Contents
1 Social exclusion, inequality and poverty: conceptual exploration.......................................................5
1.1 Social exclusion: polysemic concept.............................................................................................5
1.1.1 History...................................................................................................................................5
1.1.2 A polysemic concept..............................................................................................................5
1.1.3 Three paradigms....................................................................................................................5
1.1.4 Defining the concept: from social difference to social exclusion...........................................7
1.2 Poverty.........................................................................................................................................8
1.2.1 Poverty as a form of social exclusion.....................................................................................8
1.2.2 Six perspectives on poverty...................................................................................................9
1.2.3 Anti-poverty policy: views on poverty from 18 th century until today.....................................9
2 Poverty reduction in Rich Countries: the grand story........................................................................12
2.1 The founding father’s dream......................................................................................................12
2.2 Disappointing poverty trends.....................................................................................................13
2.3 Why?...........................................................................................................................................14
2.3.1 Societal changes..................................................................................................................14
2.3.2 So why stagnating/increasing poverty rates?......................................................................16
2.3.3 Karl Polanyi’s “The great transformation”...........................................................................19
2.3.4 Cracks in policy paradigm....................................................................................................19
2.4 Social fabrics at work..................................................................................................................20
2.5 The ecological revolution............................................................................................................20
2.6 What can be done?.....................................................................................................................20
2.6.1 Decent Incomes for all : how to get there ?.........................................................................21
2.6.2 Towards a new social contract.............................................................................................21
3 Social indicators.................................................................................................................................21
3.1 Lisbon strategy (2000-2010).......................................................................................................21
3.2 Sources of indicators..................................................................................................................22
3.3 EU 2020 Target...........................................................................................................................22
3.3.1 Arope...................................................................................................................................22
3.3.2 Employment........................................................................................................................23
3.3.3 Income.................................................................................................................................25
3.3.4 Poverty.................................................................................................................................25
3.3.5 Social protection..................................................................................................................26
3.3.6 Other dimensions................................................................................................................26
3.4 Conclusions.................................................................................................................................27
1
,4 Urban Poverty....................................................................................................................................27
4.1 The global city between competitiveness and social cohesion...................................................27
4.1.1 On Words: cohesion and competitiveness...........................................................................27
4.1.2 The globalization of cities....................................................................................................28
4.2 “New” urban poverty, segregation and neighborhood effects...................................................31
4.2.1 What is new Urban Poverty?...............................................................................................31
4.2.2 Segregation..........................................................................................................................32
4.2.3 Neighborhood effects..........................................................................................................32
4.3 Gentrification and social mix......................................................................................................33
5 Adequacy and affordability: what can be learned from reference budgets ?....................................33
5.1 Poverty in Europe.......................................................................................................................33
5.2 Why and how to assess the adequacy of incomes......................................................................33
5.3 The at-risk-of-poverty indicator..................................................................................................34
5.3.1 Definition.............................................................................................................................34
5.3.2 Benefits................................................................................................................................34
5.3.3 Criticism...............................................................................................................................34
5.4 Reference budgets......................................................................................................................35
5.4.1 Methodology.......................................................................................................................35
5.4.2 Cross-nationally comparable RB’s........................................................................................35
5.5 The use of reference budgets.....................................................................................................36
5.5.1 The concrete meaning of the poverty line...........................................................................36
5.5.2 The adequacy of minimum income protection....................................................................37
5.6 Covid...........................................................................................................................................39
5.7 An adequate income: in practice?..............................................................................................39
5.8 Conclusions.................................................................................................................................40
6 The cultural dimensions of poverty and wealth................................................................................40
6.1 Is there a culture of poverty?.....................................................................................................40
6.1.1 The culture of poverty thesis...............................................................................................40
6.1.2 Socio-cultural dimensions of poverty: Steenssens...............................................................40
6.2 Reconsidering culture and poverty.............................................................................................41
6.2.1 Combining structuralist and culturalist explanations...........................................................41
6.2.2 Cultural dimension taken seriously, but reconceptualized..................................................42
6.2.3 Causal pathways to inequality.............................................................................................42
6.2.4 Narratives of social mobility................................................................................................43
6.3 The daily life of the super-rich....................................................................................................44
7 Old and new policy paradigms: what can be done?..........................................................................44
2
, 7.1 Climate change...........................................................................................................................44
7.1.1 Degrowth.............................................................................................................................45
7.2 Causes of poverty and social exclusion in the rich world............................................................46
7.2.1 Apocalyps or paths to paradise?..........................................................................................46
7.2.2 Horsemen: causes................................................................................................................46
7.3 Paradigms of welfare state.........................................................................................................46
7.3.1 Social assistance: Robin Hood..............................................................................................46
7.3.2 Social insurance: Piggy Bank................................................................................................47
7.3.3 Social investment: the Lion..................................................................................................47
7.3.4 Social innovation: the Butterflies.........................................................................................47
7.3.5 Basic income?......................................................................................................................48
7.4 Inherent tensions of welfare state..............................................................................................48
7.5 Welfare state efforts...................................................................................................................48
7.5.1 Not enough..........................................................................................................................50
7.6 New policy paradigms: end of cheap talk about poverty reduction...........................................51
7.6.1 Paradox of social investment state......................................................................................51
7.6.2 Social innovation..................................................................................................................51
7.6.3 Basic income........................................................................................................................51
7.7 Conclusion..................................................................................................................................52
