Christopher T Whelan
Biographic Data
| ID | 154443 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Christopher T Whelan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Christopher T |
| FAMILY NAME | Whelan |
| SIGNATURE | WHELAN C T |
| AFFILIATIONS | Economic and Social Research Institute |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3387-5036 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 78 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 786 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 78 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1985 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2022 |
| H-INDEX | 16 |
Welfare Regime Variation in the Impact of the Great Recession on Deprivation Levels: A Dynamic Perspective on Polarisation vs Convergence for Social Risk Groups, 2005–2014
This paper investigates changes over the period 2005 to 2014 in material deprivation dynamics of social risk groups in 11 European countries covering a range of welfare regimes. The period covered experienced dramatic economic change, encompassing periods of boom, the Great Recession and early recovery. Social risk groups are defined as groups which differ in the challenges that they face in converting resources into desired outcomes. The compara…
The Great Recession and the changing intergenerational distribution of economic stress across income classes in Ireland: A comparative perspective
In this paper we seek to bridge the gap between recent analysis relating to the distributional consequences of the Great Recession across the income distribution and more specific concerns relating to inter-generational outcomes. In Ireland in 2008 there was a clear age gradient in relation to economic stress. Over time the gradient became sharper with the relative position of younger groups deteriorating. The increased salience of age group diff…
Social Class and Conversion Capacity: Deprivation Trends in the Great Recession in Ireland
Atkinson's Inequality: What Can Be Done
Tony Atkinson's Inequality: What Can Be Done? is a remarkable book and major contribution from the scholar who has done most to develop and drive forward the economic analysis of inequality over the last 50 years. Here we take the opportunity to delineate some of the distinctive features of this book, highlighting what may be of particular salience and interest to a sociological audience in particular but also more generally from a theoretical an…
Polarization or “Squeezed Middle” in the Great Recession: A Comparative European Analysis of the Distribution of Economic Stress
Economic Stress and the Great Recession in Ireland: Polarization, Individualization or 'Middle Class Squeeze
Goldthorpe, John H. (1935–)
The Great Recession and the changing distribution of economic vulnerability by social class: The Irish case
Ireland represents a particularly interesting case study of the distributional impact of pronounced macroeconomic fluctuations. In this article, we use the Irish case to show that in contrast to periods of relative equilibrium, an understanding of the distributional consequences of economic turbulence requires going beyond conventional measures of income poverty or inequality. Here, we focus on a conception of ‘economic vulnerability’ that identi…
Multidimensional poverty measurement in Europe: An application of the adjusted headcount approach
As awareness of the limitations of relying solely on income to measure poverty has become more widespread, attention has been increasingly focused on multi-dimensional approaches, to the point where the European Union (EU) has adopted a multidimensional poverty and social exclusion target for 2020. The rationale advanced is that the computation of a multidimensional poverty index is an effective way of communicating in a political environment, an…
L'indicateur EU2020 de suivi de la pauvreté et de l'exclusion: Une analyse critique
La réduction de la pauvreté et de l’exclusion sociale est un des objectifs de la stratégie 2020 de l’Union européenne. Le bien fondé et le succès d’une telle politique nécessitent le choix d’indicateurs pertinents permettant non seulement de saisir les écarts de pauvreté entre pays mais également d’identifier, pour chaque pays, les groupes d’individus auxquels les politiques sociales doivent prêter une attention particulière. Le ciblage retenu da…
Who Feels Inferior? A Test of the Status Anxiety Hypothesis of Social Inequalities in Health
The empirical association between income inequality, population health, and other social problems is now well established, and the research literature suggests that the relationship is not artefactual. Debate is still ongoing as to the cause of this association. Wilkinson, Marmot, and colleagues have argued for some time that the relationship stems from the psycho-social effects of status comparisons. Here, income inequality is a marker of a wide…
Multi-Dimensional Deprivation Among 9-Year-Olds in Ireland: An Analysis of the Growing Up in Ireland Survey
The social stratification of social risks: The relevance of class for social investment strategies
Over the course of the past 20 years, welfare states are said to have evolved towards a ‘social investment’ model of welfare – characterized by a focus on equality of opportunity and upward social mobility along with a greater emphasis on individual responsibility. In view of these policy changes, it is necessary to assess whether traditional stratification cleavages (still) affect the occurrence of ‘social risks’. Using data from the 2005 EU-SIL…
