Segregation and preferences for redistribution

Abstract

We study the relationship between segregation and preferences for redistribution in Europe. We measure segregation as the incidence of assortative mating in terms of education and occupation. Assortative mating is measured at the regional level for 10 European countries using the IPUMS data. We combine these data with eight waves of the European Social Survey (2002-2016). We find that increased socioeconomic segregation in most forms of assortative mating leads affluent individuals to support less redistribution. Results suggest that affluent individuals are less socially attached when there are high levels of segregation