A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Income Inequality, Poverty, and Fear of Crime in Europe
Authors: Kujala Pietari, Kallio Johanna, Niemelä Mikko
Publisher: SAGE journals
Publication year: 2019
Journal: Cross-Cultural Research
Volume: 53
First page : 163
Last page: 185
eISSN: 1552-3578
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1069397118799048
Web address : https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1069397118799048
Studies of fear of crime in Europe associate country-level income inequality with fear of crime. However, by considering only income inequality these studies do not account for the effects of poverty. This article provides a more comprehensive perspective through multiple country-level indicators of income inequality and poverty and thereby provides important insights into fear of crime. The research data consist of the European Social Survey, Round 7 (2014), and country-level indicators provided by Eurostat. The results show that the Gini coefficient, S80/S20 ratio, and material deprivation are positively associated with fear of crime. The association is statistically significant but is moderate at best. However, the association between the relative median at-risk-of-poverty risk gap and fear of crime is not statistically significant. Education and income only appear to be mediators between material deprivation and fear of crime. Trust appears to be a mediator between the country-level indicators and fear of crime.