Class and relative wealth accumulation in five European countries: Sociological Lessons from the Household Financial and Consumption Survey (European Central Bank, 2014 Wave)

Abstract

Recent sociological research tends to move beyond the divide between economics and sociology in the study of socioeconomic inequality. It focuses primarily on the relationship between social class and work-related income. Yet, it has been shown that wealth, rather than income, was the decisive feature of contemporary inequality and that wealth and income increasingly tend to be captured through the same households. To bridge the gap between the two disciplines and provide a comprehensive understanding of socioeconomic inequality, this article developed an integrated analysis of wealth and income distribution among occupational groups at different ages in five major European countries. To that end, we used the Household Financial and Consumption Survey [2014 wave] of the European Central Bank network.