The Eu And Social Inclusion

by Atkinson, Tony

• ISBN13: 9781861348845
• ISBN10: 1861348843
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-01-01
• Publisher: Policy Pr

Summary

Social cohesion is one of the declared objectives of the European Union and, with some 16% of EU citizens at risk of poverty, the need to fight poverty and social exclusion continues as a major challenge. This book provides an in-depth analysis of the EU Social Inclusion Process, the means by which it hopes to meet this objective, and explores the challenges ahead at local, regional, national and EU levels. It sets out concrete proposals for taking the Process forward.

Author Biography

A. B. Atkinson is currently holder of a Chaire Blaise Pascal at the Paris School of Economics, and was Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford, UK, from 1994 to 2005.

Table of Contents

List of figures, tables and boxes	vii
List of abbreviations and acronyms	x
Foreword by Minister Marie-Josée Jacobs	xiii
Preface	xix
A one-page summary of contents	xxi
one Introduction	1
1.1 Setting the scene: persistent problems and new challenges	2
Enlargement	5
Global poverty	5
1.2 The relaunched Lisbon Strategy and the Social Agenda 2005-2010	6
Children mainstreaming	8
1.3 Contents of the book	11
two The EU Social Inclusion Process and the key issues	17
2.1 The long road towards EU cooperation in social policy	17
The Poverty Programmes	18
Six key EU texts on social protection and social inclusion	18
Conclusions	21
2.2 The EU social processes and the Open Method of Coordination	21
Open Method of Coordination (OMC)	22
Conclusions	26
2.3 From individual EU policy processes to a "Streamlined Strategy"	26
Conclusions	31
2.4 Enlargement	31
2.5 The mid-term review of the Lisbon Strategy	32
The Social Agenda 2005-2010	35
Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS)	35
Conclusions	37
2.6 Commonly agreed Social Inclusion ("Laeken") Indicators: achievements to date	38
Monitoring framework prior to the 2006 streamlining	39
The new integrated monitoring framework resulting from the 2006 streamlining	41
Structural Indicators and Commission's Reports to Spring European Councils	45
2.7 Commonly agreed Social Inclusion ("Laeken") Indicators: issues	46
Use of the indicators	48
2.8 Concluding comments	53
three Exploring statistics on poverty and social exclusion in the EU	59
3.1 EU data on poverty and social exclusion	60
Statistics on income and living conditions	62
Consistency with national sources	63
3.2 Establishing the baseline: EU citizens at risk of poverty	63
Diversity of EU performance	67
Persistent at-risk-of-poverty	71
Summary	72
3.3 Establishing the baseline: the multifaceted nature of social exclusion	73
Long-term unemployment	74
People living in jobless households	75
Early school leaving	76
Life expectancy	77
Material deprivation	78
Inter-relation between indicators	79
Summary	83
3.4 What can we learn from cross-country comparisons?	84
Focusing on social protection?	86
Focusing on employment?	91
Growth and changes over time	93
Conclusions	97
3.5 Children mainstreaming	97
Child poverty	97
Other dimensions of social exclusion	100
Conclusions	102
3.6 Concluding comment	102
four Strengthening policy analysis	107
4.1 Policy analysis in the NAPs/inclusion and at the EU level	108
Outcome analysis	109
Policy baseline	111
Total effect of policies	112
Learning from others and comparative analysis	113
Policy analysis	11
Input indicators	116
Conclusions	117
4.2 Tools for policy analysis: model families analysis and micro-simulation models	117
Model families analysis	118
Micro-simulation modelling	121
Behavioural change	124
Gender and income sharing	126
Conclusions	127
4.3 Applying policy analysis to the EU Social Inclusion Process	128
Mapping the relationship between Member State policies and common indicators	129
Projecting future policy impact	131
EU-wide analysis and common analytical framework	133
The weighting issue	136
Conclusions	137
4.4 Children mainstreaming: an application	138
Mapping from policies to outcomes	138
Analysing policy reform	139
4.5 Concluding comment	141
five EU indicators for poverty and social exclusion	143
5.1 EU-SILC and income measures	144
Community Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC)	145
A new concept of income	147
A flexible approach aimed at anchoring the instrument nationally	150
Conclusions	152
5.2 The implications of Enlargement	152
An EU income threshold?	153
Risk of poverty and absolute measures	155
Non-monetary indicators	156
Subjective measures of financial pressure and broader satisfaction	157
Equivalence scales	159
Conclusions	161
5.3 Refining and extending the agreed indicators	161
Joblessness and the working poor	162
Education and literacy	163
The regional dimension	164
Migrants and ethnic minorities	166
Homelessness	167
Housing quality and adequacy	169
Health	171
Non-monetary indicators	174
The importance of dynamics	179
Conclusions	179
5.4 Presentation and use of the indicators	180
Composite indicators	182
Comparisons with non-EU countries	185
5.5 Children mainstreaming: looking to the future	186
Inter-generational transmission of disadvantage	188
Conclusions	190
5.6 Concluding comment	190
six Taking forward the EU Social Inclusion Process	197
6.1 Streamlining the EU Social Processes	198
Individual Social Processes	199
6.2 The role of targets in the Social Inclusion Process	201
Targets in the 2003 NAPs/inclusion in the EU-I5	203
Targets in the 2004 NAPs/inclusion in the "new" Member States	209
6.3 Key issues in setting national targets	211
Ambitious and achievable targets	213
6.4 Framing EU-wide targets	214
6.5 Embedding the Social Inclusion Process in domestic policies	216
6.6 The pivotal role of restructured NAPs/inclusion	218
Reviewing the NAPs/inclusion	221
6.7 Working towards more joined-up Government	224
6.8 Mobilising all relevant actors and bodies	229
Consultation	230
EU demonstration projects and experiments	231
Actions by Member States	232
6.9 Concluding comment	233
seven The EU and Social Inclusion: facing the challenges	237
7.1 EU cooperation in social policy	237
7.2 Poverty and social exclusion in the EU	238
7.3 Strengthening policy analysis	239
7.4 Commonly agreed indicators for social inclusion	240
7.5 Children mainstreaming	243
7.6 Facing the challenges: taking forward the EU Social Inclusion Process	243
References	247
Appendix 1: Tables	267
Appendix 2a: Six key EU texts on social protection and social inclusion	283
Appendix 2b: Common objectives of the OMC for Social Protection and Social Inclusion as agreed by the March 2006 European Council	285
Appendix 3: Members of the Steering Committee	287
Index	291