An Axiomatic Approach to the Measurement of Comparative Female Disadvantage

in Social Indicators Research (2022), 164

Female comparative disadvantage refers to the mismatch of the female with respect to achievements in different dimensions of human well-being in comparison with the corresponding achievements of the male ... [more ▼]

Female comparative disadvantage refers to the mismatch of the female with respect to achievements in different dimensions of human well-being in comparison with the corresponding achievements of the male. This paper axiomatically derives a general family of female comparative disadvantage indicators which has very important policy implications. The axioms employed are shown to be ‘independent’. An empirical illustration of the general index is provided using the UNDP data on mean years of schooling, life expectancy at birth and gross national income per capita in 2018. Results show that female comparative disadvantage is not necessarily related to standard measures of human development, such as the HDI, and is present even in countries reaching very high human development. The factor where policy intervention is needed the most is income. [less ▲]

Perceptions of Society’s Necessary Standard of Living: Are Perceptions Determined by What People Have, or Do They Reflect a Social Consensus?

in Social Indicators Research (2020)

Analyses of material deprivation usually use lists of goods and activities to assess an individual’s possessions and to compare it with the society’s standard of living. If the number of possessions falls ... [more ▼]

Analyses of material deprivation usually use lists of goods and activities to assess an individual’s possessions and to compare it with the society’s standard of living. If the number of possessions falls below a certain threshold, the individual is assumed to be materially deprived. Also state-guaranteed minimum income payments are often based on a basket of goods, which are assumed to represent a minimal living standard in the respective society. However, this approach rests on the assumption that a social consensus exists about what constitutes society’s necessary standard of living, which has never been tested in a theoretically and methodologically sound way. Our paper provides a model of the main determinants of standard of living perceptions in the public, develops a measurement model for a survey of necessary items, and tests whether these perceptions are expressions of a consensual normative standard or reflections of the respondent’s idiosyncratic individual living situation. We have used two waves of the GESIS Panel in 2016 to survey the current opinions about the necessary standard of living in the German population. Estimating cross-lagged auto-correlated structural equation models, we find that necessity evaluations are quite homogeneous across social groups but are influenced by individuals’ possessions, which vary within society and hence, challenge the social consensus assumption. Moreover, instead of using only the most necessary items, survey instruments should include both necessary and less necessary items to reflect the whole distribution of possible standard of living perceptions. Our results further suggest that analyses using single items should be avoided due to possible measurement errors. [less ▲]

How Welfare-State Regimes Shape Subjective Well-Being Across Europe

in Social Indicators Research (2016), 129(2), 565-587

Welfare-state regimes achieve different outcomes in dealing with social inequalities. For example, the social democratic or Scandinavian welfare-state regime is often considered as the most egalitarian ... [more ▼]

Welfare-state regimes achieve different outcomes in dealing with social inequalities. For example, the social democratic or Scandinavian welfare-state regime is often considered as the most egalitarian with a high social transfer rate and a comparably low level of income inequality. While most research on welfare-state regimes focuses on objective indicators of quality of life and inequalities, we are interested in how citizens actually evaluate their lives, using subjective well-being (SWB) as an indicator. The paper deals with two research questions: (1) How does the welfare-state regime affect subjective well-being, and (2) does the welfare-state regime influence the effect of status on SWB? Status is an essential first-order goal to produce subjective well-being according to the social production theory of Lindenberg and colleagues (Ormel et al. 1999), but is also linked to many other instrumental goals such as comfort and stimulation. The study carries out a multilevel analysis using pooled European Social Survey data from the years 2002–2012, covering more than 30 European countries. While we first look at how status drives SWB levels in different welfare-state regimes as classified by Esping-Andersen 1990, 1999), our focus is mainly on cross-level interactions between welfare-state regime type and the relationship between status and SWB. Our results provide evidence that social-democratic welfare-state regimes not only provide for living standards that are associated with the highest SWB levels, but also compensate best for status differences in SWB compared to other welfare-state regimes. [less ▲]

The Relationship between EU Indicators of Persistent and Current Poverty

in Social Indicators Research (2014), 116(2), 611-638

The current poverty rate and the persistent poverty rate are both included in the EU's portfolio of primary indicators of social inclusion. We show that there is a near-linear relationship between these ... [more ▼]

The current poverty rate and the persistent poverty rate are both included in the EU's portfolio of primary indicators of social inclusion. We show that there is a near-linear relationship between these two indicators across EU countries drawing on empirical analysis of EU-SILC and ECHP data. Using a prototypical model of poverty dynamics, we explain how the near-linear relationship arises and show how the model can be used to predict persistent poverty rates from current poverty information. In the light of the results, we discuss whether the EU's persistent poverty measure and the design of EU-SILC longitudinal data collection require modification. [less ▲]

Revisiting the Structure of Subjective Well-Being in Middle-Aged Adults

in Social Indicators Research (2012), 106

Subjective well-being is a broad, multifaceted construct comprising general satisfaction with life, satisfaction with life domains (health, family, people, free time, self, housing, work, and finances ... [more ▼]

Subjective well-being is a broad, multifaceted construct comprising general satisfaction with life, satisfaction with life domains (health, family, people, free time, self, housing, work, and finances), positive affect, and negative affect. Drawing on representative data from middle-aged adults (N = 738), the authors used three different structural models to analyze the interrelationships among these facets of subjective well-being. In a top-down model, a single factor representing global subjective well-being explained the correlations found among the more specific facets of subjective well-being and exerted the strongest influence on general satisfaction with life, satisfaction with health, and satisfaction with finances. In a bottom-up model, satisfaction with the latter two domains had the strongest effect on global subjective well-being. The authors discuss the implications of their findings for research on subjective well-being. [less ▲]