The Europeanisation of Social Inequalities. Theoretical Challenges and Empirical Evidence

Especially in the current crisis, the EU has become a contested terrain for issues which have previously been the exclusive domain of the nation-state: the articulation and regulation of social inequalities. In a Rokkanian framework, the current European conflicts between “solidity” and “solidarity”, e.g. between a tight European framework for national fiscal policies and European-wide guarantees and transfers, indicating that social inequalities are also being increasingly taken into account at the European level. Paradoxically, the “Great Recession” which slowed down and stopped the European-wide convergence of incomes may have increased consciousness about the mutual interdependency of living conditions. Empirically, this can be analysed by taking the example of subjective poverty, which is closely linked to the life satisfaction and well-being of Europeans. On the basis of the EU-SILC data 2005-2012, it can  be shown that subjective poverty is not only shaped by individual living conditions and national contexts, but also by the national and transnational income position of the respondents. A high position in the national and European income hierarchy reduces subjective poverty risks. The fact that the individual position in the transnational income hierarchy has a strong and significant effect also in comparison to the effect of the position in the national income hierarchy can be interpreted as supporting the hypothesised Europeanisation of subjective poverty. However, the thesis of an increased role played by the EU in perceived poverty risks cannot be supported.