Avner Offer, Rachel Pechey, and Stanley Ulijaszek
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264980
- eISBN:
- 9780191754135
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264980.003.0011
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
Among affluent countries, those with market-liberal regimes (which are also English-speaking) tend to have the highest prevalence of obesity. The impact of cheap, accessible high-energy food is often ...
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Among affluent countries, those with market-liberal regimes (which are also English-speaking) tend to have the highest prevalence of obesity. The impact of cheap, accessible high-energy food is often invoked in explanation. An alternative approach is that overeating is a response to stress, and that competition, uncertainty and inequality make market-liberal societies more stressful. This chapter reports an ecological regression meta-study that pools 96 surveys from 11 countries, using data collected in the years 1994 to 2004. The fast-food ‘shock’ impact is found to work most strongly in market-liberal countries. Economic insecurity, measured in several different ways, is almost twice as powerful, while the impact of inequality is weak.Less
Among affluent countries, those with market-liberal regimes (which are also English-speaking) tend to have the highest prevalence of obesity. The impact of cheap, accessible high-energy food is often invoked in explanation. An alternative approach is that overeating is a response to stress, and that competition, uncertainty and inequality make market-liberal societies more stressful. This chapter reports an ecological regression meta-study that pools 96 surveys from 11 countries, using data collected in the years 1994 to 2004. The fast-food ‘shock’ impact is found to work most strongly in market-liberal countries. Economic insecurity, measured in several different ways, is almost twice as powerful, while the impact of inequality is weak.
Avner Offer
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199216628
- eISBN:
- 9780191696015
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199216628.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Economic History
Since the 1940s Americans and Britons have come to enjoy an era of rising material abundance. Yet this has been accompanied by a range of social and personal disorders, including family breakdown, ...
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Since the 1940s Americans and Britons have come to enjoy an era of rising material abundance. Yet this has been accompanied by a range of social and personal disorders, including family breakdown, addiction, mental instability, crime, obesity, inequality, economic insecurity, and declining trust. This book argues that well-being has lagged behind affluence in these societies, because they present an environment in which consistent choices are difficult to achieve over different time ranges and in which the capacity for personal and social commitment is undermined by the flow of novelty. The book's approach draws on economics and social science, makes use of the latest cognitive research, and provides a detailed and reasoned critique of modern consumer society, especially the assumption that freedom of choice necessarily maximizes individual and social well-being. The book falls into three parts. Part one analyzes the ways in which economic resources map on to human welfare, why choice is so intractable, and how commitment to people and institutions is sustained. It argues that choice is constrained by prior obligation and reciprocity. The second section then applies these conceptual arguments to comparative empirical studies of advertising, of eating and obesity, and of the production and acquisition of appliances and automobiles. Finally, in part three, the book investigates social and personal relations in the USA and Britain, including inter-personal regard, the rewards and reversals of status, the social and psychological costs of inequality, and the challenges posed to heterosexual love and to parenthood by the rise of affluence.Less
Since the 1940s Americans and Britons have come to enjoy an era of rising material abundance. Yet this has been accompanied by a range of social and personal disorders, including family breakdown, addiction, mental instability, crime, obesity, inequality, economic insecurity, and declining trust. This book argues that well-being has lagged behind affluence in these societies, because they present an environment in which consistent choices are difficult to achieve over different time ranges and in which the capacity for personal and social commitment is undermined by the flow of novelty. The book's approach draws on economics and social science, makes use of the latest cognitive research, and provides a detailed and reasoned critique of modern consumer society, especially the assumption that freedom of choice necessarily maximizes individual and social well-being. The book falls into three parts. Part one analyzes the ways in which economic resources map on to human welfare, why choice is so intractable, and how commitment to people and institutions is sustained. It argues that choice is constrained by prior obligation and reciprocity. The second section then applies these conceptual arguments to comparative empirical studies of advertising, of eating and obesity, and of the production and acquisition of appliances and automobiles. Finally, in part three, the book investigates social and personal relations in the USA and Britain, including inter-personal regard, the rewards and reversals of status, the social and psychological costs of inequality, and the challenges posed to heterosexual love and to parenthood by the rise of affluence.
George R. Boyer
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691178738
- eISBN:
- 9780691183992
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691178738.003.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This introductory chapter provides an overview of economic insecurity. Economic insecurity can be defined as “the risk of economic loss faced by workers and households as they encounter the ...
