Abstract
The development of a common standard of consumption is one goal of the ongoing harmonization of the EU member states’ economies. As a result, the degree to which household deprivation affects people’s economic stress should converge. Based on comparison theory, such convergence could be one indicator for Europe growing together (‘Europeanization’). The association between deprivation and economic stress is tested across and between 28 EU countries with EU-SILC data. Moreover, it is examined whether this association changed between 2007 and 2015, as the great recession starting in 2008 affected European countries differently. The results show that, given a certain level of household deprivation, people judge their situation differently across Europe. Whereas economic stress levels are higher in relatively poor countries, the deprivation-stress link is stronger in rich countries. Across-time comparisons suggest no decline in the extent to which a country’s deprivation level moderated the effect of household deprivation on economic stress. The findings support the persistence of national reference groups against which individuals judge their own economic situation.
Highlights
The concept of material deprivation gained prominence in the literature because it is a relative concept that explicitly takes into account what is considered a ‘normal’ levelActa Sociologica XX(X)of consumption in a society (Fahey, 2007)
Regardless of whether people perceive themselves as part of a larger European stratification system (Beduk, 2018), it is valid to question whether a common standard of consumption relating to an acceptable level of participation in one’s own society is about to develop in Europe
Whelan and Maıtre (2009) call this question the weak version of the reference group thesis. It suggests that the development of a common standard of consumption alongside the convergence of the economies in Europe can be interpreted as an indicator of growing social cohesion in Europe
Summary
The concept of material deprivation (or deprivation hereafter) gained prominence in the literature because it is a relative concept that explicitly takes into account what is considered a ‘normal’ levelActa Sociologica XX(X)of consumption in a society (Fahey, 2007). It rests on the idea that deprivation is an ‘exclusion from ordinary living patterns, customs and activities due to lack of resources’ (Townsend, 1979) This idea is in line with comparison theory (Jasso, 2006), or its predecessor, reference group theory (Hyman, 1968; Merton and Rossi, 1950; Stouffer, 1949). Whelan and Maıtre (2009) call this question the weak version of the reference group thesis It suggests that the development of a common standard of consumption alongside the convergence of the economies in Europe can be interpreted as an indicator of growing social cohesion in Europe. As there are other, more central aspects of social cohesion, we use the term ‘Europeanization’ (Borneman and Fowler, 1997; Olsen, 2002) to refer to the growing together of European countries in the sense of comparison theory
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