Synopses & Reviews
Research on poverty in rich countries relies primarily on household income to capture living standards and distinguish those in poverty, and this is also true of official poverty measurement and monitoring. However, awareness of the limitations of income has been heightening interest in the role that non-monetary measures of deprivation can play. This book takes as starting-point that research on poverty and social exclusion has been undergoing a fundamental shift towards a multidimensional approach; that researchers and policy-makers alike have struggled to develop concepts and indicators that do this approach justice; and that this is highly salient not only within individual countries (including both Britain and the USA) but also for the European Union post-enlargement. The difficulties encountered in applying a multidimensional approach reflect limitations in the information available but also in the conceptual and empirical underpinnings provided by existing research.
The central aim of this book is to contribute to the development of those underpinnings and productive ways of employing non-monetary indicators of deprivation. It will appeal to readers from diverse disciplinary perspectives, especially those concerned with substantive issues and policy implications. In addressing this audience it also provides a non-technical account of recent developments in the rapidly expanding academic literature, serving as a guide to those who wish to explore it in greater depth. The book maps out the current landscape and the best way forward, concluding by offering a critical evaluation of the EU's 2020 poverty reduction target.
About the Author
Brian Nolan previously worked in the Economic and Social Research Institute, where he was Head of the Social Policy Research Division, and in the Central Bank of Ireland. He is a UCD graduate and has a doctorate in economics from the London School of Economics. He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy, and President of the Irish Economics Association. He has participated in a range of collaborative research networks and projects, and is research co-ordinator of the GINI project funded under the EU's FP7 programme, focusing on the economic, social and political impacts of growing inequalities [see http://www.gini-research.org/articles/home]
Christopher T. Whelan was formerly a Research Professor in the Economic and Social Research Institute. He was Chair of the Standing Committee for the Social Sciences of the European Science Foundation from 2002 to 2006 and of the Governing Council of the EU Economic Change, Quality of Life and Social Cohesion (EQUALSOC) Network of Excellence from 2005-2009. He is Chair of the European Consortium for Sociological Research. He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy, associate editor of the European Sociological Review and a member of the editorial board of Longitudinal and Life Course Studies.
Table of Contents
1. Why Measure Material Deprivation?
2. Non-Monetary Indicators
3. Deprivation and the EU's Social Inclusion Indicators
4. Income Poverty and Deprivation in an Enlarged Europe
5. The Dimensionality of Deprivation in Europe
6. Understanding the Mismatch between Income Poverty and Material Deprivation
7. Comparing Poverty Indicators in an Enlarged EU
8. Economic Vulnerability and Multiple Deprivation: Welfare State and Social Class Variation
9. The Dynamics of Poverty, Deprivation and Economic Vulnerability
10. Europeanization of Inequality and European Reference Groups
11. Material Deprivation, the EU 2020 Poverty Target and the Development of Social indicators