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This introductory chapter provides an overview of economic insecurity. Economic insecurity can be defined as “the risk of economic loss faced by workers and households as they encounter the unpredictable events of life.” Insecurity is associated with income loss caused by “adverse events” such as unemployment and poor health; the negative impact of these shocks on households depends “on the surrounding institutions that regulate risk.” Indeed, the extent to which workers suffered financial distress from income shocks depended in large part on the social safety net—the existing institutions of public and private assistance. For nineteenth-century England and Wales, the main social welfare institution was the Poor Law, a system of public relief administered and financed at the local level. The Old Poor Law of 1795–1834 was “a welfare state in miniature,” relieving the elderly, widows, children, the sick, the disabled, and the unemployed and underemployed.Less
This introductory chapter provides an overview of economic insecurity. Economic insecurity can be defined as “the risk of economic loss faced by workers and households as they encounter the unpredictable events of life.” Insecurity is associated with income loss caused by “adverse events” such as unemployment and poor health; the negative impact of these shocks on households depends “on the surrounding institutions that regulate risk.” Indeed, the extent to which workers suffered financial distress from income shocks depended in large part on the social safety net—the existing institutions of public and private assistance. For nineteenth-century England and Wales, the main social welfare institution was the Poor Law, a system of public relief administered and financed at the local level. The Old Poor Law of 1795–1834 was “a welfare state in miniature,” relieving the elderly, widows, children, the sick, the disabled, and the unemployed and underemployed.
Trenton G. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264980
- eISBN:
- 9780191754135
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264980.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
While conventional wisdom holds that excessive body weight is the product of some combination of a high-calorie diet and a sedentary lifestyle, public health measures aimed at these factors have been ...
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While conventional wisdom holds that excessive body weight is the product of some combination of a high-calorie diet and a sedentary lifestyle, public health measures aimed at these factors have been met with only limited success. This chapter considers the possibility that obesity might be better understood in terms of the biologist's notion that humans and other animals evolved the ability to store body fat as an optimal response to the presence of starvation risk. Evidence from a broad array of disciplines is consistent with this view, including the neuroendocrinology of energy homeostasis, parallels between human and animal fattening behaviour, the effect of stress on dietary intake, population-level studies of the impact of economic insecurity on body weight and international variation in obesity rates.Less
While conventional wisdom holds that excessive body weight is the product of some combination of a high-calorie diet and a sedentary lifestyle, public health measures aimed at these factors have been met with only limited success. This chapter considers the possibility that obesity might be better understood in terms of the biologist's notion that humans and other animals evolved the ability to store body fat as an optimal response to the presence of starvation risk. Evidence from a broad array of disciplines is consistent with this view, including the neuroendocrinology of energy homeostasis, parallels between human and animal fattening behaviour, the effect of stress on dietary intake, population-level studies of the impact of economic insecurity on body weight and international variation in obesity rates.
Adam Seth Levine
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691162966
- eISBN:
- 9781400852130
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691162966.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This chapter examines how people respond when the issues at stake refer to economic insecurity. It presents the results of a series of experiments in which citizens were randomly assigned to receive ...
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This chapter examines how people respond when the issues at stake refer to economic insecurity. It presents the results of a series of experiments in which citizens were randomly assigned to receive requests that mentioned either insecurity issues like education costs and healthcare costs or other issues unrelated to financial constraints that people could be facing in their own lives. The requests all involved real political organizations and the opportunity to donate real time or money to the cause. The organizations themselves ran the gamut from professionally run, national organizations with headquarters in Washington, D.C. to a local nonprofit that provides critical health care services to the community. All of them function at least in part, as prototypical examples of the types of groups that became common following the “advocacy explosion” in the 1960s and 1970s.Less
This chapter examines how people respond when the issues at stake refer to economic insecurity. It presents the results of a series of experiments in which citizens were randomly assigned to receive requests that mentioned either insecurity issues like education costs and healthcare costs or other issues unrelated to financial constraints that people could be facing in their own lives. The requests all involved real political organizations and the opportunity to donate real time or money to the cause. The organizations themselves ran the gamut from professionally run, national organizations with headquarters in Washington, D.C. to a local nonprofit that provides critical health care services to the community. All of them function at least in part, as prototypical examples of the types of groups that became common following the “advocacy explosion” in the 1960s and 1970s.
Adam Seth Levine
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691162966
- eISBN:
- 9781400852130
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691162966.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Americans today face no shortage of threats to their financial well-being, such as job and retirement insecurity, health care costs, and spiraling college tuition. While one might expect that these ...
