Regional Patterns of Social Differentiation in Visegrád Countries

0518702 - SOÚ 2020 RIV CZ eng J - Journal Article
Fialová, Kamila - Želinský, T.
Regional Patterns of Social Differentiation in Visegrád Countries.
Sociologický časopis / Czech Sociological Review. Roč. 55, č. 6 (2019), s. 735-789. ISSN 0038-0288. E-ISSN 0038-0288
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA18-09220S
Institutional support: RVO:68378025
Keywords : social stratification * social class * income
OECD category: Sociology
Impact factor: 0.412, year: 2019
Method of publishing: Open access
http://sreview.soc.cas.cz/cs/issue/204-sociologicky-casopis-czech-sociological-review-6-2019/3948

This paper focuses on a neglected –horizontal– dimension of social stratification. It examines the patterns of social differentiation in the Visegrad countries (Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia) and attempts to assess changes in social structure at the subnational level. Social structure changes are explained within broader socio-economic development. The main analyses performed in this study are based on EU-SILC microdata covering 2006-2016, and offer a comprehensive perspective on the patterns of social stratification development at the regional level utilising three dimensions: social class (proxied by the European Social-Economic Classification), highest attained education level, and income. The results indicate different trajectories in social differentiation across the four countries, although some of the patterns identified are similar. The results indicate a decreasing working class and an increasing salariat, declining shares of people with at most primary or secondary education, and increasing numbers of those with tertiary education. Income inequalities were rather stable across the Czech and Slovak regions, but fluctuated in Hungarian regions, and initially greater income inequalities in Polish regions have tended to decline over time. Our findings suggest the least favourable patterns in the development of regional social differentiation in Hungarian regions.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0303768