Material deprivation in the EU - Issue number 21/2005 - Products Statistics in Focus

At EU level, the most frequently used common indicators in the field of poverty and social exclusion are based on an approach to poverty which is uni-dimensional (i.e. monetary) and relative (i.e. based on a threshold defined in relation to the distribution of income within each country). The approach proposed in this paper aims at complementing the information summarised in those indicators, by looking at more 'absolute' measures of material deprivation, based on different dimensions (‘economic strain', enforced lack of durables and problems with housing). The overlap between relative monetary poverty and material deprivation is also examined, as well as the risk factors of being deprived in the different dimensions. A weighted version of the indicators is also proposed, in order to give a less 'absolute' view of the material deprivation, more relative to each national context.