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Americans today face no shortage of threats to their financial well-being, such as job and retirement insecurity, health care costs, and spiraling college tuition. While one might expect that these concerns would motivate people to become more politically engaged on the issues, this often doesn't happen, and the resulting inaction carries consequences for political debates and public policy. Moving beyond previously studied barriers to political organization, this book sheds light on the public's inaction over economic insecurities by showing that the rhetoric surrounding these issues is actually self-undermining. By their nature, the very arguments intended to mobilize individuals—asking them to devote money or time to politics—remind citizens of their economic fears and personal constraints, leading to undermobilization and nonparticipation. The book explains why the set of people who become politically active on financial insecurity issues is therefore quite narrow. When money is needed, only those who care about the issues but are not personally affected become involved. When time is needed, participation is limited to those not personally affected or those who are personally affected but outside of the labor force with time to spare. The latter explains why it is relatively easy to mobilize retirees on topics that reflect personal financial concerns, such as Social Security and Medicare. In general, however, when political representation requires a large group to make their case, economic insecurity threats are uniquely disadvantaged. Scrutinizing the foundations of political behavior, the book offers a new perspective on collective participation.Less
Americans today face no shortage of threats to their financial well-being, such as job and retirement insecurity, health care costs, and spiraling college tuition. While one might expect that these concerns would motivate people to become more politically engaged on the issues, this often doesn't happen, and the resulting inaction carries consequences for political debates and public policy. Moving beyond previously studied barriers to political organization, this book sheds light on the public's inaction over economic insecurities by showing that the rhetoric surrounding these issues is actually self-undermining. By their nature, the very arguments intended to mobilize individuals—asking them to devote money or time to politics—remind citizens of their economic fears and personal constraints, leading to undermobilization and nonparticipation. The book explains why the set of people who become politically active on financial insecurity issues is therefore quite narrow. When money is needed, only those who care about the issues but are not personally affected become involved. When time is needed, participation is limited to those not personally affected or those who are personally affected but outside of the labor force with time to spare. The latter explains why it is relatively easy to mobilize retirees on topics that reflect personal financial concerns, such as Social Security and Medicare. In general, however, when political representation requires a large group to make their case, economic insecurity threats are uniquely disadvantaged. Scrutinizing the foundations of political behavior, the book offers a new perspective on collective participation.
Adam Seth Levine
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691162966
- eISBN:
- 9781400852130
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691162966.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This chapter presents a theory about how people decide to spend money or time on something. It shows the link between being reminded of a personal financial constraint and actual behavior requires ...
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This chapter presents a theory about how people decide to spend money or time on something. It shows the link between being reminded of a personal financial constraint and actual behavior requires stating a theory about how people decide to spend money or time on something. The starting assumption is that there are a significant number of people who find economic insecurity issues to be important political issues. Another starting assumption is that decisions to donate time and money to politics typically do not arise spontaneously but instead upon receipt of a request. With these two assumptions in place, the chapter considers how people decide whether they can spend scarce resources of money or time on politics. It draws upon seminal work in behavioral economics and consumer psychology. Given that this work was originally developed and tested in terms of monetary expenditures, it begins by discussing only monetary donations and later expands this to consider how decisions to spend time are both similar and different.Less
This chapter presents a theory about how people decide to spend money or time on something. It shows the link between being reminded of a personal financial constraint and actual behavior requires stating a theory about how people decide to spend money or time on something. The starting assumption is that there are a significant number of people who find economic insecurity issues to be important political issues. Another starting assumption is that decisions to donate time and money to politics typically do not arise spontaneously but instead upon receipt of a request. With these two assumptions in place, the chapter considers how people decide whether they can spend scarce resources of money or time on politics. It draws upon seminal work in behavioral economics and consumer psychology. Given that this work was originally developed and tested in terms of monetary expenditures, it begins by discussing only monetary donations and later expands this to consider how decisions to spend time are both similar and different.
Adam Seth Levine
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691162966
- eISBN:
- 9781400852130
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691162966.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This chapter considers the prospects for political change in the face of communicative barriers to collective action. It begins to address this question by identifying several of the most well-known ...
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This chapter considers the prospects for political change in the face of communicative barriers to collective action. It begins to address this question by identifying several of the most well-known historical and recent moments in which there was large-scale mobilization on some economic insecurity issues. This discussion, in concert with the empirical findings in this book, helps clarify the prospects for political action (and policy change) on these issues. The chapter then uses the findings from the book to identify three types of people that are most likely to become active. It also talks about the implications of having this (narrower) set of people active as opposed to the full range of people that find the issues to be important. It concludes by reiterating how self-undermining rhetoric is a broad concept that can apply in many different situations beyond those considered herein.Less
This chapter considers the prospects for political change in the face of communicative barriers to collective action. It begins to address this question by identifying several of the most well-known historical and recent moments in which there was large-scale mobilization on some economic insecurity issues. This discussion, in concert with the empirical findings in this book, helps clarify the prospects for political action (and policy change) on these issues. The chapter then uses the findings from the book to identify three types of people that are most likely to become active. It also talks about the implications of having this (narrower) set of people active as opposed to the full range of people that find the issues to be important. It concludes by reiterating how self-undermining rhetoric is a broad concept that can apply in many different situations beyond those considered herein.
