Perception of Essential Workers, Racial Prejudice, and Welfare Preferences

• In Event: Intersectional Research on Class and Inequality

Abstract

Previous studies show that Americans are more accepting of inequality than others and that racial prejudice is a major contributor to the low level of public support for redistribution. Nevertheless, the Covid-19 pandemic has increasingly made American citizens recognize the essential role low-income workers play in society. While the media has honored frontline workers and their efforts to keep the country safe, these individuals are often underpaid and are frequently members of racial minorities who are also disproportionately impacted by the disease. Will the growing attention to low-income workers help people increase public support for redistribution? And how will this effect be conditioned by race of low-income workers and pre-existing racial attitudes of individuals? We intend to answer this question through a survey experiment in the U.S. First, we examine how racial and essentialness cues of low-wage workers (re)shape redistributive preferences by changing individual perceptions of welfare deservingness and fairness. Further, we study how such effects are moderated by preexisting racial attitudes.

Authors

• John Seungmin Kuk, University of Oklahoma

• Jeong Hyun Kim, Louisiana State University

• Yesola Kweon, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)