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Identifying Economically Vulnerable Groups as the Economic Crisis Emerged
Abstract and Figures
A frequent refrain during recent debates on welfare cuts and tax increases has related to the need to “protect the vulnerable”. 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.
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... The term was used again a decade and a half later in the context of the II European Poverty Programme to refer to the multidimensional and dynamic character of poverty (Room, 1989;Robbins, 1991), and became afterwards one basic topic in social research. The quotation of publications from Ireland (Whelan & Maître, 2010), in Spain (Laparra, et al., 2007;Serrano, 2013;Gutiérrez, 2014), Greece (Kassimati, 1998;Katsas, 2013), Portugal (Almeida et. all., 1992), and Germany (Kronauer, 2002), in the RESCuE's National Reports shows how proeminent the notion of social exclusion became. ...
... strategic support to assure assistance for stable life projects at a material, relational and emotional level; and belonging to communities where scarcity, marginality, violence and poverty prevail. Besides not having access to the income necessary for a life with dignity (Whelan & Maître, 2010;Laparra, et al., 2007;Serrano, 2013;Gutiérrez, 2014;Kassimati, 1998;Katsas, 2013;Almeida et. all., 1992;Kronauer, 2002). ...
The use of the notion of “social resilience” in political and social sciences has increased considerably in the context of the crises started in 2007/2008. However, the import of the notion to the study of social relations must be done carefully and critically. Indeed, the first appropriations of the resilience by the social sciences have tended to define it as the ability that individuals have of “thriving against the odds”. This “heroic” concept of resilience incurs simultaneously in the pitfalls of ethnocentrism, normativism and individualism.
To counter it, we present in this chapter a detailed analysis of statistical data on the effects of the crisis on a sample of European countries. We also propose an alternative concept of resilience grounded on sociological theory and poverty studies. We define social resilience as an open-ended process of reconstruction of ways of life following systemic shocks. Resilience processes are composed by two major dimensions - mobilization of resources and shifting of risks - both necessary occurring along the lines of major social structuring processes such as class, gender or ethnicity. We end by calling for a sociological research agenda for resilience, emphasizing the studying of the key role played on resilience processes by the welfare state, the family and third sector institutions.
... For example, K.T. Whelan and B. Mater studied the experience of Irish households and found that a little more than one third of the vulnerable group are poor, and two thirds are non-poor. They conclude that "poverty and economic vulnerability are clearly related, but still different" [11] . We look at vulnerability in terms of the risk of being thrown back into poverty and the risk that expectations of entering the middle class will not be met. ...
... Sin embargo, las políticas públicas tienen un efecto importante para reducir la vulnerabilidad; siempre y cuando se conozca el riesgo (Sarewitz et al., 2003). Por otro lado, Whelan & Maitre (2010) argumentaron que la vulnerabilidad puede centrarse en la comparación de patrón de pobreza con relación a los grupos socioeconómicos claves, no obstante, un grupo puede ser vulnerable pero no pobre. ...
En el contexto de la crisis mundial y nacional por la pandemia del SARS-CoV-2 se realizó el presente análisis espacial, para determinar, las tendencias y los posibles efectos sobre la vulnerabilidad social que la enfermedad ha producido en los diferentes espacios territoriales de Guerrero, México. Para el análisis se utilizaron datos abiertos sobre el COVID 19 generada por la entidad oficial mexicana y se determinaron para el periodo de marzo de 2020 a febrero de 2021 sus indicadores epidemiológicos, así como las tendencias y niveles de vulnerabilidad social en los diferentes municipios afectados. Enlos grandes centros urbanos se detectó el mayor número de contagios y defunciones. Lavulnerabilidad social frente a COVID 19, en el municipio de Acapulco mostró ser Muy Alta, dándose el mismo caso los principales centros urbanos en cada región.
... Different economic and social systems in EU countries are decisive for achieving a certain income level in the country. The population's income situation is also influenced by the frequency of economic crises (Whelan and Maître 2010). The standard of living is often associated with the inhabitants' income situation and has a social and cultural dimension (Nolan and Whelan 2010). ...
