Poverty Trajectories After Risky Life Course Events in Different European Welfare Regimes

Abstract

This article complements existing life course research on poverty by looking at the typical income poverty trajectories during the first five years after experiencing a risky life event such as partnership dissolution and leaving the parental home. By broadening the time frame of research into poverty transitions, a more complete picture can be drawn of the poverty patterns related to these life events. Latent class analyses of the European Community Household Panel show that the poverty risk after experiencing a life course event is not equally large and long-lasting for everyone. Broadly, four comparable latent classes can be found across Germany, Spain, Denmark and the United Kingdom: persistent non-poor, persons with a transient Á or transient-recurrent Á poverty risk, persons with longer-term poverty risk and late poverty entrants. Yet, the size and occurrence of the latent classes differs between countries according to welfare regime. The article discusses country differences and social determinants of the different poverty trajectories.

Changing Lone Parents, Changing Life Courses

“…Again, life course researchers have pointed to the dynamic nature of this phenomenon. Placing the poverty risk in a life course framework showed the accumulated disadvantage of more vulnerable social groups (less educated, precariously employed, in bad health) and the reinforcing character of episodes of lone parenthood therein (Tsakloglou and Papadopoulos 2002;Vandecasteele 2010Vandecasteele , 2011.…”

Economic Stress and the Great Recession in Ireland: Polarization, Individualization or ‘Middle Class Squeeze’?

“…The life course perspective on social risks has often been linked with the individualization thesis. The argument goes that new inequalities emerge in consequence of individualized life trajectories and lifestyles with social risks to be understood as a phase in a personal life trajectory, while hierarchical stratification structures such as social class are considered to have lost their impact (Vandecastelle, 2007, 2010, Pintelon, 2013. During the boom period the level of personal indebtedness in Ireland increased dramatically.…”

Differences in the Patterns of in-work Poverty in Germany and the UK

“…As long as partners form an economic unit, this has no impact on country-specific gender disparities in (working) poverty. However, if new households are formed after events like separation or divorce, economic dependence becomes relevant with regard to the poverty risk (Vandecasteele 2009): in Germany, women's week labour market attachment during marriage will rarely allow for her to secure the previously achieved economic standard after a separation. Consequently, the gender specific difference in the working poverty risk is assumed to be greater in Germany than in the UK (H5).…”