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Published on: August 25, 2023
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"Caught in the Middle! Wealth Inequality and Conflict over Redistribution"
Hanna Lierse1, Davy-Kim Lascombes2, Bastian Becker1
1Center for Inequality and Social Policy, University of Bremen, 28359 Bremen, Germany.
Social Justice Research
|November 21, 2022
Summary
Despite rising wealth inequality, governments rarely increase redistribution. This study reveals public preferences are shaped by mobility expectations, not just class, with the middle class showing low interest in wealth redistribution.
Area of Science:
- Political Science
- Sociology
- Economics
Background:
- Wealth inequality has increased in advanced democracies, particularly wealth concentration among the rich.
- Governments have not responded by increasing wealth redistribution, contrary to expectations.
- Understanding public preferences is crucial to explain this phenomenon.
Purpose of the Study:
- To map public redistributive preferences across fourteen countries using new survey data.
- To investigate the role of socioeconomic cleavages and mobility expectations in shaping these preferences.
- To analyze the influence of future expectations on class conflict regarding wealth redistribution.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of new survey data from fourteen countries.
- Examination of public preferences for wealth redistribution.
- Statistical modeling to assess the impact of socioeconomic factors and mobility expectations.
Main Results:
- Traditional socioeconomic divisions in redistributive preferences are weakened by differing expectations of social mobility.
- Individuals expecting upward mobility (often lower wealth groups) show less support for redistribution than those fearing wealth loss (often upper wealth groups).
- Future expectations significantly moderate class conflict over redistribution for the rich and poor, but not for the middle class.
Conclusions:
- Mobility expectations play a key role in shaping public demand for wealth redistribution.
- The middle class, crucial in democracies, appears largely indifferent to future prospects regarding redistribution.
- Wealth redistribution is of low salience for the middle class due to perceived limited gains or losses.
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