George R. Boyer
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691178738
- eISBN:
- 9780691183992
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691178738.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
How did Britain transform itself from a nation of workhouses to one that became a model for the modern welfare state? This book investigates the evolution of living standards and welfare policies in ...
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How did Britain transform itself from a nation of workhouses to one that became a model for the modern welfare state? This book investigates the evolution of living standards and welfare policies in Britain from the 1830s to 1950 and provides insights into how British working-class households coped with economic insecurity. The book examines the retrenchment in Victorian poor relief, the Liberal Welfare Reforms, and the beginnings of the postwar welfare state, and it describes how workers altered spending and saving methods based on changing government policies. From the cutting back of the Poor Law after 1834 to Parliament's abrupt about-face in 1906 with the adoption of the Liberal Welfare Reforms, the book offers new explanations for oscillations in Britain's social policies and how these shaped worker well-being. The Poor Law's increasing stinginess led skilled manual workers to adopt self-help strategies, but this was not a feasible option for low-skilled workers, many of whom continued to rely on the Poor Law into old age. In contrast, the Liberal Welfare Reforms were a major watershed, marking the end of seven decades of declining support for the needy. Concluding with the Beveridge Report and Labour's social policies in the late 1940s, the book shows how the Liberal Welfare Reforms laid the foundations for a national social safety net. A sweeping look at economic pressures after the Industrial Revolution, this book illustrates how British welfare policy waxed and waned over the course of a century.Less
How did Britain transform itself from a nation of workhouses to one that became a model for the modern welfare state? This book investigates the evolution of living standards and welfare policies in Britain from the 1830s to 1950 and provides insights into how British working-class households coped with economic insecurity. The book examines the retrenchment in Victorian poor relief, the Liberal Welfare Reforms, and the beginnings of the postwar welfare state, and it describes how workers altered spending and saving methods based on changing government policies. From the cutting back of the Poor Law after 1834 to Parliament's abrupt about-face in 1906 with the adoption of the Liberal Welfare Reforms, the book offers new explanations for oscillations in Britain's social policies and how these shaped worker well-being. The Poor Law's increasing stinginess led skilled manual workers to adopt self-help strategies, but this was not a feasible option for low-skilled workers, many of whom continued to rely on the Poor Law into old age. In contrast, the Liberal Welfare Reforms were a major watershed, marking the end of seven decades of declining support for the needy. Concluding with the Beveridge Report and Labour's social policies in the late 1940s, the book shows how the Liberal Welfare Reforms laid the foundations for a national social safety net. A sweeping look at economic pressures after the Industrial Revolution, this book illustrates how British welfare policy waxed and waned over the course of a century.
George R. Boyer
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691178738
- eISBN:
- 9780691183992
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691178738.003.0006
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter argues that the Liberal Welfare Reforms of 1906–11, which created a safety net reducing the economic insecurity associated with industrial capitalism, marked a watershed in the history ...
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This chapter argues that the Liberal Welfare Reforms of 1906–11, which created a safety net reducing the economic insecurity associated with industrial capitalism, marked a watershed in the history of British social welfare policy. Their timing is explained by increased middle-class knowledge of workers' insecurity and by the greater willingness of Parliament to act as a result of growing working-class political influence. The chapter then compares British social welfare policies with social policies elsewhere in Western Europe. Britain's welfare reforms did not take place in isolation—several European nations adopted social welfare policies in the decades leading up to 1914. Indeed, Britain was a bit of a latecomer in the adoption of social programs, although it caught up quickly after 1906 and by the eve of the First World War was a leader in social welfare protection.Less
This chapter argues that the Liberal Welfare Reforms of 1906–11, which created a safety net reducing the economic insecurity associated with industrial capitalism, marked a watershed in the history of British social welfare policy. Their timing is explained by increased middle-class knowledge of workers' insecurity and by the greater willingness of Parliament to act as a result of growing working-class political influence. The chapter then compares British social welfare policies with social policies elsewhere in Western Europe. Britain's welfare reforms did not take place in isolation—several European nations adopted social welfare policies in the decades leading up to 1914. Indeed, Britain was a bit of a latecomer in the adoption of social programs, although it caught up quickly after 1906 and by the eve of the First World War was a leader in social welfare protection.
