Getting Ahead through Our Own Efforts
Public Attitudes towards the Deservingness of the Rich in New Zealand
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2115651 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter Skilling (0000-0002-3426-3517, Auckland University of Technology), Jessica Mclay (0000-0003-4106-1435, University of Auckland) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 147-169 |
| Publication date | 2015-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Social Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-2794 • E-ISSN: 1469-7823 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0047279414000610 |
| OpenAlex | W2042582708 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 27 |
The high level of academic, public and policy attention paid to the deservingness of the poor and (especially) of welfare recipients contrasts with the scant attention paid to the deservingness - or otherwise - of the rich. This discrepancy reflects socially dominant - but contestable - ideas about equality of opportunity and the role of individual merit within market systems. In this journal, Karen Rowlingson, Stewart Connor and Michael Orton have noted that wealth and riches have remained invisible as policy 'problems'. This invisibility is socially important, in that policy efforts to address current, socially damaging, levels of economic inequality require attention to the deservingness of the rich, as well as of the poor. This article draws on recent survey data from New Zealand to provide new insights into public attitudes to the rich. It finds that the New Zealand public view the rich as more individually deserving of their outcomes than the poor are deserving of social assistance, and that attitudes towards the rich are related to redistributive sentiments at least as strongly as attitudes towards the poor. In concluding, the article reflects on the limitations of existing data sources and makes suggestions for future research
Inequality · Invisibility · Political economy · Political science · Public policy · Social policy · Sociology · Welfare · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · New Zealand Economic and Social Studies · Social Policy and Reform Studies
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| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,86 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2025 (7) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |