Social class and income distribution. Analysis of household inequality sources in Argentina, 2003 ? 2020

PLA. JESICA; AYOS, EMILIO

Civitas ? Revista de Ciências Sociais

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Sociais da Pucrs

Lugar: Porto Alegre; Año: 2022 p. 1 - 20

1984-7289

Abstract: This paper aims to analyse the relationship between household income sources and household economic welfare over a medium-term period spanning different political-economic cycles in Argentina. It bases on the convergence between social class studies and welfare regimes analysis. We used a quantitative methodological strategy based on microdata from the Permanent Household Survey (EPH for its acronym in Spanish) of the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec for its acronym in Spanish), Argentina. The class scheme known as EGP/Casmin was constructed. The income sources for the different years were harmonised into labour and non-labour sources, differentiating the latter between market income and welfare income. The relationship between social class and income sources was analysed descriptively. A decomposition analysis by income sources and social class of the Gini economic inequality index was applied at the household level. Among the main conclusions of the paper, the strong dependence of households of all social classes on labour income for their social reproduction is highlighted, even in periods of strong dynamism in the field of social policies, such as the governments framed within the "progressive turn" or "pink tide".