Matthew P. Drennan
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780300209587
- eISBN:
- 9780300216349
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300209587.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
Debt of households has been rising rapidly since 1995. The debt to income ratio of the bottom 95 percent of the income distribution has risen well above 140 percent. The same measure for the top five ...
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Debt of households has been rising rapidly since 1995. The debt to income ratio of the bottom 95 percent of the income distribution has risen well above 140 percent. The same measure for the top five percent has been stable near 60 percent for 25 years. Low interest rates, easy credit terms, subprime mortgages, and mortgage refinancings have all stimulated consumer borrowing. The housing bubble, nationwide, encouraged consumers to extract cash from their properties. Panel regressions relating per capita household debt to declining income shares by state of the bottom 80 percent show that as income shares decline household debt rises. Economic insecurity objectively measured has been rising. The share of household budgets spent on the necessities of housing, health care and education have risen for all quintiles. Prices of those three have exceeded inflation for 20 years. Stagnant incomes and rising prices for those necessities have lured households to take on more debt to sustain their standard of living.Less
Debt of households has been rising rapidly since 1995. The debt to income ratio of the bottom 95 percent of the income distribution has risen well above 140 percent. The same measure for the top five percent has been stable near 60 percent for 25 years. Low interest rates, easy credit terms, subprime mortgages, and mortgage refinancings have all stimulated consumer borrowing. The housing bubble, nationwide, encouraged consumers to extract cash from their properties. Panel regressions relating per capita household debt to declining income shares by state of the bottom 80 percent show that as income shares decline household debt rises. Economic insecurity objectively measured has been rising. The share of household budgets spent on the necessities of housing, health care and education have risen for all quintiles. Prices of those three have exceeded inflation for 20 years. Stagnant incomes and rising prices for those necessities have lured households to take on more debt to sustain their standard of living.
Mike Berry
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199686506
- eISBN:
- 9780191766374
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199686506.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, History of Economic Thought
A key plank of Galbraith’s argument concerning the impact of affluence on contemporary society was the claim that the age-old problem of economic insecurity had all but disappeared as a factor in ...
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A key plank of Galbraith’s argument concerning the impact of affluence on contemporary society was the claim that the age-old problem of economic insecurity had all but disappeared as a factor in most people’s lives, especially in the America of his day. Developments since he wrote – particularly since the 1970s – have fatally undermined this bold position, at both the micro level of household and firm and the macro level of the economy at large. This chapter outlines the Galbraithian argument and then analyses the way recent developments have systematically undermined or reversed the forces he pointed to as driving the change to universal security. This discussion allows us to focus on the genesis and outcomes of the continuing trend to greater insecurity that characterizes the twenty-first century looking forward.Less
A key plank of Galbraith’s argument concerning the impact of affluence on contemporary society was the claim that the age-old problem of economic insecurity had all but disappeared as a factor in most people’s lives, especially in the America of his day. Developments since he wrote – particularly since the 1970s – have fatally undermined this bold position, at both the micro level of household and firm and the macro level of the economy at large. This chapter outlines the Galbraithian argument and then analyses the way recent developments have systematically undermined or reversed the forces he pointed to as driving the change to universal security. This discussion allows us to focus on the genesis and outcomes of the continuing trend to greater insecurity that characterizes the twenty-first century looking forward.
Joseph R. Blasi, Douglas L. Kruse, and Harry M. Markowitz
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226056951
- eISBN:
- 9780226056968
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226056968.003.0004
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter discusses the impact of subjective risk on workers' attitudes, preferences, and behaviors under shared capitalism and whether employee ownership and other forms of worker equity ...
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This chapter discusses the impact of subjective risk on workers' attitudes, preferences, and behaviors under shared capitalism and whether employee ownership and other forms of worker equity participation be consistent with proper diversification and shared capitalism. The three components of a worker's economic insecurity score are the size of each worker's fixed annual pay, how many multiples each worker's total wealth (minus debt) is relative to that worker's fixed annual pay, and the extent to which each worker perceives they are competitively paid in the firm where they work. It has been demonstrated that as economic insecurity of workers rises, it is associated with worse worker attitudes toward shared capitalism, preferences for variable pay, and behavioral outcomes under shared capitalist arrangements. The level of economic insecurity also influences how well they actually respond to shared capitalist arrangements such as employee ownership in their workplace.Less
This chapter discusses the impact of subjective risk on workers' attitudes, preferences, and behaviors under shared capitalism and whether employee ownership and other forms of worker equity participation be consistent with proper diversification and shared capitalism. The three components of a worker's economic insecurity score are the size of each worker's fixed annual pay, how many multiples each worker's total wealth (minus debt) is relative to that worker's fixed annual pay, and the extent to which each worker perceives they are competitively paid in the firm where they work. It has been demonstrated that as economic insecurity of workers rises, it is associated with worse worker attitudes toward shared capitalism, preferences for variable pay, and behavioral outcomes under shared capitalist arrangements. The level of economic insecurity also influences how well they actually respond to shared capitalist arrangements such as employee ownership in their workplace.
