Why has the italian middle class remained so constant?

Titolo Rivista: SOCIOLOGIA E POLITICHE SOCIALI
Autori/Curatori: Steve Pressmann
Anno di pubblicazione: 2017 Fascicolo: 2 Lingua: Italiano
Numero pagine: 21 P. 45-65 Dimensione file: 327 KB
DOI: 10.3280/SP2017-002004
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This paper contributes to the literature on the shrinking middle class by looking at Italy as a case study of how institutional, demographic and financial factors affect the size of the middle class. We look at eight other countries, nine countries in total, divided into three broad categories, based on the framework of Gøsta Esping-Andersen (1990: Anglo-Saxon nations, Nordic countries and Continental Europe. The Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) is the data source for the empirical work. The paper estimates the size of the middle class over time, noting the uniqueness of Italy, a country with a stable middle class over time, despite high and fluctuating unemployment rates. The paper examines some of the reasons the Italian middle class did not decline as it did in many developed countries.

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  • Narrowing the gap: the middle class and the modernization of welfare in Italy Remo Siza, in International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy /2018 pp.116
    DOI: 10.1108/IJSSP-02-2017-0011
  • Declines and divisions: the missing welfare needs of the majority Remo Siza, in Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy /2019 pp.211
    DOI: 10.1080/21699763.2018.1559755

Steve Pressmann, Why has the italian middle class remained so constant? in "SOCIOLOGIA E POLITICHE SOCIALI" 2/2017, pp 45-65, DOI: 10.3280/SP2017-002004