THE LAST OCCUPATION AS A MEASURE OF SOCIAL POSITION Zbyszek Sawiński Educational Research Institute, Poland Henryk Domański Polish Academy of Sciences www.ibe.edu.pl www.ifispan.waw.pl
Problem Work provides income and other social privileges, like prestige. Work shapes values and attitudes that are required in the labor market. The hypothesis: An occupation is a better predictor of social standing for respondents who are currently working than for those who are not. if true Does it make sense to ask the respondents who had recent work many years ago, about the details of their last occupation? 2
Data: European Social Survey 2010 FILTER QUESTIONS F18. Did you do any paid work of an hour or more in the last seven days? (Yes/No) [if NO] F19. Have you ever had a paid job? (Yes/No) currently working ever worked never worked QUESTIONS ABOUT WORK F21. In your main job are/were you: an employee, self-employed, or working for your own family s business? F25. In your main job, do/did you have any responsibility for supervising the work of other employees? (Yes/No) [if YES] F26. How many people are/were you responsible for? SOCIAL CLASS (e.g. EGP) F31. What does/did the firm/organisation you work/ed for mainly make or do? [WRITE IN].. F33. What is/was the name or title of your main job? [WRITE IN].. ISCO F34. In your main job, what kind of work do/did you do most of the time? [WRITE IN].. F34a What training or qualifications are/were needed for the job? [WRITE IN].. 3
Percentages of working respondents in 26 countries ESS 2010 Switzerland Norway Netherlands Denmark Sweden Germany Czech Rep. UK Russia France Belgium Finland Slovakia Poland Estonia Cyprus Spain Israel Hungary Slovenia Ukraine Ireland Bulgaria Portugal Greece Croatia 65 65 62 61 60 56 56 55 54 53 53 52 52 52 51 51 50 49 49 48 47 41 41 40 40 39 41 51 46 35 42 33 29 38 34 37 35 44 37 35 43 31 34 35 43 39 42 29 30 33 36 36 6 5 5 3 4 10 15 7 12 10 12 4 12 13 6 18 16 15 9 13 11 17 8 14 25 19 working ever worked never worked 4
Definition of work situation %, all countries %, all countries currently working 51 58 working 17 not working ever worked 37 25 retired never worked 11 excluded 5
Work situation by age: All countries 100% 90% average age = 40 80% 70% 60% average age = 70 50% 40% average age = 42 30% 20% 10% 0% 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85-89 90+ working not working retired 6
HOUSEHOLD INCOME 7
Household income in ESS 2010 F41. Using this card, please tell me which letter describes your household's total income, after tax and compulsory deductions, from all sources? If you don't know the exact figure, please give an estimate. Example, Poland J. 1100 PLN or less R. 1101-1500 PLN C. 1501-2000 PLN M. 2001-2400 PLN F. 2401-2800 PLN S. 2801-3300 PLN K. 3301-3900 PLN P. 3901-4700 PLN D. 4701-6000 PLN H. 6000 PLN or more 1st decile group 2nd decile group 3rd decile group 4th decile group 5th decile group 6th decile group 7th decile group 8th decile group 9th decile group 10th decile group 8
HH INCOME DECILE GROUP 8,0 I. Higher prof. & managers ESS 2010, 25 countries 7,0 II. Lower prof., supv.of n-man. IVa Self-empl. with empl. I. Higher prof. & managers 6,0 5,0 4,0 IIIa Routine non-manuals V Manual supervisors IVb Self-empl. no empl VI Skilled workers IIIb Lower sales-service VIIa Unskilled workers IVc Self-empl. farmers VIIb Farm laborers I. Higher prof. & managers II. Lower prof., supv.of n-man. IIIa Routine non-manuals IIIb Lower sales-service IVa Self-empl. with empl. IVb Self-empl. no empl V Manual supervisors IVc Self-empl. farmers VI Skilled workers VIIa Unskilled workers