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Economic stress and the great recession in Ireland:- the erosion of social class advantage

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher T Whelan

    (Geary Institute for Public Policy and School of Sociology, University College Dublin)

  • Brian Nolan

    (Institute for New Economic Thinking, University of Oxford)

  • Bertrand Maître

    (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin)

Abstract
In this paper we address claims that the impact of the Great Recession in Ireland has led to increased class polarization with the burden of the adjustment being disproportionately borne by the vulnerable. Rather than observing social class polarization, we find evidence for ‘middle class squeeze’ involving the self-employed and a significant erosion of the advantage associated with the higher social classes. The changing impact of social class was related to a change in the distribution of persons across classes but more importantly to a weakening of the degree of association between social class and income group and a changing pattern of interaction between them. The cumulative impact of these changes meant that by 2012 social class had no impact on economic stress net of income group. Our findings are consistent with an erosion of the buffering role of social class within the lower income categories associated with the pervasive effects of the economic crisis. Our analysis elaborates on the reasons why what from an income perspective can appear as deterioration in the position of the income poor can from a social class perspective reappear as middle class squeeze. In our conclusion we consider why our findings seem so much at variance with most of the commentary on the distributional impact of austerity in Ireland.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher T Whelan & Brian Nolan & Bertrand Maître, 2016. "Economic stress and the great recession in Ireland:- the erosion of social class advantage," Working Papers 201613, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucd:wpaper:201613
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    7. Christopher Whelan & Helen Russell & Bertrand Maître, 2016. "Economic Stress and the Great Recession in Ireland: Polarization, Individualization or ‘Middle Class Squeeze’?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 126(2), pages 503-526, March.
    8. Niamh Hardiman & Spyros Blavoukos & Sebastian Dellepiane-Avellaneda & George Pagoulatos, 2016. "Austerity in the European periphery: the Irish experience," Working Papers 201604, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
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    11. Christopher T. Whelan & Brian Nolan & Bertrand Maître, 2018. "Economic Stress and the Great Recession in Ireland: The Erosion of Social Class Advantage," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 49(3), pages 259-286.
    12. Christopher T. Whelan & Brian Nolan & Bertrand Maitre, 2017. "Polarization or “Squeezed Middle” in the Great Recession?: A Comparative European Analysis of the Distribution of Economic Stress," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 163-184, August.
    13. Dorothy Watson & Christopher T. Whelan & Bertrand Maitre & James Williams, 2016. "Socio-Economic Variation in the Impact of the Irish Recession on the Experience of Economic Stress among Families," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 47(4), pages 477-498.
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    Cited by:

    1. Dorothy Watson & Christopher T. Whelan & Bertrand Maitre & James Williams, 2016. "Socio-Economic Variation in the Impact of the Irish Recession on the Experience of Economic Stress among Families," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 47(4), pages 477-498.
    2. Gintare Mazeikaite & Cathal O’Donoghue & Denisa M. Sologon, 2019. "The Great Recession, financial strain and self-assessed health in Ireland," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(4), pages 579-596, June.
    3. Christopher T. Whelan & Brian Nolan & Bertrand Maître, 2018. "Economic Stress and the Great Recession in Ireland: The Erosion of Social Class Advantage," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 49(3), pages 259-286.

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