One of objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy is to ensure an appropriate living standard for agricultural households. The paper uses EU-Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data to assess the income situation and living conditions of agricultural households. The agricultural household income does not reach the average household income in any of the EU countries. Multidimensional cluster analysis is applied to classify EU countries according to the income situation of agricultural households. The cluster analysis revealed five segments and the fact that living conditions at a satisfactory level can be achieved irrespective of the economic status of the agricultural household, although it depends on an appropriate setting of agricultural policy. The index of living conditions is constructed and used for the comparison. Based on the analysis results, the variables included in the assessment of the living standard of agricultural households should be taken into account when fulfilling the objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy, especially the part that relates to improving the living conditions of agricultural households. The current EU-SILC database is appropriate for the evaluation of the household income situation. However, it does not reflect the specifics of agricultural households, so additional measurement is needed.
... The manner in which poverty may sustain itself for intellectually disabled young people and their families, through deteriorating familial functioning, is however complex. Flynn (2017b) suggests that deprivation indicators provide a nonmonitory methodology for measuring poverty (Whelan & Maitre, 2010). Consider that in 2010 post-recession data found that 20.9% of schoolchildren in Ireland had reported going to bed or school feeling hungry because there was not enough food to eat in their household (Callaghan, 2012;Flynn, 2017b). ...
This study presents an original contribution to knowledge through investigating
the impact and lived experience of economic recession for intellectually disabled
young people and their families in Ireland, who use services from the disability
sector. This is important because in 2008, Ireland was hit with the greatest period
of economic recession since the great depression of the 1930s. As the longevity of
the recession played out, research evidences that the nation’s children may have
been hardest hit, rendered significantly poorer, and within this, disabled children
and their families were a particularly vulnerable socio-economic group, at
significantly enhanced risk of poverty. Yet, in the context of a relative wealth of
statistical data on the equality impacts of recession, little attention within
research has been given to the lived reality, voices and experiences of disabled
young people and their families in recessionary Ireland (Flynn, 2011; Flynn,
2017b). In this way, this study interjects into a comprehensively investigated
sphere, albeit maintaining exceptionality, by way of focusing on voices and lived
experiences.
This study used the purest or most classic application of the Biographical
Narrative Interpretative Method (BNIM) from initial interviewing through to
completion of the ten stage data analysis process. BNIM draws on the assumption
that individuals construct meaning in their lives through narrative. Rather than
impose categories for exploration, this method allows themes to be engendered
by way of participant’s preference. Self-biographising narrative accounts were
elicited through BNIM from a sample of 4 intellectually disabled young people
(one constituting a pilot study), 4 of their parent/guardians, and 4 disability social
work staff members. Congruent with the conventions of BNIM, a smaller sample
of 3 cases were chosen for in-depth analysis. The remaining 8 were analysed
through a Framework Method that offered a contextual framework of themes and
subthemes. In terms of theoretical and epistemological concerns, the study takes
up an Affirmative Non- Tragedy Model that situates itself overall within the broad
field of Critical Disability Studies.
Among study findings, evidence is presented that lived reality for intellectually
disabled young people and their families of the impact of recession is a complex
and individualistic amalgam of cultural, material and psycho-social factors. These
factors, rather than simply co-existing within a static matrix; incited, aggravated
and alleviated one another. This interactive process was complex and temporal,
but to an extent was predictable. The combined existential experience (or lived
reality) of these factors was subjectively felt to be misunderstood by those in
positions of power, leading families to seek comfort in the expertise of one
another. Findings were numerous, for instance, insufficient cohesion of view
points between families, and those perceived to be in power, may be alleviated by
better data and a partnership approach that is meaningfully perceptible on the
ground level. Furthermore, austerity appeared in reality to galvanise some backward regression in disability service delivery towards more outdated and
inappropriate models. Overall, it is hoped that findings from this study can be put
to practical usage for disabled young people, their families, and their allies,
through both the increment of academic knowledge, and their application as a
technology of advocacy. Furthermore, recommendations made by this study
outline the specific contribution to knowledge and future practice made by this
study, for instance, related to the development of the existing partnership
approach to practice, or the generation of more qualitative data.
