Abstract This study examines household income heterogeneity across employment types, sub‐regions, and income quantiles in Seoul and Busan. South Korea's two largest metropolitan cities have followed contrasting demographic and economic trajectories. Using the Seoul and Busan Welfare Condition Surveys, unconditional quantile regressions examine employment‐related and sub‐regional income differences in 2018 and 2022. Bootstrap‐based coefficient‐difference tests assess changes between the two survey years. The results reveal distinct distributional patterns. In Seoul, significant changes were observed in several sub‐regional income differences relative to the Central area, whereas in Busan, significant changes were concentrated in employment‐related income differences, particularly among temporary employees in sales and service occupations. Income measures including and excluding public transfers yield broadly similar patterns. In both cities, income increased significantly at the 75th percentile but not at the 25th percentile. Overall, the findings demonstrate substantial employment‐related, spatial and distributional heterogeneity and highlight the value of examining within‐city and distributional variation beyond metropolitan averages.
Abstract Welfare chauvinism, that is, the desire to limit immigrants' opportunity to be awarded the benefits and services of the welfare state, has become a prevalent social phenomenon across European societies over the last decades. Studies have previously explored how subjective and objective economic vulnerability can be related to welfare chauvinistic attitudes. Likewise, studies have also explored how the economic context shapes these attitudes. However, this study goes one step further by exploring the interplay between individual economic experiences and the context these individuals live in. It is hypothesized that economic threat perceptions can be maximized in situations where one struggles economically, while at the same time living in a more economically deprivated region, which in turn can be associated with welfare chauvinism. The study uses the European Social Survey (ESS) from 2016–2017 to examine this relationship across 115 European regions (NUTS 2) using cross level interactions. By exploring the relationship on a regional level, it also increases the statistical powers in the models, as well as measuring a reality that is closer to the individuals lived lives. The study finds limited evidence for a relationship between individual level economic vulnerability and the economic context. It is argued that the lack of significant findings may be explained by self‐interest perspective among the employed, and group empathy among the unemployed.
Abstract Perceptions of older adults as a societal burden (hereafter referred to as “societal‐burden view”) are hostile stereotypes undermining the health and well‐being of older people. From the perspective of the intergenerational contract, the societal‐burden view may manifest differently between the younger population (the contributors) and the older population (the beneficiaries), with varying age‐specific factors associated with it. This study examines age‐related differences in the societal‐burden view and age‐specific associated factors in China. Using 2021 China General Social Survey data ( N = 2524), we found older adults were more likely than younger adults to endorse this view (38.74% vs. 13.81%). For younger adults, higher education, urban residency, life satisfaction, and belief in shared eldercare responsibility correlated with a lower societal‐burden view. For older adults, better health and urban residency, being married, and belief in shared eldercare responsibility are associated with a lower societal‐burden view. This study urges longitudinal research and policies to promote intergenerational harmony and challenge decline‐centered aging narratives.
Abstract This article examines whether the available empirical evidence supports descriptions of the field of environmental social work (ESW) as a social movement. Drawing on classic movement criteria—collective intentionality, organisational coherence, and consequential impact—it interrogates the gap between ESW's normative ambitions and its empirically demonstrable capacity. It combines social movement theory with findings from a companion bibliometric and text‐based mapping of 761 peer‐reviewed ESW articles (1966–2025), classified across conceptual‐theoretical, qualitative, quantitative, mixed‐methods, and review‐based research designs. While qualitative and participatory approaches provide important forms of contextual and experiential knowledge, relatively few studies across methodological traditions examine intervention outcomes, policy influence, or sustained collective environmental effects. The findings suggest that ESW operates primarily as a normatively driven scholarly and professional project, while retaining significant potential for future movement‐oriented development.
