Forschung  Prof. Nora Waitkus receives Starting Grant from the European Research Council

Prof. Dr. Nora Waitkus receives a Starting Grant in the 2025 call for proposals on the topic of ‘Towards a Sociology of Debt Stratification and its Moral Foundations Across Countries.’ The project, called ‘SOCDEBT,’ will start in February 2025. The grant, awarded by the European Research Council with a volume of almost 1.5 million euros, deals with debt from a broader sociological perspective.

Brief summary of SOCDEBT:
The financialisation of households in the 21st century has made credit and debt a central factor in economic inequality and has reshaped financial burdens and opportunities. Debt shackles the poor and restricts their mobility, but it also provides leverage for the rich, enabling further investment, wealth accumulation and opportunities.
This paradox of debt is at the heart of SOCDEBT, which is based on four main objectives:
SOCDEBT will examine the structure of debt in 35 countries over a period of three decades, identifying the social groups most likely to be in debt, the types of debt and the differences between countries and over time.
The project will examine the accumulation of debt, particularly in response to (adverse) life events, and how this process differs between social groups and national contexts.We will examine debt practices and the factors that influence individuals' decisions to take on debt, as well as repayment strategies and the role of social influences, such as peers. Finally,

SOCDEBT will examine the moral economy of debt, looking at how different social groups in different countries view debt and credit, what cultural and moral dimensions exist, and how assessments differ between the working class and the middle class. SOCDEBT moves from examining macroeconomic differences in household debt structures to exploring mesoeconomic debt practices and moral judgements. This comprehensive approach will fill crucial gaps in our understanding of differences in debt structures and accumulation across different social contexts. By combining innovative statistical methods with multiple nationally representative household surveys for up to 35 countries across all continents and over a long period of time, as well as new data from surveys and focus groups in five European countries, SOCDEBT will challenge and reshape our understanding of the current dynamics of economic inequality worldwide.