... Meanwhile, the woman was more likely than was the man to reside in privately owned housing. However, such residence might not represent or generate resources, as it can be a liability, such as in the case of mortgage payment for housing (Whelan and Maitre 2010). Even though homeownership reflects the resources of the Sustaining Resilience through Caring and Its Gender Differential 29 owner, it may not give resources to other household members. ...
The link among health, well-being and social support is well known. Social support represents an important protective factor against stress both directly (see the main effect hypothesis) and as a mediator (see the stress-buffering hypothesis; Beckman & Syme, 1979; Cohen, 2003). Nevertheless, it fosters health but at the same time may create a burden for those who work as caregivers and perceive the strain of their professional responsibility. Moreover, the relationship between health and social support implies the consideration of gender differences and gender roles. Indeed, in most societies women more often than men offer support, as mothers, daughters, wives, but also in voluntarism and social participation.
Therefore, if health is a common good and social support contributes to this phenomenon, it is important to identify processes and mechanisms that favor the development of social networks to functional well-being and to analyze the social conditions that may improve the health status of groups and people. Basic questions should be considered: how do people consider health? Which factors can promote it and what are the causes of disease in the mind of caregivers? How do male and female caregivers consider the health needs referred both to persons to help and to themselves?
This contribution presents some theoretical consideration about health and social support from a gender perspective. Then a qualitative research is described. The study involved 35 volunteers in the health domain (51.43% men) who were interviewed about the meaning of health and illness and being in health/illness. Data are presented in order to describe gender differences in the representation of health and illness and to investigate the role social support, both received and given, plays in this representation.
This study examines how trade ties and the shift to a market economy affected the growth of the middle class in China and Russia between 1991 and 1998. It highlights the historical background of this time, which was marked by the fall of the Soviet Union and China's slow transition to an economy based on markets. The main goal is to comprehend how trade relations and market economies shaped the development of the middle class in these developing countries. A theoretical framework outlining the distinctive characteristics of transition economies and the societal shifts they entail is included in the research. It offers a thorough examination of the social and economic changes that Russia and China underwent throughout this period, focusing in particular on the differences in their reform strategies. A comparative analysis is also conducted on the emergence of the middle class, the importance of small firms, and the impact of trade links between these countries. In the end, this research clarifies the complex interplay between trade ties, economic reforms, and the growth of the middle class in China and Russia during this pivotal time, with implications for more general policy issues.
Resumen En el contexto de la crisis mundial y nacional por la pandemia del SARS-CoV-2 se realizó el presente análisis espacial, para determinar, las tendencias y los posibles efectos sobre la vulnerabilidad social que, la enfermedad producirá en los diferentes espacios territoriales de Guerrero, México. Para el análisis se utilizaron datos abiertos sobre el COVID 19 generada por la entidad oficial mexicana y se determinaron para el periodo del 13 de marzo al 19 de mayo, sus indicadores epidemiológicos, así como las tendencias y niveles de vulnerabilidad social en los diferentes municipios afectados. Sólo en el caso de los grandes centros urbanos se detectó una tendencia positiva. En cuanto a vulnerabilidad social frente a COVID 19, en el municipio de Acapulco mostró ser Muy Alta, dándose el mismo caso los principales centro urbanos en cada región. Abstract In the context of the global and national crisis caused by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, this spatial analysis was carried out to determine the trends and possible effects on social vulnerability that the disease will produce in the different territorial areas of Guerrero, Mexico.
