the view that directing undue weight on risks, risk assessment and risk management in the context of social work practices should not reduce the importance of collective welfare resources to alleviate welfare problems among disadvantaged groups.

SAMMENDRAG

Denne artikkelen studerersammenhengen mellom kollektive velferdsressurser, nivåer av og ulikheter i, materiell deprivasjon blant ‘nye’ og ‘gamle’ sosiale risiko grupper fire år inn i den globale krisen. Dataene er basert på tverrsnittsundersøkelsen EU-SILC (European Union Statistics on Survey on Income and Living Conditions) 2012. Flernivåanalysen inkluderer 27 europeiske land og 294,803 individer i alderen mellom 18–64 år. Resultatene viser at risikoen for materiell deprivasjon ble redusert i absolutt forstand i tråd med økende velferdssjenerøsitet blant all de tre risikogruppene som ble studert: individer med begrensende langvarig sykdom, de ikke-sysselsatte og de lavt utdannede. Den modifiserende effekten av velferdssjenerøsitet var i noen tilfeller sterkere blant den mer fordelaktig stilte gruppen enn blant de vanskelig stilte gruppene. De lavt utdannede hadde størst fordel i form av substansielt lavere risiko for materiell deprivasjon. Resultatene viser også at både absolutte ulikheter samt nivåene av materiell deprivasjon var konsistent vavere i sjenerøse velferdsstater. Resultatene i denne artikkelen gir støtte til en oppfatning om at en uforholdsmessig vektlegging av risiko, risikovurdering og risikohåndtering i sosialt arbeids praksissammenhenger ikke bør redusere betydningen av kollektive velferdsressurser for å avhjelpe velferdsproblemer blant utsatte grupper.

KEYWORDS:

• Social risks
• material deprivation
• welfare generosity
• inequality
• multilevel analysis

NØKKELORD:

• Sosiale risikoer
• materiell deprivasjon
• velferdssjenerøsitet
• ulikhet
• flernivåanalyse

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Therese Saltkjel is currently a researcher at Oslo University College of Applied Sciences. Her main research fields are comparative welfare state and social policy research with particular attention to social disadvantages, welfare problems and the role of collective welfare provision.