VIIb Farm laborers I. Higher prof. & managers II. Lower prof., supv.of n-man. IVa Self-empl. with empl. IIIa Routine non-manuals V Manual supervisors VI Skilled workers IIIb Lower sales-service IVb Self-empl. no empl VIIa Unskilled workers II. Lower prof., supv.of n-man. IVa Self-empl. with empl. IIIa Routine non-manuals IVb Self-empl. no empl V Manual supervisors VI Skilled workers IIIb Lower sales-service VIIa Unskilled workers IVc Self-empl. farmers VIIb Farm laborers 3,0 VIIb Farm laborers IVc Self-empl. farmers 2,0 ------------- labor force ------------- working not working retired total, aged 15+ 1,0 Eta 2 0.126 Eta 2 0.056 Eta 2 0.114 Eta 2 0.133 Mean 6.32 Mean 4.27 Mean 4.16 Mean 5.44 9
HH INCOME DECILE GROUP 9,0 Germany 8,0 7,0 6,0 5,0 4,0 V/VI Skilled work. VIIa Non-skilled work. VIIa Non-skilled work. V/VI Skilled work.. V/VI Skilled work. V/VI Skilled work. VIIa Non-skilled work. 3,0 VIIa Non-skilled work. 2,0 1,0 ------------- labor force ------------- working not working retired total, aged 15+ 0,0 Eta 2 0.157 Eta 2 0.048 Eta 2 0.209 Eta 2 0.149 Mean 6.44 Mean 4.45 Mean 4.63 Mean 5.74 10
HH INCOME DECILE GROUP 9,0 Bulgaria 8,0 7,0 6,0 V/VI Skilled work.. 5,0 4,0 VIIa Non-skilled work. V/VI Skilled work. V/VI Skilled work. V/VI Skilled work. VIIa Non-skilled work. 3,0 VIIa Non-skilled work. VIIa Non-skilled work. 2,0 1,0 ------------- labor force ------------- working not working retired total, aged 15+ 0,0 Eta 2 0.123 Eta 2 0.121 Eta 2 0.077 Eta 2 0.134 Mean 6.63 Mean 3.61 Mean 3.24 Mean 4.78 11
VALUES AND ATTITUDES 12
1,5 SELF-DIRECTION: Independent thinking and action choosing, creating, exploring. more self-directed Germany 1,0 0,5 V+VI Skilled workers VIIa Non-skilled workers V+VI Skilled workers VIIa Non-skilled workers V+VI Skilled workers V+VI Skilled workers VIIa Non-skilled workers 0,0 VIIa Non-skilled workers -0,5 ------------- labor force ------------- working not working retired total, aged 15+ -1,0 less self-directed Eta 2 0.060 Eta 2 0.054 Eta 2 0.095 Eta 2 0.060 Mean 0.56 Mean 0.53 Mean 0.49 Mean 0.54 13
C21. Regardless of whether you belong to a particular religion, how religious would you say you are? (var RLGDGR) Poland 8,0 7,5 VERY RELIGIOUS VIIa Non-skilled workers 7,0 6,5 V+VI Skilled workers VIIa Non-skilled workers 6,0 5,5 VIIa Non-skilled workers V+VI Skilled workers VIIa Non-skilled workers V+VI Skilled workers V+VI Skilled workers 5,0 4,5 ------------- labor force ------------- working not working retired total, aged 15+ 4,0 NOT AT ALL RELIGIOUS Eta 2 0.022 Eta 2 0.021 Eta 2 0.048 Eta 2 0.035 Mean 5.85 Mean 5.82 Mean 7.10 Mean 6.18 14
Conclusions The hypothesis only partially confirmed. Household income. o East European countries: People do not keep their privileges after retirement, so the last occupation becomes a poor indicator of material situation. o West European countries: The privileges persist after retirement, so the occupation continues to be a good indicator of social status. Values & attitudes. o For values rooted in social heritage, the last occupation looks to be a better predictor in case of respondents who retired. Their value systems are no longer constrained by the requirements of the labor market, so they may return to original class values. At least in some dimensions, the last occupation is a valuable indicator of the social position for respondents who are not working. It makes sense to ask the questions about the last occupation to all respondents who ever worked. 15
Thank you very much for your attention! Zbyszek Sawinski: z.sawinski@ibe.edu.pl Henryk Domanski: hdomansk@ifispan.waw.pl 16