At the beginning of the 2000s, Switzerland went through two global recessions: the Dot-com crisis and the Great Recession. Even though Switzerland experienced milder effects compared to its European neighbours, the Swiss unemployment rate increased considerably compared to its status quo. This paper explores the resilience of vulnerable groups to these economic downturns using both objective (income poverty and material deprivation) and subjective (wellbeing and satisfaction with the financial situation) indicators of quality of life. To analyse how quality of life evolved since the early 2000s, we use a longitudinal database: the Swiss Household Panel. Studying both objective and subjective indicators, results suggest that the dot-com crisis had a stronger negative effect than the Great Recession on vulnerable groups. This was particularly true for single parents and large families. Disadvantaged groups during the first crisis reacted in different ways during the second crisis. Some groups (the unemployed, the low-educated and the solo self-employed) experienced some scarring effects sometimes only according to objective indicators; others were resilient and continued with their normal trends (migrants and the young), whereas the most strongly affected groups during the first crisis (single parents and large families) registered an improvement in their conditions in the second crisis. These results point to a combination of subjective and objective indicators to evaluate the effects of recurrent crises on vulnerable groups.
In 2008, the Republic of Ireland descended into the deepest period of economic recession since the Great Depression of 70 years before. In the aftershock of recession, research suggests that it has been the nation’s children who have been hit hardest. Within this, intellectually disabled children are considered a particularly vulnerable socio-economic group. Nonetheless, the impact and experience of the recession for intellectually disabled children has received little specific attention within policy and literature, and as a consequence remains poorly understood. This article aims to expand upon discussions by drawing out a number of key themes through a review of the relevant literature. Lessons learned from the review are then used to inform a discussion around policy implications. It is suggested that better pathways to justice and an improved presence of the voices of intellectually disabled children, and their families, at a macro-political level are required moving forward.
In this paper we address issues relating to vulnerability to economic exclusion and levels of economic exclusion in Europe. We do so by applying latent class models to data from the European Community Household Panel for thirteen countries. This approach allows us to distinguish between vulnerability to economic exclusion and exposure to multiple deprivation at a particular point in time. The results of our analysis confirm that in every country it is possible to distinguish between a vulnerable and a non-vulnerable class. Association between income poverty, life-style deprivation and subjective economic strain is accounted for by allocating individuals to the categories of this latent variable. The size of the vulnerable class varies across countries in line with expectations derived from welfare regime theory. Between class differentiation is weakest in social democratic regimes but otherwise the pattern of differentiation is remarkably similar. The key discriminatory factor is life-style deprivation, followed by income and economic strain. Social class and employment status are powerful predictors of latent class membership in all countries but the strength of these relationships varies across welfare regimes. Individual biography and life events are also related to vulnerability to economic exclusion. However, there is no evidence that they account for any significant part of the socio-economic structuring of vulnerability and no support is found for the hypothesis that social exclusion has come to transcend class boundaries and become a matter of individual biography. However, the extent of socio-economic structuring does vary substantially across welfare regimes. Levels of economic exclusion, in the sense of current exposure to multiple deprivation, also vary systematically by welfare regime and social class. Taking both vulnerability to economic exclusion and levels of exclusion into account suggests that care should be exercised in moving from evidence on the dynamic nature of poverty and economic exclusion to arguments relating to the superiority of selective over universal social policies.
As a result of an initiative by the European Statistical Office as part of its Statistical Harmonisation Programme, a prototype of a common European Socio-economic Classification (ESeC) has been created. ESeC is a categorical social class schema based on the concept of employment relations. The paper explains the conceptual basis of ESeC, describes the categories of the classification and how they may be collapsed for analytic purposes, as well as indicating how it is operationalised. The operational variants of ESeC, depending on the data available for its construction, are also discussed. In the second part of the paper some key findings of comparative analyses which use ESeC to examine issues relating to unemployment, education, poverty, deprivation and health across the EU are summarised. These analyses demonstrate the potential of ESeC as a major advance for an improved understanding of the patterns of European social inequalities. As such, this new classification should be of vital importance to both academic and policy researchers.
