Democratization or segmentation? Explorations on consumption distribution by social class. Argentina 2004-2018

Abstract

The present article aims to explore the evolution of household consumption expenditure and its distribution in the class structure in the first two decades of the 21st century in Argentina. Specifically, the general dynamics of income inequality and household consumption expenditure are analyzed, the way in which income and consumer spending are distributed according to social class and the influence of class positioning on household consumption spending, controlling for other sociodemographic factors. From a quantitative approach, we use the National Household Expenditure Survey (ENGHo) for the years 2004-2005, 2012-2013 and 2017-2018, carried out by INDEC, as data sources. The results of this exploratory study show that the inequality of consumption expenditure and income follow a similar trend, marking a reduction in the period analyzed, but showing a certain increase towards 2017-2018. On the other hand, under the proposed theoretical perspective, the results show the relevance of the approach of the class structure as a central system for the study of economic inequalities. In this sense, although the distances between the classes, in terms of income and expenses, were reduced between the start and the end of the period, there is evidence of an almost unaltered reproduction of the structure by which consumption continues to be segmented between better or worse positioned sectors.