Do economic recessions ‘squeeze the middle-class’?
"We examine whether economic downturns reshape the distribution of population income giving rise to a “middle-class squeeze.” We test this hypothesis using alternative definitions of middle-class, such as income-based measures from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), and perceived measures from...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Institution: | ETUI-European Trade Union Institute |
| Format: | TEXT |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Luxembourg
2019
LIS |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19306239124911244119-Do-economic-recessions-‘squeez.htm |
| Summary: | "We examine whether economic downturns reshape the distribution of population income giving rise to a “middle-class squeeze.” We test this hypothesis using alternative definitions of middle-class, such as income-based measures from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), and perceived measures from the Integrated Values Study (IVS). Our findings suggest that, although recessions do not produce a middle-class squeeze overall, the unanticipated shocks resulting from the Great Recession did. Furthermore, we find that recessions increase the share of the population that regards itself as ‘middle-class.’ Estimates are heterogeneous to the baseline unemployment at the time of a recession, country spending on social protection, to middle-class measures and definitions." |
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| Physical Description: | 32 p. Digital |