Measuring social exclusion: strengths and limits of the European indicator AROPE

Since the end of the 1970s, the concept of social exclusion has been defined and measured in several different ways (Lenoir, 1974; Silver, 1994; de Haan, 1998; Burchardt et al., 1999; Hills et al., 2002; Levitas et al., 2007). Developed to describe the new forms of marginalization and poverty, over time the concept has broadened to cover more excluded groups and conditions. Within this perspective, the European Commission initially delineated it as the result of “mechanisms whereby individuals and groups are excluded from taking part in the social exchanges, from the component practices and rights of social integration and of identity. Social exclusion does not only mean insufficient income, and it even goes beyond participation in working life: it is felt and shown in the fields of housing, education, health and access to service” (COM, 1992 - 542: 8). Since then, social exclusion became an essential and inherent element of the European Union policies through the Lisbon Strategy (2000), Europe 2020 Strategy (2010), and the current Europe 2030 targets (2020). In order to monitor these achievements, Eurostat calculates social exclusion through the ‘at risk of poverty or social exclusion’ indicator (AROPE). According to Eurostat, it refers to those who fall into one or more of three measures: “At the risk of poverty after social transfer”, “Severely materially and socially deprived”, and “Living in a household with a very low work intensity”. This indicator is provided by the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions survey (EU-SILC) every year. As with every dataset and indicator, EU-SILC and AROPE have strengths and limitations. Therefore, this working paper aim is twofold. Firstly, it intends to present the measure adopted by the European Union to investigate and monitor social exclusion. Secondly, it attempts to point out its strengths and limits. The article is divided into three parts. The first one introduces a literature review on how social exclusion has been defined and calculated over time. The second section portrays the dataset EU-SILC through which social exclusion is quantified in the European Union and the AROPE indicator. The third passage is the discussion part, where this working paper highlights the advantages and assets of the AROPE indicator and, at the same time, spotlights what could be improved.