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The impact of wealth on subjective well-being : A comparison of three welfare-state regimes
Hochman, Oshrat; Skopek, Nora (2013): The impact of wealth on subjective well-being : A comparison of three welfare-state regimes, in: Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, Jg. 34, S. 127–141, doi: 10.1016/j.rssm.2013.07.003.
Faculty/Chair:
Lehrstuhl für Soziologie I
Author:
Title of the Journal:
Research in Social Stratification and Mobility
ISSN:
0276-5624
Publisher Information:
Year of publication:
2013
Volume:
34
Pages:
Language:
English
Abstract:
This paper provides new insights into the association between economic standing and subjective well-being (SWB) among aging individuals in three industrialized countries: Germany, Israel, and Sweden. Specifically, we compare the effects of wealth, in line with the growing consensus that wealth is an important determinant of economic standing alongside income, on SWB across three welfare-state regimes: conservative (Germany), liberal (Israel), and social-democratic (Sweden). Drawing on needs theory, we hypothesize that individuals of poor wealth would report lower levels of SWB in all countries. We expect, however, the association between poor wealth and SWB to be stronger in the liberal system (Israel) and weaker in the conservative system (Germany) with the weakest effect found in the social-democratic system (Sweden) due to differences in the extent of social benefits each welfare-state regime provides its residents. To test our hypotheses, we utilize data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe(SHARE1). Results indicate that income and wealth explain a greater part of the variance in SWB when taken together. We find a ‘poor penalty’ on SWB in Germany and Israel while in Sweden wealth has no impact on SWB. Finally, when controlling for subjective economic hardship (needs), the negative effect of poor wealth on SWB disappears in Germany, but maintains significance in Israel, suggesting that needs theory alone cannot explain the poor penalty in Israel. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the welfare-state has an impact on the wealth–SWB relation and that the mechanisms that underlie this relation operate differently in Germany and Israel.
GND Keywords: ; ; ; ; ;
Deutschland
Israel
Schweden
Wohlfahrtsstaat
Wohlbefinden
SHARE (Projekt). SHARELIFE
Keywords:
Subjective well-being; Welfare-state; Income; Wealth; SHARE
DDC Classification:
RVK Classification:
Type:
Article
Activation date:
March 24, 2022
Versioning
Question on publication
Permalink
https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/53617