Social exclusion: concepts and evidence

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Debates about social exclusion are a relatively recent development in Britain, but the terminology now permeates social policy, both in theory and in practice. Confusion and controversy about its meaning have multiplied as its use has spread, generating in turn an interpretative literature. Empirical applications of the concept are rarer, and those which exist tend to investigate one or more particular facets of exclusion in depth rather than offering an overview. Arguably, these two features – conceptual uncertainty and lack of empirical work – are not unrelated. This chapter examines whether a measure of social exclusion can be developed which has a role in social science over and above the associated concepts of deprivation and poverty. The first section canvasses uses of the term ‘social exclusion’ and the following section considers its relationship to ‘poverty’ and ‘deprivation’. The data source for this present analysis, the British Household Panel Survey, is then introduced and key variables are defined. The fourth section presents a summary of results and the conclusion draws out what can learnt about the usefulness of social exclusion as a concept. The term ‘social exclusion’ probably originated in France. ‘Les exclus’ (the excluded) were those who fell through the net of social protection – in the 1970s, disabled people, lone parents and the uninsured unemployed (Evans, 1998). Later, the increasing intensity of social problems on peripheral estates in large cities led to a broadening of the definition to include disaffected youth and isolated individuals. The concept has particular resonance in countries which share with France a Republican tradition, in which social cohesion is thought to be essential to maintaining the contract on which society is founded (Silver, 1995). Where solidarity is championed, the existence of groups who feel excluded threatens to undermine the unity of the state.