Thomas Borstelmann
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691141565
- eISBN:
- 9781400839704
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691141565.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter examines American anxieties about the longstanding foundations of American society and thought. By the 1970s, American society would be buffeted by powerful crosscurrents which reshaped ...
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This chapter examines American anxieties about the longstanding foundations of American society and thought. By the 1970s, American society would be buffeted by powerful crosscurrents which reshaped both the nation and the world beyond it. Military, political, economic, and environmental crises unfolded rapidly on top of each other, leaving many citizens uncertain of which to address first and how to do so. In the backwash of defeat in Vietnam and humiliation from the Watergate scandal, and in the midst of inflation and an oil crisis, distrust of government pervaded American society, the loss of confidence in public authority laid the foundation for deregulation and a turn toward the free market, a path that led to growing disparities between rich and poor. At the same time, the more tolerant and individualistic mainstream American culture increasingly rejected old forms of group discrimination and inequality.Less
This chapter examines American anxieties about the longstanding foundations of American society and thought. By the 1970s, American society would be buffeted by powerful crosscurrents which reshaped both the nation and the world beyond it. Military, political, economic, and environmental crises unfolded rapidly on top of each other, leaving many citizens uncertain of which to address first and how to do so. In the backwash of defeat in Vietnam and humiliation from the Watergate scandal, and in the midst of inflation and an oil crisis, distrust of government pervaded American society, the loss of confidence in public authority laid the foundation for deregulation and a turn toward the free market, a path that led to growing disparities between rich and poor. At the same time, the more tolerant and individualistic mainstream American culture increasingly rejected old forms of group discrimination and inequality.
George R. Boyer
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691178738
- eISBN:
- 9780691183992
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691178738.003.0008
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter explores the story of the 1942 Beveridge Report and the beginnings of the welfare state. The policies proposed by Beveridge and the 1945–48 legislation were logical extensions of ...
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This chapter explores the story of the 1942 Beveridge Report and the beginnings of the welfare state. The policies proposed by Beveridge and the 1945–48 legislation were logical extensions of government's expanding role in social welfare policy beginning with the Liberal Welfare Reforms. This does not mean that the importance of the postwar legislation should be downplayed. Because of the adoption of the National Health Service, universal coverage, and equality of treatment, Britain after 1948 deserves to be called a welfare state, while Edwardian and interwar Britain do not. Unfortunately, despite the enthusiasm with which the public greeted the welfare state, the postwar policies did not eliminate economic insecurity.Less
This chapter explores the story of the 1942 Beveridge Report and the beginnings of the welfare state. The policies proposed by Beveridge and the 1945–48 legislation were logical extensions of government's expanding role in social welfare policy beginning with the Liberal Welfare Reforms. This does not mean that the importance of the postwar legislation should be downplayed. Because of the adoption of the National Health Service, universal coverage, and equality of treatment, Britain after 1948 deserves to be called a welfare state, while Edwardian and interwar Britain do not. Unfortunately, despite the enthusiasm with which the public greeted the welfare state, the postwar policies did not eliminate economic insecurity.
George R. Boyer
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691178738
- eISBN:
- 9780691183992
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691178738.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter describes the interwar expansion of social welfare policies and their role in alleviating economic insecurity in an era of unprecedented unemployment. The social security system ...
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This chapter describes the interwar expansion of social welfare policies and their role in alleviating economic insecurity in an era of unprecedented unemployment. The social security system established before the war and extended in the 1920s consisted of several independently administered programs—unemployment insurance, sickness and disability insurance, old age pensions, widows' and orphans' insurance, and the Poor Law. This safety net of many colors proved to be quite successful in alleviating poverty and maintaining the well-being of working-class households. The important role played by the safety net is clearly shown in the social surveys undertaken in the 1930s—between one-third and one-half of all working-class families surveyed received social income of some form. While the condition of the working class would have been considerably worse without the safety net, it contained many holes, which led to calls for a restructuring of social policy.Less
This chapter describes the interwar expansion of social welfare policies and their role in alleviating economic insecurity in an era of unprecedented unemployment. The social security system established before the war and extended in the 1920s consisted of several independently administered programs—unemployment insurance, sickness and disability insurance, old age pensions, widows' and orphans' insurance, and the Poor Law. This safety net of many colors proved to be quite successful in alleviating poverty and maintaining the well-being of working-class households. The important role played by the safety net is clearly shown in the social surveys undertaken in the 1930s—between one-third and one-half of all working-class families surveyed received social income of some form. While the condition of the working class would have been considerably worse without the safety net, it contained many holes, which led to calls for a restructuring of social policy.