Material Deprivation, Economic Stress, and Reference Groups in Europe: An Analysis of EU-Silc 2009
In this article, we take advantage of the recent availability of data from the special module on material deprivation in the 2009 European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between material deprivation and economic stress, the mediating and moderating roles played by cross-national differences in levels of income and income inequality, and the implications for compet…
Economic Vulnerability and Severity of Debt Problems: An Analysis of the Irish EU-Silc 2008
In this article, using Ireland where debt issues are of particular salience, as a test case, we seek to locate over-indebtedness and the severity of debt problems in the context of the broader economic circumstances of households. In doing so, we first identify an economically vulnerable segment of households and then explore the debt experience of vulnerable and non-vulnerable households. Our analysis reveals a striking contrast between the debt…
Work and Poverty in Ireland: An Analysis of CSO Survey on Income and Living Conditions 2004-2010
There is broad recognition of the crucial role of employment in preventing poverty and in enabling poor households to move out of poverty (ILO, 2005; Caputo, 1991; OECD 1998, 2004). In this report we examine in detail the relationship between work and poverty in Ireland from 2004 to 2010 –a period of rapid economic change, spanning both strong growth and recession. Ireland is an interesting case because of the depth of the recession and because, …
Analysing Intergenerational Influences on Income Poverty and Economic Vulnerability With Eu-Silc
The European Union Statistics of Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2005 wave includes a special module on inter-generational transmission of poverty. In addition to the standard data relating to income and material deprivation, information relating to parental background and childhood circumstances was collected for all household members aged over 24 and less than 66 at the end of the income reference period. In principle, the module provide…
Understanding material deprivation: A comparative European analysis
Poverty and Deprivation in Europe
This text combines a focus on multidimensionality with a comparative approach to survey the role of non-monetary indicators of deprivation. It shows how poverty varies across countries and over time, who is affected, and which groups should be targeted in framing anti-poverty strategies.
Welfare regime and social class variation in poverty and economic vulnerability in Europe: An analysis of EU-Silc
In this paper we address a set of interrelated issues. These comprise increasing concerns about reliance on nationally based income poverty measures in the context of EU enlargement, the relative merits of one-dimensional versus multidimensional approaches to poverty and social exclusion and the continuing relevance of class-based explanations of life chances. When identifying economically vulnerable groups we find that, contrary to the situation…
Using non‐monetary deprivation indicators to analyze poverty and social exclusion: Lessons from Europe
Non‐monetary indicators of deprivation are now widely used in studying poverty in Europe. While measuring financial resources remains central, having reliable information about material deprivation adds to the ability to capture poverty and social exclusion. Non‐monetary indicators can help improve the identification of those experiencing poverty and understand how it comes about. They are most productively used when multidimensionality is explic…
Understanding the socio-economic distribution of multiple deprivation: An application of self-organising maps
Comparing Poverty Indicators in an Enlarged European Union
In this article, we explore the extent to which a consideration of welfare regime and socioeconomic differences in poverty levels and patterns can assist us in making an informed assessment of alternative poverty indicators. Poverty in the EU is normally defined in terms of income thresholds at the level of each member state. However, with the enlargement of the EU, such measures have come in for increasing criticism. One set of reservation relat…
Mapping patterns of multiple deprivation using self-organising maps: An application to EU-Silc data for Ireland
Understanding Parental Influence on Educational Outcomes Among 9 Year Olds in Ireland: The Mediating Role of Resources, Attitudes and Children’s Own Perspectives
Using non‐monetary deprivation indicators to analyze poverty and social exclusion: Lessons from Europe
Non‐monetary indicators of deprivation are now widely used in studying poverty in Europe. While measuring financial resources remains central, having reliable information about material deprivation adds to the ability to capture poverty and social exclusion. Non‐monetary indicators can help improve the identification of those experiencing poverty and understand how it comes about. They are most productively used when multidimensionality is explic…
Understanding Contemporary Ireland: State, Class and Development in the Republic of Ireland
Thirty years ago the Irish State embarked on a programme of development which rapidly transformed the economy and with it Irish society. This book is about that transformation and its effects. In part
