PERCEPTION OF POVERTY IN EUROPE SINCE THE MIDDLE OF NINETEEN SEVENTIES Analysis of short-term structural changes

Transcription

1 PERCEPTION OF POVERTY IN EUROPE SINCE THE MIDDLE OF NINETEEN SEVENTIES Analysis of short-term structural changes Serge Paugam et Marion Selz Research team on Social Injustice (ERIS) Centre Maurice Halbwachs

2 Objective of the research To analyze the social representation of poverty from several European surveys carried out since the middle of the nineteen seventies Source : Eurobaromètres «Perception of poverty» of 1976, 1989, 1993, 2001.

3 Hypotheses Social representations of poverty can be explained: - by an effect linked to social specificity (country effect or structural effect ), what Durkheim used to call «mental structure of society» - by an effect linked to the change of labour market (economic situation effect), which reflects the sensitivity to economic movements

4 Questions on the visibility of poverty and on the distinction between inherited poverty and poverty undergone after a fall Question 1 : Where you live, are there persons who live in one of the following situations 1. Situation of extreme poverty 2. Situation of poverty 3. Exposed to fall into poverty 4. In none of these situations 5. Do not know Question 2 : If there are poor people where you live (response 1 or 2 above): does it happen to you to see in which they actually live? 1. Yes often, 2. Yes sometimes, 3. Yes, rarely, 4. No, never, 5. Do not know Question 3 : If yes (response 1,2,3 above), will you say, for most of these persons: 1. They have always been in this situation 2. They fell into this situation after having known another one 3. Do not know 4. Refusal to respond

5 Graph 1A Situation of poverty or extreme poverty Proportion of persons who reckon that there exists in their district/village people who live in a situation of poverty or extreme poverty

6 Graph 1B Situation of extreme poverty Proportion of persons who reckon that there exists in their district/village people who live in a situation of extreme poverty

7 Table 1 : Comparison of objective poverty and subjective poverty Indicateur de pauvreté objective Indicateur de pauvreté % d individus vivant dans des ménages confrontés à un risque de pauvreté (1) subjective (2) Belgique Danemark Allemagne (3) Grèce Espagne France Irlande Italie Luxembourg Pays-Bas Autriche Portugal Finlande Suède Royaume-Uni (1) Eurostat, seuil de risque de pauvreté : 60 % du revenu médian national, échelle de l OCDE «modifiée», laquelle accorde la valeur 1 au premier adulte du ménage, la valeur 0,5 aux autres personnes de 14 ans ou plus, et la valeur 0,3 aux enfants de moins de 14 ans. (2) Eurobaromètre 56.1, Pauvreté et exclusion sociale, Il s agit du pourcentage d individus dont le revenu total net est inférieur à ce qu ils jugent absolument nécessaire pour vivre correctement. (3) Allemagne de l Ouest : 11 %, Allemagne de l Est : 24 %.

8 Graph 2 Inherited poverty Proportion of persons who reckon that the poor they have seen in their district/village have always been in the same situation (inherited poverty)

9 Graph 3 Poverty undergone after a fall Proportion of persons who reckon that the poor they have seen in their district/village have collapsed (Poverty undergone after a fall) Source: Eurobaromètres 100 Proportion de personnes qui estiment que les pauvres qu'ils ont vus dans leur quartier/village ont sombré (Pauvreté subie après une chute) Belgique Danemark Alle-magne- Ouest Alle-magne- Est France Grande Bretagne Irlande Pays Bas Italie Espagne Grece Portugal Pays du Nord Pays du Sud

10 Question asked on poverty causes Why are there, in your opinion, people who live in need? 1. It is because they were not lucky 2. It is because of their laziness or unwillingness 3. It is because there is much injustice in our society 4. It is unavoidable in modern world 5. None of these formulae

11 Graph 4 Explanation of poverty by laziness Change of the explanation of POVERTY by LAZINESS

12 Graph 5 Explanation of poverty by injustice Change of the explanation of POVERTY by INJUSTICE

13 Main results How the Europeans describe poverty 1. Poverty is more often perceived as a permanent state in the southern countries of Europe whereas in the northern countries it appears more as a hardship undergone after a fall. 2. Perception of poverty «as a phenomenon which recurs» declined in all countries from 1976 to 1993 under the effect of the deterioration of labour market and has, on the contrary, noticeably increased from 1993 to 2001.

14 The estimated models Effet de pays «structurel» Effet du chômage «conjoncturel» Indicateur de chômage retenu 1 Oui Non Pas retenu 2 Oui Non Pas retenu, mais le modèle estime l effet de l année de l enquête 3 Oui Oui Effet du niveau de chômage 4 Oui Oui Effet de l évolution du chômage au cours de 4 dernières années 5 Oui Oui Effet combiné du niveau et de l évolution du chômage au cours des quatre dernières années Ces modèles ont été estimés sur deux périodes : pour : la Grande-Bretagne, la Belgique, le Danemark, l Allemagne, la France, l Irlande, les Pays- Bas et l Italie avec en plus : l Espagne, la Grèce et le Portugal

15 Main results How the Europeans explain poverty 1. The explanation of poverty by laziness is more widespread in some countries than in others, notably in Great Britain. 2. This explanation by laziness is however also sensitive to the level or development of unemployment. In a period of crisis and of a dearth of jobs, the poor are less frequently considered as lazy.

16 Conclusion One can speak of a both structural and cyclical working out of representations of poverty and of the status of poor in European societies.