482 research outputs found
From Income Poverty to Quality of Life Measurement in Ireland, an Overview 1. ESRI Research Bulletin February 2020/03
There is an increasing consensus that the identification and measurement of poverty using a single income measure fails to capture the complexity of poverty. This was particularly true in Ireland in periods of bust and boom, when relative income poverty measures were unable to reflect the changes in standard of living. Such limits highlight the need to develop a multidimensional approach. This requires developing criteria relating to choice of dimensions and the manner in which they should be combined
Social Mobility in Ireland in the 1990s - Evidence from the 1994 Living in Ireland Survey
In this paper we seek to update findings relating to class mobility outcomes and processes in the Republic of Ireland employing data from the Living in Ireland Survey which was carried out in 1994. We also provide an evaluation of a measured variable model of the mobility process developed on an earlier data set. Our findings confirm that transformation of the class structure has been associated with substantial levels of social mobility. At the same time inequalities of opportunity as reflected in the underlying patterns of social fluidity remain substantial and are constant across cohorts. Gender differences are almost entirely a consequence of occupational segregation and there is no evidence that the underlying processes of class disadvantage operate differently for men and women.
Understanding the Implications of Choice of Deprivation Index for Measuring Consistent Poverty in Ireland
In this paper we make use of the Irish component of the European Union Community Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) survey for 2004 in order to develop a measure of consistent poverty that overcomes some of the difficulties associated with the original indicators employed as targets in the Irish National Anti-Poverty Strategy. Our analysis leads us to propose a set of basic deprivation items that covers a broader range than the original set and provides a more reliable and valid measure. Consistent poverty measures incorporating the revised basic deprivation measure and adopting a threshold of two or more items provide similar estimates of levels of poverty to the original measure. The new broader measure is more strongly associated with current income, surrogates for permanent income and subjective economic pressures. Furthermore, by constructing a consistent poverty typology we are able to demonstrate that when we contrast those defined as poor when employing the new 11-item index but not the 8-item one with those for whom the opposite is true the former display a multidimensional deprivation profile that is substantially less favourable. The accumulated evidence supports the view that the revised consistent poverty measures, which combine a threshold of two or more items on the broader basic deprivation index comprising the 11-item index available in EU-SILC with income poverty, identify those exposed to generalised deprivation arising from lack of resources. This revised deprivation threshold taken together with being below 60 per cent of median income has now been adopted as the official consistent poverty measure in the Irish National Action Plan for Social Inclusion.
Protecting the vulnerable: poverty and social exclusion in ireland as the economic crisis emerged
A frequent refrain during recent debates on welfare cuts has related to the need to âprotect the vulnerableâ. However, it is far from clear that a consensus exists on which individuals or groups are to be included under this heading with consequent lack of clarity for the policy implications of pursuing this goal. In this paper, operating with a conception of social exclusion that incorporates notions of dynamics and multidimensionality, we make use of EU-SILC 2008 data for Ireland to clarify the distinction between income poverty and economic vulnerability. We then proceed to consider the relationship between these outcomes and multiple deprivation, financial pressures and perception of recent and future economic prospects. Our analysis is then extended to compare patterns of risk for poverty and vulnerability in relation to key socio-economic groups. Finally, we will consider the relationship between poverty and vulnerability and scale and form of welfare dependence. Our analysis suggests that the vulnerable but non-poor group may need to be a key focus of attention for any conception of social policy as active rather than passive; as involving social investment rather than social assistance.
Identifying Economically Vulnerable Groups as the Economic Crisis Emerged
A frequent refrain during recent debates on welfare cuts and tax increases has related to the need to âprotect the vulnerableâ. However, it is far from clear that a consensus exists on which individuals or groups are to be included under this heading with a consequent lack of clarity for the policy implications of pursuing this goal. In this paper, operating with a conception of social exclusion that incorporates notions of dynamics and multidimensionality, we make use of EUSILC 2008 data for Ireland to clarify the distinction between income poverty and economic vulnerability. We then proceed to consider the relationship between these outcomes and multiple deprivation, financial pressures and perceptions of recent and future economic prospects. Our analysis is then extended to compare patterns of risk for poverty and vulnerability in relation to key socio-economic groups. Finally, we will consider the relationship between poverty and vulnerability and the distribution of welfare dependence. Our analysis suggests that the vulnerable but non-poor group may need to be a key focus of policy attention in the future.
âNewâ and âOldâ Social Risks: Life Cycle and Social Class Perspectives on Social Exclusion in Ireland*
The life cycle concept has come to have considerable prominence in Irish social policy debate. However, this has occurred without any systematic effort to link its usage to the broader literature relating to the concept. Nor has there been any detailed consideration of how we should set about operationalising the concept. In this paper we argue the need for âmacroâ life cycle perspectives that have been influenced by recent challenges to the welfare state to be combined with âmicroâ perspectives focusing on the dynamic and multidimensional nature of social exclusion. We make use of Irish EU-SILC 2005 data in developing a life cycle schema and considering its relationship to a range of indicators of social exclusion. At the European level renewed interest in the life cycle concept is associated with the increasing emphasis on the distinction between ânewâ and âoldâ social risks and the notion that the former are more âindividualisedâ. Inequality and poverty rather than being differentially distributed between social classes are thought to vary between phases in the average work life. Our findings suggest the âdeath of social classâ thesis is greatly overblown. A more accurate appreciation of the importance of new and old social risks requires that we systematically investigate the manner in which factors such as social class and the life cycle interact.