Western welfare states were built during the postwar years, with one key objective: to protect family (male) breadwinners against the consequences of losing their ability to extract an income from the labor market. Structures of social risk, however, have changed dramatically since then, so that current social risks include precarious employment, long-term unemployment, being a working poor, single parenthood, or inability to reconcile work and family life. Changes in structures of social risk have resulted in the adaptation of welfare states only in the Nordic countries but much less in continental and southern Europe. To account for this divergence in social policy trajectories, this article argues that the reorientation of the Nordic welfare state was possible because new social risks emerged before the maturation of the postwar welfare states. The argument is demonstrated through comparative statistical analysis relating the timing of key socioeconomic developments to current levels of spending in relevant policies.
This paper is concerned with the relationship between household income and life-style deprivation, and their combined impact on households' perceptions of economic strain. It takes as a point of departure findings from a number of European countries showing that the relationship between income and deprivation is weaker than widely assumed and that relative income poverty lines may perform poorly in terms of identifying the most deprived households. It proceeds to examine how far these conclusions about income and deprivation can be generalized to the countries included in the first wave of the European Community Household Panel. Results show that five distinct dimensions of deprivation emerge from an overall European analysis and that these are consistent across individual countries. While a good deal of similarity is observed in the income-deprivation relationship, countries differ in the strength of relationship between income and what is termed current lifestyle deprivation' with the relationship being generally weakest in the richer countries. The implications of these findings for the use of relative income poverty lines are developed. Extending this analysis to an assessment of how income and deprivation combine to influence perceptions of economic strain, we show that within-nation reference group processes operating in a uniform manner across countries can account for the bulk of the variation in strain. Cross-national differences can be accounted for by corresponding variation in income and deprivation levels.
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 economic strain items that covers a broader range than the original basic deprivation set and provides a more reliable and valid measure Consistent poverty measures incorporating the revised measure of economic strain and adopting a threshold of two or more items provide similar estimates of levels of poverty to the original measure. However, the new measure is more strongly associated with, respectively, 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 eleven-item index but not the eight-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 eleven-item EU-SILC11 index with income poverty, identifies those exposed to generalised deprivation arising from lack of resources in a manner consistent with their use as targets in the National Anti-Poverty Strategy.
The paper discusses methodological issues raised by the construction of indicators on material deprivation, which is defined here as an enforced lack of a combination of items depicting some aspects of living conditions related to housing conditions, possession of durables and capacity to afford basic requirements. More specifically, its focus is on the selection of items, their dimensional structure, their aggregation in a synthetic measure and their weighting. The paper also puts in perspective material deprivation and income-based poverty indicators to emphasise the complementarity of the two approaches. It covers the European Union countries available in the 2007 Community Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) users’ data base.
In this article we have sought to combine regional and social exclusion perspectives on economic exclusion in the enlarged European Community. Our analysis, based on the European Quality of Life Survey, confirms that while the economically vulnerable, identified through latent class analysis, constitute substantially larger groups in the poorer economic clusters, they are much more sharply differentiated from others in the richer clusters. While the economically vulnerable are also disadvantaged in relation to measures of multidimensional deprivation and social cohesion, between economic clusters differences on these dimensions cannot be accounted for by corresponding variations in levels and intensity of economic vulnerability. In fact, the impact of such vulnerability on social cohesion is greater in the more affluent clusters.
The issues surrounding poverty and inequality continue to be of central concern to academics, politicians and policy makers but the ways in which we seek to study and understand them continue to change over time. This accessible new book seeks to provide a guide to some of the new approaches that have been developed in the light of international initiatives to reduce poverty and the notable changes in income inequality and poverty that have occurred across many western countries in recent years. These new approaches have to some degree been facilitated by the emergence of new techniques and a growing availability of data that enable cross national comparisons not only of income but also of measures of welfare such as educational achievement, nutritional status in developing countries and wealth and deprivation indicators in the developed world. Including specially commissioned research from a distinguished list of international authors, this volume makes a real contribution to the public debate surrounding inequality and poverty as well as providing new empirical information about them from around the world.