Does informing citizens about the non-meritocratic nature of inequality bolster support for a universal basic income? Evidence from a population-based survey experiment

Despite citizens’ precarization and policymakers’ enthusiasm for a universal basic income (UBI), this alternative to targeted welfare has, curiously, received limited popular support. We theorize that this is due to people overestimating society’s meritocratic nature. Accordingly, we field a randomized survey experiment with a representative sample of the Dutch population (n = 1,630) to investigate the impact of information provision about the non-meritocratic nature of wealth and ethnic inequality on support for a UBI. Informed by extant research indicating that citizens respond differently to the same information because of material circumstances or different worldviews, we further estimate conditional average treatment effects to explore moderation by (1) income, (2) economic egalitarianism, (3) welfare chauvinism and (4) institutional trust. We find that support for a UBI is higher among individuals with lower incomes and those who are more egalitarian and less welfare chauvinistic. Nonetheless, while exposure to our factual treatment makes participants more concerned about inequality and supportive of economic redistribution in general, it neither directly nor conditionally affects their support for a UBI. Our findings suggest that a UBI may be deemed too radical an approach to addressing inequality. We discuss theoretical and policy implications and provide suggestions for future research

What do stances on immigrants' welfare entitlement mean?:Evidence from a correlational class analysis

Recent in-depth qualitative research indicates that different people ascribe different meanings to their apparently similar stances on immigrants' entitlement to welfare. We are the first to investigate such variation quantitatively among the public-at-large, applying the novel method Correlational Class Analysis to an original survey fielded among a representative sample in the Netherlands (n = 2138). We uncover five ways of looking at immigrants' entitlement to welfare, each including both people who oppose that entitlement and those who support it. People who adhere to these different viewpoints substantially differ when it comes to income, education, religious denomination, and political preference. We interpret these unique findings and discuss them in relation to the extant literature on welfare chauvinism. Moreover, uncovering what people's stances regarding immigrants' entitlement to welfare mean not only advances the scholarly debate on welfare chauvinism, but also provides a stepping stone for meaning-oriented sociological research on public opinion more generally

Epilepsy Is a Risk Factor for Sudden Cardiac Arrest in the General Population

Background People with epilepsy are at increased risk for sudden death. The most prevalent cause of sudden death in the general population is sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) due to ventricular fibrillation (VF). SCA may contribute to the increased incidence of sudden death in people with epilepsy. We assessed whether the risk for SCA is increased in epilepsy by determining the risk for SCA among people with active epilepsy in a community-based study. Methods and Results This investigation was part of the Amsterdam Resuscitation Studies (ARREST) in the Netherlands. It was designed to assess SCA risk in the general population. All SCA cases in the study area were identified and matched to controls (by age, sex, and SCA date). A diagnosis of active epilepsy was ascertained in all cases and controls. Relative risk for SCA was estimated by calculating the adjusted odds ratios using conditional logistic regression (adjustment was made for known risk factors for SCA). We identified 1019 cases of SCA with ECG-documented VF, and matched them to 2834 controls. There were 12 people with active epilepsy among cases and 12 among controls. Epilepsy was associated with a three-fold increased risk for SCA (adjusted OR 2.9 [95%CI 1.1–8.0.], p = 0.034). The risk for SCA in epilepsy was particularly increased in young and females. Conclusion Epilepsy in the general population seems to be associated with an increased risk for SCA

De Stand van het Noorden

In 2020 verscheen de eerste Stand van het Noorden, een op feiten gebaseerde analyse van de Noordelijke economie. Het document beschreef op hoofdlijnen de staat van de Noord-Nederlandse economie, de ontwikkelingen die zich afspelen in de context van het Noorden en hoe daar vanuit het Noorden op gereageerd zou kunnen worden. Op 26 juni 2020 heeft de Board besloten de Stand van het Noorden jaarlijks uit te laten voeren, bedoeld om het goede gesprek over de economie in de board te kunnen voeden en als verzamelplaats van onderzoeken en wetenschappelijke inzichten