Abstract
This chapter aims to investigate the claim that the symbolic loyalty which traditionally enabled the middle classes to support the welfare state is currently being eroded. It contributes to extant research in three ways. First, it provides an unprecedented account of how different segments of the middle class organise their policy preferences in response to welfare retrenchment. Second, it evidences that their symbolic loyalty is ambivalent, in that it mixes support for an extensive welfare state with criticism of its ability to tackle social inequality. Third, it demonstrates that the welfare state is more likely to be viewed as an instrument of social justice in countries with great levels of social spending. Key among our findings is a tentative support for comprehensive social policies among the middle classes, which is especially marked in countries where social expenditure is high. This is set against growing doubts as to the welfare state’s ability to deliver social justice and its capacity to mitigate against the worst economic and moral consequences of social policy.
I am grateful to Lucas Vincent (University of Grenoble Alpes) who undertook the translation of the present chapter.
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Notes
- 1.
The three indexes are clearly delineated, with weak bivariate correlation coefficients (ranging from 0.04 to 0.22).
- 2.
The 2016 survey extended to several more countries. The dataset used for the purpose of the present article does not contain data on Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal and Spain. It is reasonable to believe that inclusion of these Southern countries, usually portrayed as welfare laggards, would lead to a greater degree of variability.
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Gonthier, F. (2022). The Middle Class and the Welfare State: A Conditional Loyalty?. In: Barozet, E., Sainsaulieu, I., Cortesero, R., Mélo, D. (eds) Where Has Social Justice Gone?. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93123-0_4
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