CIES - Well-Being Inequality in Europe

Abstract:
This paper aims to study the consequences of social inequality in the well-being of Europeans. How individuals differ in well-being in the European space? Do categorical and distributive inequalities influence well-being? We explore the well-being inequalities in Europe building upon the OECD Framework for Measuring Well-Being and Progress. Taking European Social Survey as the main empirical source, the interplay between key distributional (education, income) and categorical (gender, social class) dimensions of social inequalities in well-being was studied, under two levels of analysis of the OECD European social space – transnational (across individuals) and national (across countries). Social inequalities on well-being scores and well-being profiles were identified. Higher education, higher income, and belonging to a more privileged social class positively influence well-being; men tend to present higher well-being than women. The four well-being profiles identified among Europeans were shown to be clearly structured by social inequalities, opposing higher- and lower- qualified socio-occupations, and males and females' life circumstances. At a country level, profiles are mostly defined in terms of volume of well-being, mainly expressing regional affiliations and asymmetries of class, income and education. The developed analysis confirms the existence of multidimensional intersections between categorical and distributive social inequalities and well-being.

About the authors:

Maria do Carmo Botelho is Assistant Professor at University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL), School of Sociology and Public Policy, Department of Social Research Methods; Researcher at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES-IUL). Coordinator of the Postgraduate Studies in Information Visualization, of the Specialization Courses (SC) in Visual Communication and Information, and SC in Visual- Storytelling. Research areas: Sampling and data analysis, visual Information, social inequality, employability skills.

Rosário Mauritti is Assistant Professor at University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL) | School of Sociology and Public Policy, Department of Sociology; Researcher at the Center for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES-IUL); member of the Scientific Committee of CIES-IUL; member of the Observatory of Inequality (OD). Throughout her research career she had participated in several projects, involving themes such as social inequalities, social classes, social change and lifestyles, aging and well-being, among others.

Daniela Craveiro is a researcher at CIS-IUL, ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon, and CSG/SOCIUS, University of Lisbon. With a master’s in social psychology (University of Coimbra, 2007) and a PhD in sociology (University of Minho, 2017), has been participating in research projects across different social sciences fields. Recent research interests include aging, social inequalities and the welfare state.

Nuno Nunes, sociologist, is a researcher at the ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon, Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES), member of the Observatory of Inequality (OD), and the coordinator of the national research stream ‘Social classes, inequalities and public policies’ of the Portuguese Sociological Association (APS). Throughout his research career he had participated in several projects, involving themes such as social inequalities, social classes, collective action, work, knowledge society and human development, among others.

Consulte o documento completo aqui.