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081 2533912

Sessione 25 - The spread of socio-economic Insecurity in Europe: measures, drivers, policies

Coordinatori / Coordinatrici di sessione: Andrea Parma (Politecnico di Milano), Francesca Subioli (Università Sapienza di Roma)


Abstract:
This session focuses on the spread of socio-economic insecurity in Europe in the last two decades. By socio-economic insecurity we mean the risk of experiencing economic uncertainty, income loss or financial strain, which may be transitory and unexpected. Such adverse conditions, in a context of imperfect credit markets, represent a threat to the material independence of individuals and households.


Economic insecurity is a multifaced phenomenon involving different dimensions: it may be either subjective (e.g. uncertainty towards the future) or objective, i.e. measured ex post in one or more dimension of economic well-being (e.g. income drops, earnings volatility, difficulty in affording unexpected expenses or making ends meet, indebtedness, etc..).


The impact of economic insecurity is especially relevant when combined with structural weaknesses of families (e.g. single-income households, closeness to the poverty threshold), or with the absence of available buffers (savings, support from the family, public welfare, access to credit). Therefore, the interplay between economic insecurity and several forms of inequality is crucial to design the policies needed to mitigate the impact of insecurity.
Economic recessions affecting Western countries in the last two decades have potentially contributed to increase the spread of insecurity also among social groups previously less concerned by economic hardship (Ranci et al 2021). While well-researched in the U.S. (see for ex Hacker, Western, Rhode), the issue is still under-studied in Europe where much of the debate still focuses on poverty trends and social exclusion.

 

 

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