Who Feels Inferior? A Test of the Status Anxiety Hypothesis of Social Inequalities in Health
The empirical association between income inequality, population health, and other social problems is now well established, and the research literature suggests that the relationship is not artefactual. Debate is still ongoing as to the cause of this association. Wilkinson, Marmot, and colleagues have argued for some time that the relationship stems from the psycho-social effects of status comparisons. Here, income inequality is a marker of a wide…
The social stratification of social risks: The relevance of class for social investment strategies
Over the course of the past 20 years, welfare states are said to have evolved towards a ‘social investment’ model of welfare – characterized by a focus on equality of opportunity and upward social mobility along with a greater emphasis on individual responsibility. In view of these policy changes, it is necessary to assess whether traditional stratification cleavages (still) affect the occurrence of ‘social risks’. Using data from the 2005 EU-SIL…
Understanding material deprivation: A comparative European analysis
Resources, Deprivation and the Measurement of Poverty
Ringen has advocated the use of both income and deprivation criteria in identifying those excluded from society due to lack of resources, a widely accepted definition of poverty. We illustrate with Irish data how this might be done, paying particular attention to how appropriate indicators of deprivation are to be selected. The results show that employing both income and deprivation criteria rather than income alone can make a substantial differe…
Understanding the Mismatch Between Income Poverty and Deprivation: A Dynamic Comparative Analysis
Journal Article Understanding the Mismatch Between Income Poverty and Deprivation: A Dynamic Comparative Analysis Get access Christopher T. Whelan, Christopher T. Whelan Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin, Ireland. Email: [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Richard Layte, Richard Layte Senior Research Officer at the Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin. Search for oth…
Economic Vulnerability, Multidimensional Deprivation and Social Cohesion in an Enlarged European Community
In this article we have sought to combine regional and social exclusion perspectives on economic exclusion in the enlarged European Community. Our analysis, based on the European Quality of Life Survey, confirms that while the economically vulnerable, identified through latent class analysis, constitute substantially larger groups in the poorer economic clusters, they are much more sharply differentiated from others in the richer clusters. While …
Income, Deprivation, and Economic Strain. An Analysis of the European Community Household Panel
This paper is concerned with the relationship between household income and life-style deprivation, and their combined impact on households' perceptions of economic strain. It takes as a point of departure findings from a number of European countries showing that the relationship between income and deprivation is weaker than widely assumed and that relative income poverty lines may perform poorly in terms of identifying the most deprived household…
Multiple deprivation and persistent poverty in the European Union
The literature on social exclusion has focused attention on the processes leading to exposure to multiple disadvantage. Despite the influence this perspective has had on both academic and policy discussions, conceptual analysis has remained imprecise and empirical evidence modest. We have made use of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) in order to examine the extent to which persistent income poverty results in multiple deprivation. Our…
Multidimensional poverty measurement in Europe: An application of the adjusted headcount approach
As awareness of the limitations of relying solely on income to measure poverty has become more widespread, attention has been increasingly focused on multi-dimensional approaches, to the point where the European Union (EU) has adopted a multidimensional poverty and social exclusion target for 2020. The rationale advanced is that the computation of a multidimensional poverty index is an effective way of communicating in a political environment, an…
Welfare regime and social class variation in poverty and economic vulnerability in Europe: An analysis of EU-Silc
In this paper we address a set of interrelated issues. These comprise increasing concerns about reliance on nationally based income poverty measures in the context of EU enlargement, the relative merits of one-dimensional versus multidimensional approaches to poverty and social exclusion and the continuing relevance of class-based explanations of life chances. When identifying economically vulnerable groups we find that, contrary to the situation…
Moving in and out of poverty
Although many of the debates around social exclusion and cumulative disadvantage relate to processes that occur across time, there has been relatively little research into poverty dynamics except in a few notable countries such as Britain, the USA and Germany. This neglect is almost entirely because of the absence of comparative longitudinal data on income for other countries, but it is regrettable given the central importance of this area. By st…
