In a context where the intensification of social inequalities increasingly undermines social sustainability and collective well-being, this paper examines the relationship between social inequalities and well-being in Europe from a comparative and diachronic perspective, using microdata from the 2016 and 2023 rounds of the European Social Survey (ESS). The study is situated within contemporary debates on development, sustainability, and social justice, in which social inequalities are understood as a central dimension of societies’ capacity to generate durable forms of collective well-being. From this perspective, inequalities are not limited to distributive differences but also encompass unequal conditions of social participation, recognition, and access to resources and opportunities. The paper builds on a previous analysis conducted with ESS 2016 data and seeks to replicate the analytical model for 2023, making it possible to identify continuities and changes in the relationship between inequalities and well-being across European countries. The analysis focuses on multiple axes of social differentiation (gender, age, education, social class, income, and territory) and draws on a multidimensional conceptualisation of well-being inspired by OECD frameworks, with particular emphasis on the subjective well-being, namely life satisfaction and happiness. Methodologically, the study combines comparative descriptive procedures and multivariate statistical techniques to examine how different configurations of inequality across European countries shape perceptions of well-being. The comparison between 2016 and 2023 also enables an assessment of the evolution of these relationships in a context marked by economic crises, the pandemic, political transformations, and challenges associated with the ecological and digital transitions. Preliminary findings point to a consistent association between lower levels of social inequality and higher levels of subjective well-being. At the same time, persistent territorial asymmetries across Europe are observed, reinforcing the idea that reducing inequalities constitutes a central condition for social sustainability and for more durable forms of collective well-being.

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