Which Class and What Squeezes? Relationships with Wellbeing, National Pride, and Inequality

Abstract

Singapore had been experiencing high income inequality and a very recent drop in income disparity. As an economy competing for international top talents and investment, Singapore faced worldwide long-term forces raising income inequality; as a democratic city-state responding to heterogeneous demand of its voters, recently strengthened redistributive policies benefiting the poor might strain the national pride and sense of belonging of the middle income class as compared to the relatively more mobile top income class. Using the World Values Survey Singapore 2012, this paper provides evidence that given the long-term trend of income disparity and the recent strengthening of redistribution, the middle income class was indeed squeezed in terms of national pride, feeling as part of the Singapore nation, and attitude towards income redistribution, and suggests that the perception of low social mobility is also a reason for the findings among others.

Keywords: Middle class squeeze, inequality, redistribution, social mobility, Singapore, national pride

JEL Classification: J62, E24, E62