Rising inequality and the divergence between objective economic circumstances and subjective status perceptions over time
This seminar will be conducted through Zoom. Please register to join this seminar. You will then receive an email with the dial in details. The seminar will not be recorded.

Registration: zoom.us/meeting/register/upQlc-uqrzovrz2S_UvB4Nb7iWdhSSh1ag

The meeting is set up so that you will join muted and without video. The presenter will start at 3pm and share their screen to show the presentation. There will be time at the end for a Q&A session. Please use the ‘raise your hand’ function and the presenter will unmute you. A video on how to do this is here.

ABSTRACT:
(This talk is about joint work with Brian Nolan)
The apparent decline in ‘subjective social status’ of the low-educated working class is a prominent explanation for recent political changes, such as the increasing support for populist political parties. The low-educated working class has been adversely affected by rising income inequality over the past decades, but we do not know if the deterioration in their objective economic circumstances also translates into a perception that their subjective standing in the social hierarchy has actually declined over time. Surprisingly, few studies have investigated whether and how subjective status has changed over time. In this paper we examine trends in subjective status in two ‘most likely cases’ – Germany and the US – between 1980 and 2018. We find no evidence for the claim that the subjective status of the low-educated working class has declined in absolute terms since the 1980s, and only limited evidence that their subjective status has declined in relative terms compared to other groups. We put forward several possible explanations for the divergence between the stable subjective status and the deteriorating objective economic circumstances among the low-educated working class over time. Our study implies that while subjective status perceptions are correlated with a range of social and political outcomes, we need to be careful interpreting the meaning of these associations over time.
Date: 18 June 2020, 15:00
Venue: Virtual Seminar via Zoom (please register to attend)
Speaker: David Weisstanner (Employment, Equity & Growth Programme, INET Oxford)
Organising department: Institute for New Economic Thinking
Organiser: Susan Mousley (INET Oxford Admin Team)
Organiser contact email address: events@inet.ox.ac.uk
Part of: INET Oxford Researcher Seminars
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/upQlc-uqrzovrz2S_UvB4Nb7iWdhSSh1ag
Audience: Members of the University only
Editor: Susan Mousley