Understanding Social Exclusion

Explores the issue of social exclusion, considering its measurement, main determinants, and ways in which it may be reduced. The authors consider how a focus on the topic may alter the policy questions that are most relevant by fostering debate in government, research, and academia. 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.