Solidarity in times of pandemia

Abstract

This study examines the changes in solidarity in Hungary over the period of 2017-2020 on a representative sample of active aged respondents. It also seeks to answer questions on how inclusive and exclusive solidarity and non-solidarity groups are characterised during an epidemic, how group membership is related 1) to changes in working conditions caused by the epidemic, 2) to affinity for the government and 3) to willingness to vaccinate and the underlying risk-taking and vaccination-averse motives. The research questions focus on how the prevalence of solidarity clusters changed over the period under study, and which sociodemographic factors, labour market experiences related to lockdowns, vaccination attitudes and political affinities are associated with solidarity and different solidarity clusters in epidemic situations. The analysis uses multinomial logistic regression to characterise inclusive and exclusive solidarity and non-solidarity clusters among active aged individuals based on modified Kriesi’s model. Our results show a significant increase in the support for macro-solidarity and a marked increase in the share of inclusive and, to a lesser extent, exclusive solidarity clusters over the period under study. At the same time, it shows the declining level of exclusionary attitudes and so, the decreasing distribution of the exclusive non-solidarity cluster. However, it is the members of the exclusive solidarity and non-solidarity groups who have significantly lower vaccination intentions, which indicates a lack of active risk-taking behaviours in a serious health emergency situation and may, among other things, make it more difficult to achieve herd immunity.