Contemporary Europe:
Poverty & Inequality
Dr Neil Lee
n.d.lee@lse.ac.uk
@ndrlee
Today:
Theory
Varieties of European Capitalism
European labour markets
Equity vs. efficiency?
Poverty & inequality
The future of work
Migration
Labour migration
Diversity, xenophobia and populism
Future challenges
The ageing society
Inter-generational equity
Populism and the future of Europe
Equity vs. efficiency?
Some background
What is poverty?
- In the Global South, we tend to talk about absolute poverty (e.g. $1.25)
- In Europe, relative poverty is more common: a net income less than 60% national median
- While wages are measured for the individual, poverty is measured at the household
- Having children is expensive, so we equivalise for family size
- (Why Median and not Mean income?)
Poverty vs. social exclusion
Poverty is an outcome, based solely on income, based solely on distribution
- It views the individual as separate, fragmented from society
- But access to and participation in society also matters
The concept of social exclusion helps address this concern
- Social exclusion is about relations with society (not distribution)
- It is a process – the process of breaking of social ties
WHICH COUNTRIES HAVE THE HIGHEST SOCIAL EXCLUSION
Subtitle
operationalising social exclusion
Most government measures see social exclusion as being
Petra Bohnke (2008)
•Indicators of material hardship
–Low income (bottom quartile income)
–Poverty / deprivation (basic goods)
•Social (dis)integration
–Frequency of contact (Friends + Neighbours)
–Support potential (No support in emergencies)
–Perception of integration (Dissatisfaction with social / family life, perception of social integration)
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The concept of social exclusion helps address this concern
- Social exclusion is about relations with society (not distribution)
- It is a process – the process of breaking of social ties