eprintid: 32983
rev_number: 13
eprint_status: archive
userid: 5878
dir: disk0/00/03/29/83
datestamp: 2023-03-03 14:46:59
lastmod: 2023-03-14 08:38:15
status_changed: 2023-03-03 14:46:59
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Parth, Anne-Marie
creators_name: Vlandas, Tim
title: The welfare state and support for environmental action in Europe
subjects: ddc-320
subjects: ddc-330
divisions: i-180500
divisions: i-999999
keywords: Welfare state, social classes, pensioners, environmental preferences, climate change mitigation, Eurobarometer
note: Dieser Beitrag ist aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich. *** This publication is freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.
abstract: How do welfare state policies affect the political support for environmental action of economically vulnerable social groups? Two competing hypotheses can be delineated. On the one hand, a synergy logic would imply that welfare state generosity is associated with higher support for environmental action among economically vulnerable groups due to the insecurity reducing effects of the welfare state. On the other hand, a crowding-out logic would suggest that welfare state generosity is associated with lower support for other policy priorities like environmental action. We test these two hypotheses using 2019 Eurobarometer survey data and country-level indicators of welfare state generosity in 22 European countries.We find that the working class and the elderly are particularly opposed to individual and national environmental action and that the welfare state plays a complex moderating role. Consistent with a synergy logic, welfare state generosity increases pro-environmental behaviour among the working class, but its association with more positive attitudes towards national environmental policies is less strong. Consistent with a crowding-out logic, the elderly appear less likely to behave in environmentally friendly ways if retirement benefits are high. To explore the mechanisms behind this association, we show that the working class who struggle to pay their bills are most opposed to environmental action. Overall, economic insecurities are key obstacles for support of environmental actions and the effects of thewelfare state depend both onwhich social group is concerned and whether individual behaviour versus policy preferences are considered.
date: 2022
publisher: Sage
id_scheme: DOI
id_number: 10.11588/heidok.00032983
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1177/09589287221115657
ppn_swb: 1838205926
own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-329838
language: eng
bibsort: PARTHANNEMTHEWELFARE2022
full_text_status: public
publication: Journal of European Social Policy
volume: 32
number: 5
place_of_pub: Los Angeles, Calif. [u.a.]
pagerange: 531-547
issn: 0958-9287 (Druck-Ausg.); 1461-7269 (Online-Ausg.)
edition: Zweitveröffentlichung
citation:   Parth, Anne-Marie ; Vlandas, Tim  (2022) The welfare state and support for environmental action in Europe.  Journal of European Social Policy, 32 (5).  pp. 531-547.  ISSN 0958-9287 (Druck-Ausg.); 1461-7269 (Online-Ausg.)     
document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/32983/1/10.1177_09589287221115657.pdf