Johannes Lindvall and David Rueda
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199797899
- eISBN:
- 9780199933488
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199797899.003.0012
- Subject:
- Social Work, Social Policy
This chapter is concerned with the relationship between party strategies and the political be-havior of insiders and outsiders in the labor market, concentrating on the risk that outsiders may become ...
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This chapter is concerned with the relationship between party strategies and the political be-havior of insiders and outsiders in the labor market, concentrating on the risk that outsiders may become politically alienated and marginalized. Taking the case of Sweden as our guide, we argue that labor market outsiders who perceive that they are being ignored by social de-mocratic parties become more likely to exit politics or to support more radical political alter-natives. We combine an analysis of election campaigns in the 1990s and 2000s with an analy-sis of survey data from the Swedish National Election Studies.Less
This chapter is concerned with the relationship between party strategies and the political be-havior of insiders and outsiders in the labor market, concentrating on the risk that outsiders may become politically alienated and marginalized. Taking the case of Sweden as our guide, we argue that labor market outsiders who perceive that they are being ignored by social de-mocratic parties become more likely to exit politics or to support more radical political alter-natives. We combine an analysis of election campaigns in the 1990s and 2000s with an analy-sis of survey data from the Swedish National Election Studies.
Elsa Davidson
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814720875
- eISBN:
- 9780814785065
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814720875.001.0001
- Subject:
- Education, Educational Policy and Politics
During the tech boom, Silicon Valley became one of the most concentrated zones of wealth polarization and social inequality in the United States—a place with a fast-disappearing middle class, ...
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During the tech boom, Silicon Valley became one of the most concentrated zones of wealth polarization and social inequality in the United States—a place with a fast-disappearing middle class, persistent pockets of poverty, and striking gaps in educational and occupational achievement along class and racial lines. Low-wage workers and their families experienced a profound sense of exclusion from the techno-entrepreneurial culture, while middle-class residents negotiated both new and seemingly unattainable standards of personal success and the erosion of their own economic security. This book explores the imprint of the region's success-driven public culture, the realities of increasing social and economic insecurity, and models of success emphasized in contemporary public schools for the region's working- and middle-class youth. Focused on two disparate groups of students—low-income, “at-risk” Latino youth attending a specialized program exposing youth to high-tech industry within an “under-performing” public high school, and middle-income white and Asian students attending a “high-performing” public school with informal connections to the tech elite—the book offers an in-depth look at the process of forming aspirations across lines of race and class. By analyzing the successes and sometimes unanticipated effects of the schools' attempts to shape the aspirations and values of their students, the book considers the role schooling plays in social reproduction, and how dynamics of race and class inform ideas about responsible citizenship that are instilled in America's youth.Less
During the tech boom, Silicon Valley became one of the most concentrated zones of wealth polarization and social inequality in the United States—a place with a fast-disappearing middle class, persistent pockets of poverty, and striking gaps in educational and occupational achievement along class and racial lines. Low-wage workers and their families experienced a profound sense of exclusion from the techno-entrepreneurial culture, while middle-class residents negotiated both new and seemingly unattainable standards of personal success and the erosion of their own economic security. This book explores the imprint of the region's success-driven public culture, the realities of increasing social and economic insecurity, and models of success emphasized in contemporary public schools for the region's working- and middle-class youth. Focused on two disparate groups of students—low-income, “at-risk” Latino youth attending a specialized program exposing youth to high-tech industry within an “under-performing” public high school, and middle-income white and Asian students attending a “high-performing” public school with informal connections to the tech elite—the book offers an in-depth look at the process of forming aspirations across lines of race and class. By analyzing the successes and sometimes unanticipated effects of the schools' attempts to shape the aspirations and values of their students, the book considers the role schooling plays in social reproduction, and how dynamics of race and class inform ideas about responsible citizenship that are instilled in America's youth.
Gordon Lafer
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781501703065
- eISBN:
- 9781501708183
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501703065.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
In the aftermath of the 2010 Citizens United decision, it's become commonplace to note the growing political dominance of a small segment of the economic elite. But what exactly are those members of ...
