Social Indicators Atkinson, Tony; Cantillon, Bea; Marlier, Eric ...
03/2002
eBook, Book
Social indicators are an important tool for evaluating a country's level of social development and for assessing the impact of policy. Such indicators are already in use in investigating poverty and ...social exclusion in several European countries and have begun to play a significant role in advancing the social dimension of the EU as a whole. The purpose of this book is to make a scientific contribution to the development of social indicators for the purposes of European policy‐making. It considers the principles underlying the construction of policy‐relevant indicators, the definition of indicators, and the issues that arise in their implementation, including that of the statistical data required. It seeks to bring together theoretical and methodological methods in the measurement of poverty/social exclusion with the empirical practice of social policy. The experience of member states is reviewed, including an assessment of the National Action Plans on Social Inclusion submitted for the first time in June 2001 by the 15 EU governments. The key areas covered by the book are poverty, including its intensity and persistence, income inequality, non‐monetary deprivation, low educational attainment, unemployment, joblessness, poor health, poor housing and homelessness, functional illiteracy and innumeracy, and restricted social participation. In each case, the book assesses the strengths and weaknesses of different indicators relevant to social inclusion in the EU, and makes recommendations for the indicators to be employed. The book is based on a report prepared at the request of the Belgian government, as part of the Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2001, and presented at a conference on ‘Indicators for Social Inclusion: Making Common EU Objectives Work’ held at Antwerp on 14–15 Sept 2001.
If the objective of creating a society with opportunity for all is to be achieved, understanding the roots and impacts of social exclusion is essential. This book is the most comprehensive attempt to ...examine the causes of social exclusion and the policies necessary to tackle it. It is based on recent research carried out in the ESRC Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) at the London School of Economics. This research draws on all the social science disciplines, particularly economics, sociology, demography, and area studies. It will be of interest and importance to students and teachers in the social sciences and to all those concerned with social policy in Britain and more widely. Social exclusion is not a matter solely of cash poverty, although that is an important dimension of it. The concept of social exclusion is relatively new, both in political and academic prominence. This book analyses the concept and examines the extent of exclusion measured in different ways. Contributors examine and explain the latest developments in research on income dynamics and movements in and out of poverty and low pay; links in social disadvantage across generations; the long-term effects of the growth in lone parenthood, early motherhood, and other changes in family structure; neighbourhood deprivation and community organization; and the prospects for success of government policies towards child poverty, education, and social security. Contributors to this volume - Tania Burchardt, Julian Le Grand and David Piachaud Brian Barry Tania Burchardt, Julian Le Grand and David Piachaud Simon Burgess and Carol Propper John Hobcraft Kathleen Kiernan Abigail McKnight Ruth Lupton and Anne Power David Piachaud and Holly Sutherland Phil Agulnik, Tania Burchardt and Martin Evans Howard Glennerster and Jo Sparkes Liz Richardson and Katharine Mumford John Hills
Social Change, Social Welfare and Social Scienceargues that the case against the welfare state is not proven and explores the reasons why social science in the 1980s and 1990s has devalued state ...welfare as yesterday's future. The book goes on to demonstrate that a forceful case for the welfare state can be made.
