Improvements have been proposed in the way material deprivation is measured in European Union countries. The changes are designed to aid the monitoring of social objectives at both national and EU levels.
Researchers have put forward a new material deprivation indicator for the whole EU population, and also a child-specific indicator (for those aged 1–15). Their work draws on data collected in the 2009 wave of EU-SILC (European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions). 'Material deprivation' is based on the affordability of a selection of items (goods or services) considered to be necessary or desirable for people to have an 'acceptable' standard of living in the country where they live.
If the threshold for material deprivation is set at a lack of five or more of the 13 items (whole population), the proportion of materially deprived people in the EU as a whole was 17.7 per cent in 2009. This is close to results for the existing EU indicator (17.1 per cent). A threshold of seven or more items lacked gives a material deprivation rate of 9.2 per cent - slightly higher than the current EU indicator of 'severe' material deprivation (8.1 per cent). Similarly the child-specific indicator gives results close to those found with existing measures of children living in deprived households.
The researchers hope the new data can be collected in the 2013 wave of EU-SILC, with the results made available in the second half of 2014. This should then allow for additional analysis to be finalised by early 2015, in time for a scheduled review of the headline EU target on social inclusion and the way it is measured.
Source: Anne-Catherine Guio, David Gordon and Eric Marlier, Measuring Material Deprivation in the EU: Indicators for the Whole Population and Child-Specific Indicators – 2012 Edition, Eurostat (European Union)
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