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Persistent Social and Rising Economic Inequalities: Evidence and Challenges

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Welfare State Transformations and Inequality in OECD Countries

Part of the book series: Transformations of the State ((TRST))

Abstract

In the light of the recent increase of economic inequalities in most OECD countries, Groh-Samberg reviews the main empirical findings and conceptual issues of the research on inequality. Sociological research is characterized by its critical perspective on the ideas of ‘meritocracy’ and ‘equality of opportunity’. A main finding is that inequalities of life chances between social groups have remained largely stable, though absolute life chances increased for entire populations during the Golden Age. With declining economic growth and increasing economic inequality both within and between social classes, the inequality picture has changed. As sociological research on inequality has tended to neglect economic inequalities, new challenges are identified. From a theoretical perspective, Groh-Samberg confronts conflictual and competitive approaches to inequality.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Methodologically, the concept of relative social inequality refers to the chance of attaining a certain outcome for group A compared to group B. These comparisons are expressed in terms of odds ratios. A given odds ratio reflects different percentage-point differences at different levels of the probability scale, which are then supposed to be ‘equal’. For instance, when the probability of entering the highest social class is 10 per cent for group A and 22 per cent for group B, the odds ratio is around 2.5. The same odds ratio results if the respective probabilities were for example 60 per cent for group A and 79 per cent for group B. In terms of odds ratios, these two inequalities are ‘equal’.

  2. 2.

    The concept of ‘compensatory education’ has been introduced to counteract these primary effects. By this concept, the educational system has to make up for the different starting positions of children entering school due to their family background and socialization.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. BIGSSS, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Olaf Groh-Samberg

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  1. Olaf Groh-Samberg
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Correspondence to Olaf Groh-Samberg .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Melike Wulfgramm

  2. Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany

    Tonia Bieber

  3. SOCIUM, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Stephan Leibfried

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Groh-Samberg, O. (2016). Persistent Social and Rising Economic Inequalities: Evidence and Challenges. In: Wulfgramm, M., Bieber, T., Leibfried, S. (eds) Welfare State Transformations and Inequality in OECD Countries. Transformations of the State. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51184-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51184-3_3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-51183-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-51184-3

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