The role of social support in mediating the psychological consequences of economic stress
The idea that social support can act as a buffer against the negative consequences of stress has been a particularly influential one. Most of the relevant research has focused on the impact of life events as measured through the standard life-event inventory methodology. Such research has lacked a sociological character in that the structural contexts of people's lives are treated as if they were extraneous to the stress process. In this paper I …
Cumulative Disadvantage Or Individualisation: A Comparative Analysis Of Poverty Risk And Incidence
In this paper we seek to clarify and examine empirically two related perspectives on poverty processes that have emerged in recent years - those of cumulative disadvantage and of individualisation . The cumulative disadvantage perspective defines the key cleavage as between a comfortable majority and a multiply disadvantaged minority excluded from the mainstream. The individualisation perspective on the other hand views poverty as a relatively tr…
Explaining Levels of Deprivation in the European Union
In this paper we seek to explain variations in levels of deprivation between EU countries. The starting-point of our analysis is the finding that the relationship between income and life-style deprivation varies across countries. Given our understanding of the manner in which the income-deprivation mismatch may arise from the limitations of current income as a measure of command over resources, the pattern of variation seems to be consistent with…
Vulnerability and multiple deprivation perspectives on economic exclusion in Europe: A latent class analysis
In this paper we address issues relating to vulnerability to economic exclusion and levels of economic exclusion in Europe. We do so by applying latent class models to data from the European Community Household Panel for thirteen countries. This approach allows us to distinguish between vulnerability to economic exclusion and exposure to multiple deprivation at a particular point in time. The results of our analysis confirm that in every country …
Late Industrialization and the Increased Merit Selection Hypothesis. Ireland as a Test Case
The Irish case provides a particularly appropriate test of the increasing merit selection hypothesis deriving from the liberal theory of industrialization. This is so not only because the lateness and speed of economic change allows us to capture such change through a set of national surveys conducted in the past three decades, but also because such change was based on a sustained policy of increased openness to international competitive forces. …
Economic Stress and the Great Recession in Ireland: Polarization, Individualization or 'Middle Class Squeeze
Comparing Work-Life Conflict in Europe: Evidence from the European Social Survey
Social Class, Unemployment, and Psychological Distress
Attempts to explain variation in rates of psychological distress by social class have included reference to social selection, differential exposure to stress, and differential vulnerability arising from inequalities in access to resources. Our analysis draws on data from a national survey of the Republic of Ireland in order to examine these hypotheses. No evidence to support the social selection hypothesis was found. In addressing the issue of di…
Polarization or “Squeezed Middle” in the Great Recession: A Comparative European Analysis of the Distribution of Economic Stress
Income, deprivation and economic stress in the enlarged European Union
Welfare regimes and household income packaging in the European Union
This paper uses harmonized data for the member states of the European Union to analyse household income packaging from a ‘welfare regimes’ perspective. Using data from the third wave of the ECHP, it looks at how the role of welfare transfers in the income package varies across countries and welfare regimes, and assesses whether this is consistent with the predictions of welfare regime theory, having first elaborated some specific hypotheses in th…
From Ascription to Achievement? Origins, Education and Entry to the Labour Force in the Republic of Ireland during the Twentieth Century
This paper examines the relationship between class of origin, educational attainment, and class of entry to the labour force, in three cohorts of men in the Republic of Ireland using data collected in 1987 The three cohorts comprise men born (i) before 1937; (ii) between 1937 and 1949; and (m) between 1950 and 1962. The paper assesses the degree of change over the three cohorts in respect of (a) the gross relationship between origins and entry cl…
Social Mobility in the Republic of Ireland: A Comparative Perspective
Vertical Mobility and Class Inheritance in the British Isles
This paper compares vertical mobility in Dublin and England and Wales as displayed in mobility tables using the seven class categories developed by Goldthorpe (1980). A model is developed * which demonstrates the pattern of vertical mobility in each country and also allows us to measure the extent of class inheritance as distinct from class self-recruitment. The data are used to test the FJH thesis, and some differences between Dublin and England…
The Ebbing Tide
