Individualisation and poverty over time: the Italian case (1985-2011)

In the last few years, much sociological debate has focused on individualisation theory, especially on Beck's risk society version. According to this theory, contemporary social change can be interpreted as the progressive weakening of the influence of social structures on individual behaviour. Individualisation theory has been adopted in many fields of study (voting behaviour, consumption behaviour, etc.). Although much of the debate has a theoretical character, there have been some attempts to empirically assess individualisation theory. As far as poverty is concerned, scholars supporting individualisation theory, as well as scholars opposing it, have adopted one of the following methodological strategies: highlighting the role played by individual variables (especially by life course variables) rather than structural variables; controlling for individual rather than structural variables. Both these approaches focus on short observation windows; however, it is necessary to consider long periods in order to assess the core of individualisation theory, i.e. the decreasing influence of social structures. Our approach assesses the change (rather than the stability) of the individual-level relationship between structures (occupational classes, education, etc.) and poverty over a long time period. This changing-parameter model is implemented through multilevel modelling with families at level one and years at level two. The analysis focuses on the Italian case and it is based on data from the Family Expenditure Survey (Indagine sui Consumi delle Famiglie) that was collected by the Italian Statistical Institute (ISTAT). It covers the period from 1985 to 2011. The results seem to indicate that there is stability in the relationship between structures and poverty.