Solving Europe’s Value Deficit via Economic Well-being? The Complex Relationship between Economic Well-being and Attitudes towards Morality Issues

The EU’s “democratic deficit” is increasingly understood as a “value deficit”. Brexit, the rise of anti-EU parties and the economic crisis in 2008 have triggered debates about common values susceptible to hold citizens and member states together. Despite the close association between the economic crisis of the EU and the debate on its value deficit, comparably few scholars investigated the link between economic well-being and attitudes towards morality issues. We contribute to closing this research gap by analysing the relationship between economic factors and attitudes towards homosexuality (1980 to 2018). We uncover that economic well-being at the individual level exerts a positive effect throughout all countries, while macroeconomic prosperity is particularly relevant in member states with intermediate levels of net income, aligning with Norris and Inglehart’s (2019) work. Accordingly, we conclude that economic and value-based integration are not two competing processes but instead are mutually beneficial. When aiming to solve the EU’s “value deficit”, reducing economic insecurity and economic inequalities could prove very helpful in fostering the notion of gender equality and measures alike.