Abstract
Research on the impact of the macroeconomy on individual-level preferences for redistribution has produced varying results. This paper presents a new theory on the presence of an expansive welfare state during one’s formative years as a source of heterogeneity in the effect that macroeconomic conditions have on individuals’ preferences for redistributive policy. This theory is tested using cohort analysis via the British Social Attitudes surveys (1983–2010), with generations coming of age between the end of World War I and today. Findings confirm that cohorts that were socialised before and after the introduction of the welfare state react differently to economic crises: the former become less supportive of redistribution, while the latter become more supportive. The research sheds light on the long-term shifts of support for the welfare state due to generational replacement.
Highlights
Redistributive policy is a core function of all developed democratic states, and it has been salient in the wake of the Great Recession, the Occupy movement, and tensions in the Eurozone
Have these events resulted in shifts in redistributive preferences? Recent work suggests that the current economic crisis has not fundamentally changed either welfare state policy, or citizens' demands for more state intervention (Kenworthy and Owens 2011, Soroka and Wlezien 2014, Margalit 2013, Bermeo and Bartels 2014)
We thereby rely on an age, period, cohort (APC) analysis that allows us to disentangle the effect of current economic conditions from the formative experience of different generations of British voters; we compare individuals who came of age before the rise of the welfare state with those who came of age in more recent decades
Summary
Redistributive policy is a core function of all developed democratic states, and it has been salient in the wake of the Great Recession, the Occupy movement, and tensions in the Eurozone. We thereby rely on an age, period, cohort (APC) analysis that allows us to disentangle the effect of current economic conditions from the formative experience of different generations of British voters; we compare individuals who came of age before the rise of the welfare state with those who came of age in more recent decades.
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