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In the aftermath of the 2010 Citizens United decision, it's become commonplace to note the growing political dominance of a small segment of the economic elite. But what exactly are those members of the elite doing with their newfound influence? This book presents an account of legislation promoted by the US's biggest corporate lobbies across all fifty state legislatures and encompassing a wide range of labor and economic policies. In an era of growing economic insecurity, it turns out that one of the main reasons life is becoming harder for American workers is a relentless—and concerted—offensive by the country's best-funded and most powerful political forces: corporate lobbies empowered by the Supreme Court to influence legislative outcomes with an endless supply of cash. These actors have successfully championed hundreds of new laws that lower wages, eliminate paid sick leave, undo the right to sue over job discrimination, and cut essential public services. The book shows how corporate strategies have been shaped by twenty-first-century conditions—including globalization, economic decline, and the populism reflected in both the Trump and Sanders campaigns of 2016. Perhaps most important, the book shows that the corporate legislative agenda has come to endanger the scope of democracy itself.Less
In the aftermath of the 2010 Citizens United decision, it's become commonplace to note the growing political dominance of a small segment of the economic elite. But what exactly are those members of the elite doing with their newfound influence? This book presents an account of legislation promoted by the US's biggest corporate lobbies across all fifty state legislatures and encompassing a wide range of labor and economic policies. In an era of growing economic insecurity, it turns out that one of the main reasons life is becoming harder for American workers is a relentless—and concerted—offensive by the country's best-funded and most powerful political forces: corporate lobbies empowered by the Supreme Court to influence legislative outcomes with an endless supply of cash. These actors have successfully championed hundreds of new laws that lower wages, eliminate paid sick leave, undo the right to sue over job discrimination, and cut essential public services. The book shows how corporate strategies have been shaped by twenty-first-century conditions—including globalization, economic decline, and the populism reflected in both the Trump and Sanders campaigns of 2016. Perhaps most important, the book shows that the corporate legislative agenda has come to endanger the scope of democracy itself.
Joseph Stiglitz and Mary Kaldor (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231156868
- eISBN:
- 9780231527651
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231156868.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Security Studies
This book confronts the quest for security arising from the social, economic, environmental, and political crises and transformations of our century. It begins with an expansive, balanced analysis of ...
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This book confronts the quest for security arising from the social, economic, environmental, and political crises and transformations of our century. It begins with an expansive, balanced analysis of the global landscape and the factors contributing to the growth of insecurity. Whereas earlier studies have touched on how globalization has increased economic insecurity and how geopolitical changes may have contributed to military insecurity, this volume looks for some common threads: in a globalized world without a global government, with a system of global governance not up to the task, how do we achieve security without looking inward and stepping back from globalization? Chapters seek answers to questions about how we achieve protection of those people who are most insecure without resorting to economic, military, or mafia protectionism. Some have suggested that the turmoil in the Eurozone “proves” the deficiencies in the welfare state. This book argues that the superior performance of Scandinavian countries arises from their superior systems of social protection, which allow their citizens to undertake greater risk and more actively participate in globalization. Some suggest that we can address terrorism or transnational crimes through the strengthening of borders or long-distance wars. This book develops the proposition that such approaches have the opposite effect and that only through spreading the human security experienced in well-ordered societies can these dangers be managed. This book also examines how these global changes play out, not only in the relations among countries and the management of globalization, but at every level of our society, especially in our cities. It explores the potential for cities to ensure personal security, promote political participation, and protect the environment in the face of increasing urbanization.Less
This book confronts the quest for security arising from the social, economic, environmental, and political crises and transformations of our century. It begins with an expansive, balanced analysis of the global landscape and the factors contributing to the growth of insecurity. Whereas earlier studies have touched on how globalization has increased economic insecurity and how geopolitical changes may have contributed to military insecurity, this volume looks for some common threads: in a globalized world without a global government, with a system of global governance not up to the task, how do we achieve security without looking inward and stepping back from globalization? Chapters seek answers to questions about how we achieve protection of those people who are most insecure without resorting to economic, military, or mafia protectionism. Some have suggested that the turmoil in the Eurozone “proves” the deficiencies in the welfare state. This book argues that the superior performance of Scandinavian countries arises from their superior systems of social protection, which allow their citizens to undertake greater risk and more actively participate in globalization. Some suggest that we can address terrorism or transnational crimes through the strengthening of borders or long-distance wars. This book develops the proposition that such approaches have the opposite effect and that only through spreading the human security experienced in well-ordered societies can these dangers be managed. This book also examines how these global changes play out, not only in the relations among countries and the management of globalization, but at every level of our society, especially in our cities. It explores the potential for cities to ensure personal security, promote political participation, and protect the environment in the face of increasing urbanization.