In the preceding nine chapters we have sought to present an account of the relationship between State policy and the class structure of present day Ireland. In doing so we have concentrated on how that relationship has been shaped, and how it has been reflected in particular areas within Ireland’s economy and social structure. Our analysis is intended to contribute to the growing body of work which seeks to improve our understanding of the circum…
Education: The Promise of Reform and the Growth of Credentialism
Two related concerns — equality of educational opportunity and the link between education and the labour demands of a modern capitalist economy — lay at the root of many of the major changes brought about in public education by Western governments during the post-war period. These changes have led to a rapid expansion of both the provision and the utilisation of public education, with a concomitant growth in educational expenditure.1
The Evolution and Structure of the Irish State
The structure of the Irish State and its development after Independence bear the marks of the post-colonial, semi-peripheral experience. Certainly nationalism and economic vulnerability were influential in shaping the role of the State. Of these influences, nationalism was perhaps dominant, as it often directed State policies down paths which economic interest did not justify. Irish nationalism however, was untypically an agent of stability rathe…
Introduction: The Transformation of Ireland’s Social Structure
Few societies have changed so rapidly and so radically as has the Republic of Ireland since 1960. The resulting transformation is particularly striking given Ireland’s image as a rural, conservative and Catholic backwater of post-war Europe. Moreover, there was substance to the image. The first 40 years of independence — from the 1920s to the 1960s — were notable for institutional continuity rather than change, and for an isolation which, by 1950…
State, Class and Family
In word at least, Irish State policy has been least ambiguous in the area of the family. The content of that policy until the 1970s, however, was mainly defined by the Catholic Church, not the State. A series of constitutional and legislative provisions ignored, by and large, the viewpoints of minority religions and meticulously implemented the values of conservative Catholic social thinking, within which the family is the basic unit of society (…
Agriculture: Policy and Politics
The publication of the Programme for Economic Expansion in 1958 does not stand as a watershed for Irish agriculture in the way that it does for much of the rest of the Irish economy and society. Rather, the post-1958 period has seen the continuation of several important long-term trends in Irish farming while, at the same time, a number of developments in the 1960s and 1970s — and, crucially, entry to the EC in 1973 — have both accelerated these …
The Transformation of the Class Structure: Occupations, Opportunities and Occupants
In the span of 25 years, Ireland’s class structure shifted from one based on family property to one based on educational credentials. Opportunities for self-employment as labourers — agricultural and non-agricultural — contracted; massive growth occurred in professional and technical employment and in skilled manual labour. The broad outline of the resulting transformation is familiar, experienced by most core and semi-peripheral societies. It is…
Industrial Relations and the State
The shift away from a residual State role in industrial relations was a direct response to the problems created by the industrialisation strategy pursued in Ireland. Free trade and the heavy reliance on attracting foreign investment made it imperative to maintain stable industrial relations and wage competitiveness (Hardiman, 1986; Roche 1982; Stanton, 1979) and in these respects, the traditional role of the State in industrial relations could no…
The State and the Distribution and Redistribution of Income
The opportunities for white collar and skilled manual work fostered by economic growth were far more secure, well-paid and satisfying than those which change had displaced. Prosperity brought an improved standard of living to the fortunate occupants of positions in the State bureaucracy, manufacturing industry and the services. At the same time, the zeal with which politicians and the public embraced the idea of a Welfare State ensured that those…
Employment, Unemployment and Industrial Policy
Since the founding of the State, Ireland has been unable to create jobs on a scale sufficient to meet the requirements of its potential growth in population. The consequences of such failure have been high levels of unemployment among the employee labour force and high rates of emigration. In this chapter our purpose is to examine the way in which the Irish State has sought to address the employment problem, particularly in the post-1958 period —…
Understanding Contemporary Ireland: State, Class and Development in the Republic of Ireland
Thirty years ago the Irish State embarked on a programme of development which rapidly transformed the economy and with it Irish society. This book is about that transformation and its effects. In part
From Ascription to Achievement? Origins, Education and Entry to the Labour Force in the Republic of Ireland during the Twentieth Century