The EU 2020 Poverty Target
As part of its 2020 Strategy adopted in 2010, the EU has set a number of headline targets including one for poverty reduction over the next decade. This is a major development in the role accorded to social inclusion in the EU, and thus very important at the level of principle. However, the specific way the target itself has been framed, and the implications for approaches to implementing it, also merit careful consideration. The population identified in framing the target is persons in the member states either below a country-specific relative income poverty threshold, above a material deprivation threshold, or in a âjoblessâ household. This paper presents an in-depth analysis and critique of the way that target is formulated on both conceptual and empirical grounds and documents the consequence for our understanding of both cross-national and socio-economic patterning of poverty. The paper concludes with a discussion of alternative approaches to combining low income and material deprivation to identify those most in need from a poverty reduction perspective.
Economic Boom and Social Mobility: The Irish Experience
In this paper we examine the consequences for social mobility patterns of the unprecedented period of economic growth experienced in Ireland over the 1990s and the implications of developments for current theories of social fluidity. Contrary to suggestions that the ?Celtic Tiger? experience has been associated with a deepening problem of marginalization we found evidence for a substantial upgrading of the class structure and increased levels of social mobility. We also found evidence for increased social fluidity in relation to long-range hierarchical mobility. Such increased openness could not be explained by changes in the manner in which education mediates the relationship between origins and destinations. There is no necessary relationship between economic growth and social fluidity. However, the pattern of change over time in the Irish case suggests that both long-term factors associated with the upgrading of the class structure and short-term factors reflected in the unprecedented tightness of the labour market have produced a situation where employers have increasingly applied criteria other than education in a manner that has facilitated increased social fluidity. The Irish case provides further support to the argument for reconsidering the balance that mobility research has struck between social fluidity and absolute mobility and encouraging increased attention to the evolution of firms and jobs. It also provides support for the conclusion, that in circumstances where policies in advanced industrial societies have shown an increasing tendency to diverge, increased social fluidity may come about as a consequence of very different economic and social policies.
Welfare Regime and Social Class Variation in Poverty and Economic Vulnerability in Europe: An Analysis of EU-SILC
In this paper we address a set of interrelated issues. These comprise increasing concerns about reliance on nationally based income poverty measures in the context of EU-enlargement, the relative merits of one dimensional versus multidimensional approaches to poverty and social exclusion and the continuing relevance of class based explanations of life chances. Identifying economically vulnerable groups we find that, contrary to the situation with national income poverty measures, levels of vulnerability vary systematically across welfare regimes. The multidimensional profile of the economically vulnerable sharply differentiates them from the remainder of the population. While they are also characterised by distinctively higher levels of multiple deprivation, a substantial majority of the economically vulnerable are not exposed to such deprivation. Unlike the national relative income approach, the focus on economic vulnerability reveals a pattern of class differentiation that is not dominated by the contrast between the self-employed and all others. In contrast to a European-wide relative income approach, it also simultaneously captures the fact that absolute levels of vulnerability are distinctively higher among the lower social classes in the less comprehensive and generous welfare regimes while class relativities are significantly sharper at the other end of the spectrum.economic vulnerability, poverty, social exclusion, welfare regimes, social class, multiple deprivation
Identifying Childhood Deprivation: How Well do National Indicators of Poverty and Social Exclusion in Ireland Perform?
In light of widespread agreement that poverty and social exclusion should be understood as multidimensional phenomenon, in this paper we explore the practical implications of such an understanding in relation to widely employed indicators of such phenomena in Ireland. One persistent critique of the current national measures of poverty and social exclusion comes from those who feel that the findings they produce are inaccurate in relation to particular stages of the life-course. To date the critiques in the Irish case have been accompanied by relatively little in the way of systematic research documenting the alleged limitations of national measures. In this paper we have taken advantage of the inclusion of a special module on childhood deprivation in EU-SILC 2009 to explore such issues in more depth. Our analysis reveals that, to the extent that national measures fail to identify childhood deprivation, this is largely a consequence of limitations in capturing wider command over economic resources and distinctive risk profiles in relation to exposure to deprivation and economic stress. Overall our analysis leads us to the conclusion that those exposed to childhood deprivation are generally a sub-set of the children captured by national indicators. Adopting a multidimensional and dynamic perspective on household resources and deprivation enables us to capture the large majority of children exposed to childhood deprivation. Conversely restricting our attention to childhood deprivation would lead us to miss out on larger numbers of children living in households experiencing basic deprivation. The national measures of poverty and social exclusion that have been employed in the Irish case are largely successful in capturing childhood deprivation.
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