Résultat de la recherche
Between Social Structure Inertia and Changing Biographies: Trajectories of Material Deprivation in Switzerland
In contemporary societies, attaining a decent standard of living which allows people to lead a socially integrated life is a key issue for human rights and social policy. In a context in which social structures are more porous yet still quite powerful, the risk of poverty is influenced both by the inertia of these structural determinants and by uncertain life events. This contribution analyzes trajectories of material deprivation in Switzerland from 1999 to 2013 using data from the Swiss Household Panel. We describe the trajectories the households experienced and test the impact of various determinants of these trajectories. We challenge the robustness of previous results by developing innovative measures of the determinants by gathering information at the household level and by taking into account changes in the situation of the households over time. Our findings suggest that some of the claims that have been made regarding the individualization of social inequalities and the decline of social class are not confirmed empirically, and that the classical determinants of social inequalities remain powerful predictors. Sure enough, critical life events can have an impact; however, the scale of this impact is nowhere near as great as the effect of ‘classical’ poverty factors.
Privation et risque d'appauvrissement en Suisse, 1999-2007
Un accroissement de la pauvreté et des conditions de vie précaires est souvent évoqué en Suisse depuis plusieurs années. Cet article teste l'hypothèse d'un tel appauvrissement en recourant à une analyse longitudinale des données 1999–2007 du Panel suisse de ménages et en utilisant un indice de privation relative pour mesure la pauvreté. Les résultats montrent qu'au niveau de l'ensemble de la population, aucune tendance à l'appauvrissement ne se laisse observer ces dernières années. L'analyse des transitions individuelles entre forte privation, précarité et confort matériel indique par contre qu'une part importante de la population suisse se trouve confrontée à une pauvreté persistante ou récurrente.