This paper examines the relationship between class of origin, educational attainment, and class of entry to the labour force, in three cohorts of men in the Republic of Ireland using data collected in 1987 The three cohorts comprise men born (i) before 1937; (ii) between 1937 and 1949; and (m) between 1950 and 1962. The paper assesses the degree of change over the three cohorts in respect of (a) the gross relationship between origins and entry cl…
The role of social support in mediating the psychological consequences of economic stress
The idea that social support can act as a buffer against the negative consequences of stress has been a particularly influential one. Most of the relevant research has focused on the impact of life events as measured through the standard life-event inventory methodology. Such research has lacked a sociological character in that the structural contexts of people's lives are treated as if they were extraneous to the stress process. In this paper I …
Resources, Deprivation and the Measurement of Poverty
Ringen has advocated the use of both income and deprivation criteria in identifying those excluded from society due to lack of resources, a widely accepted definition of poverty. We illustrate with Irish data how this might be done, paying particular attention to how appropriate indicators of deprivation are to be selected. The results show that employing both income and deprivation criteria rather than income alone can make a substantial differe…
The Development of Industrial Society in Ireland
Modelling Trends in Social Fluidity: The Core Model and a Measured-Variable Approach Compared
Journal Article Modelling Trends in Social Fluidity: The Core Model and a Measured-Variable Approach Compared Get access RICHARD BREEN, RICHARD BREEN Department of Sociology and Social Policy, The Queen's UniversityBelfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland Tel: + + -44-232-245133; Fax: + + -44-232-320668. E-mail: [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar CHRISTOPHER T. WHELAN CHRISTOPHER T. WHELAN The E…
Social class, class origins and political partisanship in the Republic of Ireland
As Laver (1992) notes, people who write about Irish politics frequently describe Ireland as a rather peculiar place. One aspect of this peculiarity is that voters in the Republic of Ireland do not behave like their European counterparts. In particular, Irish voting patterns appear to be only weakly structured by social class. Recent contributions to the debate employing a more sophisticated categorisation of classes have led to some qualification…
Social Class, Unemployment, and Psychological Distress
Attempts to explain variation in rates of psychological distress by social class have included reference to social selection, differential exposure to stress, and differential vulnerability arising from inequalities in access to resources. Our analysis draws on data from a national survey of the Republic of Ireland in order to examine these hypotheses. No evidence to support the social selection hypothesis was found. In addressing the issue of di…
Gender and Class Mobility: Evidence from the Republic of Ireland
Gender has frequently been identified as the most controversial issue confronting class analysis. In this paper we make use of data from the Republic of Ireland to assess the extent to which the incorporation of women in class mobility analysis alters our understanding of the central processes of social mobility. We find that for married women their husband's class is a more powerful predictor of household poverty and life-style than their own 'c…
Resources, Deprivation, And Poverty
Poverty is a notoriously ill-defined term, both in common usage and in academic application. Empirical research on poverty has to deal first of all with the ambiguities and confusions associated with the term and concept: what is it that one is actually trying to measure? It then has to address the problem that the various approaches to measuring poverty that are used in practice may not adequately implement the underlying concept: they may not c…
The Relationship Between Income and Deprivation: A Dynamic Perspective
Les analyses fondées sur un seuil monétaire de pauvreté ne permettent pas toujours de repérer les ménages atteints par la privation ou l'exclusion. L'analyse d'une enquête irlandaise de grande taille a permis de montrer que le revenu courant des ménages influence fortement les niveaux de privation, mais on y décèle également d'autres aspects importants de la situation courante des ménages et du cheminement antérieur qui les y a amenés. Il semble…
Marginalization, deprivation, and fatalism in the Republic of Ireland: Class and Underclass Perspectives
The emergence of large-scale long-term unemployment in the Republic of Ireland suggests that it might provide an interesting case to which to apply the concept of an ‘underclass’. In this paper we explore the relationship between labour-market marginality, deprivation, and fatalism. The available evidence in relation to both social isolation and milieu effects suggests that the term ‘underclass’can have only a very limited applicability in the Ir…
Envisioning the Future Welfare State
Economics (62 works) · Political science (43 works) · Economic growth (42 works) · Sociology (40 works) · Development economics (36 works) · Demographic economics (35 works) · Social Policy and Reform Studies (34 works) · Poverty (33 works) · Income, Poverty, and Inequality (30 works) · Employment and Welfare Studies (24 works)