The Social Democratic Agenda: The Impact of Scandinavian Social Democratic Regimes on Income Equality, Economic Security, Gender Equality, Levels and Inequality of Life Satisfaction

Abstract

We assess the effects of differing welfare-capitalist ‘regimes’ on income inequality, economic (job)insecurity, gender inequality and life satisfaction. Thirty-one advanced industrial countries are classified as having a ‘regime’ that is predominantly social democratic, liberal, corporatist-conservative, Southern European ‘familial’, or East European post-communist (Esping-Andersen, The three worlds of welfare-capitalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990, Social foundations of postindustrial economies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999; Arts and Gelissen, The Oxford handbook of the welfare state. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010). We find that income inequality and economic insecurity (fear of job loss) are lower in the Scandinavian social democratic regimes than the other regimes. Life satisfaction is both higher and more equal. It is also found that differences in life satisfaction between people of higher and lower socio-economic status, and between those with higher and lower incomes, are comparatively small in social democratic regimes. The evidence on gender equality is mixed. Women are well represented in political office in Scandinavia, but the gender pay gap is not smaller than elsewhere. Nor are Scandinavian women more satisfied with life, relative to men, than in other regimes. Satisfaction with ‘work-life balance’ is highest in Scandinavia, but it is men not women who are most satisfied. Data are drawn from the European Social Survey (2002–), the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Australia Survey (2001–), the Japanese Household Panel Survey (2009–), and the US Panel Study of Income Dynamics (2009–).