Welfare Euroscepticism and Socioeconomic Status

While the European Union (EU) increasingly strengthens its social integration, opposition towards this process can also be observed, here defined as 'welfare Euroscepticism'. To better understand this newly defined policy paradigm, this paper aims to explain longstanding cleavages in both social policy and EU research: socioeconomic status (SES) divides. The main argument is, that SES groups tend to follow their self-interest regarding welfare Euroscepticism and particularly the EU-wide minimum income benefit proposal examined in this paper. This means, while it is usually the higher SES groups that support EU policies, EU social policies can be assumed to receive more support from lower SES groups. This main argument and its underlying explanations are examined through a multilevel approach using European Social Survey data from 18 EU member states. First, the results demonstrate that welfare Euroscepticism is indeed more prevalent among higher SES groups than lower SES groups (measured through occupation, education, income, and employment). The results indicate robust self-interest patterns among higher SES groups that do not want to carry (perceived) financial burdens of EU social policies. The opinion patterns also emphasise the multidimensionality of attitudes towards EU policies since the SES cleavages can reverse, depending on the policy in focus. Overall the results indicate much potential to mobilise the larger proportion of the public to support EU social policies, i.e., lower SES groups. However, potential conflicts may arise when the EU expands on policies their traditional supporters – higher SES groups – are more likely to oppose. The paper also shows that welfare solidarity on the individual and the country level can mitigate such conflicts. This is because higher levels of welfare generosity and lower levels of welfare chauvinism on the individual and the country level are related to smaller SES cleavages.