Drawing on interdisciplinary, cross-national perspectives, this open access book contributes to the development of a coherent scientific discourse on social exclusion of older people. The book considers five domains of exclusion (services; economic; social relations; civic and socio-cultural; and community and spatial domains), with three chapters dedicated to analysing different dimensions of each exclusion domain. The book also examines the interrelationships between different forms of exclusion, and how outcomes and processes of different kinds of exclusion can be related to one another. In doing so, major cross-cutting themes, such as rights and identity, inclusive service infrastructures, and displacement of marginalised older adult groups, are considered. Finally, in a series of chapters written by international policy stakeholders and policy researchers, the book analyses key policies relevant to social exclusion and older people, including debates linked to sustainable development, EU policy and social rights, welfare and pensions systems, and planning and development. The book’s approach helps to illuminate the comprehensive multidimensionality of social exclusion, and provides insight into the relative nature of disadvantage in later life. With 77 contributors working across 28 nations, the book presents a forward-looking research agenda for social exclusion amongst older people, and will be an important resource for students, researchers and policy stakeholders working on ageing.
How can we measure poverty in the United Kingdom today, and which measures are most reliable? Is poverty related to other problems and disadvantages? Based on the largest research study on UK poverty ever commissioned, these fascinating volumes answer these questions and more, providing the most authoritative and up-to-date picture ever assembled of poverty throughout the four countries of the United Kingdom. Using state-of-the-art measurement methods, Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK looks across geography, time, and key domains like health, employment, and housing to make enlightening--and sometimes shocking--comparisons. In the second volume, contributors consider different aspects of disadvantage, from access to local services, the world of work, the quality of housing and neighborhoods, and physical and mental health. They also look at wider aspects of social and community life, as well as participation in civic and political activities.
This report examines the demographic factors likely to have an impact on social exclusion and poverty, including the patterns of young adults leaving the parental home; family household dynamics; cohabitation and separation; reproductive behaviour, and morbidity. It is based on the international study into the complex relationship between demography and social exclusion. Issues considered include: concepts, data and methodology; social disadvantage and the elderly, one-person and one-parent households; and groups most at risk, such as children in poverty, immigrants experiencing deprivation, and the homeless.
The Oxford Handbook of Social Exclusion offers the most comprehensive body of social exclusion research ever assembled, and addresses the fundamental questions on why people have a need to belong, why people exclude others, and how people respond to various forms of social exclusion.
Explores various forms of social exclusion in Latin America, including residential segregation in Bolivian cities, exclusion in health care in Brazil, barriers to legal status of Nicaraguan immigrants in Costa Rica, geographic isolation in El Salvador, and educational inequality among the indigenous in Mexico.
Dimensions of Social Exclusion focuses largely on social exclusion in the context of communities and social groups who have or have not been considered in discussing the benefits of mainstream inclusive society or development. Contemporary understanding of social exclusion has revived great interest among academics, researchers and policy makers in understanding problems from the perspectives of social exclusion. The decision to adopt the perspective of social exclusion has not been universal; rather the nature of this is very heterogeneous. In addition, the concept of social exclusion is not static; in reality, it is a process. The process is seen in the marginalization and discrimination of people in their everyday lives and interactions. The term ‘exclusion’ has become a part of the vocabulary in Europe and other developing societies like ‘poverty’ or ‘unemployment’; it is one of those words which seem to have both an everyday meaning and an underlying sense. It emphasizes the social aspects of concerns such as housing, health, employment, education, participation in social activities and festivities, social interaction and social intercourse. It excludes certain communities and groups from interaction and access to social resources through social arrangements, normative value systems and customs. Exclusion based on caste is one example and patriarchy is another, which is a form of systemic or constitutive exclusion. Having social, cultural, political and economic ramifications, it is also a complex and multi-dimensional concept. These dimensions are interwoven and are addressed in the different papers of the volume. This book revolves around the societal interventions and institutions that exclude, discriminate, isolate and deprive some groups on the basis of group identities such as caste or ethnicity. It covers a wide spectrum of societies and communities living in various cultural environments. The multidisciplinary nature of the book will render it helpful to students and researchers of sociology, anthropology, historical and political studies, demography, social work and gender studies in particular and the humanities in general.
Millions of human beings the world over survive in conditions of poverty and social exclusion, and this is unlikely to change in the years to come. This grave situation affects the whole of humanity, which cannot and must not shut its eyes to it. Social exclusion is spreading so much that it is becoming one of the keys to understanding the economic and social situation of the world today. This book attempts to deciper the concept of social exclusion. It aims to identify, analyse and measure exclusion and make it more visible. It also aims to provide a detailed overview of those involved and their initiatives.
This text explores the issue of social exclusion, considering its measurement, main determinants, and ways in which it may be reduced. The editors show how a focus on the topic may alter the relevant policy questions by fostering debate in government.
Combating social exclusion is one of the key objectives of pension systems. This report focuses on social exclusion among the elderly (defined as the 55 age group) in the EU's member states. Social exclusion has been conceptualised as a state of individuals in relation to four dimensions. Two of these dimensions - material deprivation and social rights - are of a structural nature. The other two - social participation and normative integration - pertain to social settings and subcultural factors. Theoretically and empirically, the dimensions refer to one latent underlying social exclusion variable. The original method for measuring social exclusion was devised and tested for the Netherlands, making use of a dedicated dataset. In this study, the measuring instrument has been extended to EU member states, performing secondary analyses of various surveys. These datasets do not contain information about normative integration, but for each of the other three dimensions it has turned out to be possible to construct valid indices at the EU level. Two indices that are more general have been calculated as well: one is a combined index of material deprivation plus social rights and the other is a macro aggregate covering all three dimensions. The outcomes suggest that the elderly in the Nordic countries and the Netherlands are the least excluded, in terms of both the three separate dimensions of social exclusion and the more general indices. The Continental and Anglo-Saxon countries follow close behind. Social exclusion among the elderly is generally higher in the Mediterranean countries. The highest social exclusion scores are to be found in the EU's new member states in Eastern Europe, especially in the Baltic States and Poland. In all EU member states exclusion in terms of social participation increases as people grow older. Material deprivation shows the reverse pattern: in almost all countries, this form of social exclusion decreases with age. With regard to access to social rights - operationalised here in terms of adequate housing and access to medical/dental care - the picture is less straightforward. In nearly all Mediterranean and Eastern European countries, the elderly are more excluded than are the non-elderly in this respect. In the Nordic countries, Germany and the UK, the opposite occurs: access to social rights improves with rising age. In all countries, poor health is an important factor increasing the risk of social exclusion across all dimensions. Household income has a strong effect on material deprivation and access to social rights in most countries. Age and gender cannot be considered serious risk factors for any of the dimensions of social exclusion after the impact of other variables has been controlled for. Multilevel analyses show that only a small part of the country variation in social exclusion (as measured by the combined index) can be attributed to differences in the composition of the population in connection with health, education level, age and gender. A larger part is related to country differences in household incomes. A further (albeit rather small) part has to do with specific traits at the country level. Elderly persons are less excluded if countries attain a higher level of national wealth, spend more on social protection, show less income inequality and generate higher life expectancy. Diverging institutional arrangements - as defined by a classification of countries by their social security and pension regimes - also explain some of the variation in social exclusion. After controlling for the impact of income inequality, however, this effect largely disappears. This result suggests that such regime types mainly influence social exclusion indirectly, through their effects on income inequality. The latter is the country trait with the highest unique contribution to social exclusion of the elderly in the EU.