8 Food Banks: Enemy or friend of welfare state?.................................................................................52
8.1 History........................................................................................................................................53
8.1.1 Leeflonen.............................................................................................................................53
8.1.2 FEBA.....................................................................................................................................53
8.1.3 Food banks in Belgium.........................................................................................................53
8.2 What does it mean to receive food aid?.....................................................................................53
8.3 Innovations.................................................................................................................................54
8.4 FEAD...........................................................................................................................................54
8.4.1 Mission................................................................................................................................55
8.4.2 Budget.................................................................................................................................55
8.4.3 Fead in Belgium...................................................................................................................57
8.5 Conclusion..................................................................................................................................57
9 Vlaams Jaarboek Armoede en Sociale Uitsluiting..............................................................................58
9.1 Focus on pandemic.....................................................................................................................58
9.2 Why disappointing stability/trend?............................................................................................58
9.3 Sien Winters: Flemish living monitor..........................................................................................58
9.4 Equal opportunities in Flemish education..................................................................................59
3
, 9.5 Access to justice and legal aid?...................................................................................................59
9.6 Structural poverty reduction......................................................................................................59
9.6.1 Criteria.................................................................................................................................59
9.6.2 Examples..............................................................................................................................59
9.7 Pandemic and inequality: lessons from the past........................................................................60
9.7.1 Impact income inequality?...................................................................................................60
9.7.2 uneven contagion-, morbidity and mortality risk.................................................................60
9.7.3 Unequal Social Consequences.............................................................................................60
9.8 Increased vulnerability of refugees.............................................................................................61
9.9 Unequal access to food...............................................................................................................61
9.9.1 Access to food......................................................................................................................61
9.9.2 Food injustice during pandemic...........................................................................................61
9.10 Unequal vaccination?...............................................................................................................61
9.11 Global inequalities....................................................................................................................62
9.12 Lessons.....................................................................................................................................62
9.13 Poverty, COVID-19 and the Belgian welfare state.....................................................................62
9.13.1 Triumph of welfare state?.................................................................................................62
9.13.2 The downside.....................................................................................................................63
9.13.3 Belgian welfare state not ready for future........................................................................63
9.13.4 Conclusion.........................................................................................................................63
9.14 Panelconversation: Why has poverty risk increased, not decreased?......................................64
10 Social innovation.............................................................................................................................65
10.1 Local social innovation and welfare state restructuring...........................................................66
10.1.1 In margins of welfare state................................................................................................66
10.1.2 Localisation of welfare state..............................................................................................66
10.2 Local social innovation and poverty..........................................................................................67
10.2.1 Defining local social innovation.........................................................................................67
10.2.2 Poverty...............................................................................................................................67
10.3 Two models of social innovation..............................................................................................68
10.3.1 Bottom-up initiatives for civic empowerment...................................................................68
10.3.2 Top-down discourses on enabling welfare state................................................................68
10.4 Social innovation, social investment and social protection......................................................69
10.4.1 Social protection................................................................................................................69
10.4.2 Social investment...............................................................................................................69
10.4.3 Social innovation................................................................................................................70
10.4.4 Interacting paradigms.......................................................................................................70
4
1 Social exclusion, inequality and poverty: conceptual exploration.......................................................5
1.1 Social exclusion: polysemic concept.............................................................................................5
1.1.1 History...................................................................................................................................5
1.1.2 A polysemic concept..............................................................................................................5
1.1.3 Three paradigms....................................................................................................................5
1.1.4 Defining the concept: from social difference to social exclusion...........................................7
1.2 Poverty.........................................................................................................................................8
1.2.1 Poverty as a form of social exclusion.....................................................................................8
1.2.2 Six perspectives on poverty...................................................................................................9
1.2.3 Anti-poverty policy: views on poverty from 18 th century until today.....................................9
2 Poverty reduction in Rich Countries: the grand story........................................................................12
2.1 The founding father’s dream......................................................................................................12
2.2 Disappointing poverty trends.....................................................................................................13
2.3 Why?...........................................................................................................................................14
2.3.1 Societal changes..................................................................................................................14
2.3.2 So why stagnating/increasing poverty rates?......................................................................16
2.3.3 Karl Polanyi’s “The great transformation”...........................................................................19
2.3.4 Cracks in policy paradigm....................................................................................................19
2.4 Social fabrics at work..................................................................................................................20
2.5 The ecological revolution............................................................................................................20
2.6 What can be done?.....................................................................................................................20
2.6.1 Decent Incomes for all : how to get there ?.........................................................................21
2.6.2 Towards a new social contract.............................................................................................21
3 Social indicators.................................................................................................................................21
3.1 Lisbon strategy (2000-2010).......................................................................................................21
3.2 Sources of indicators..................................................................................................................22
3.3 EU 2020 Target...........................................................................................................................22
3.3.1 Arope...................................................................................................................................22
3.3.2 Employment........................................................................................................................23
3.3.3 Income.................................................................................................................................25
3.3.4 Poverty.................................................................................................................................25
3.3.5 Social protection..................................................................................................................26
3.3.6 Other dimensions................................................................................................................26
3.4 Conclusions.................................................................................................................................27
1
,4 Urban Poverty....................................................................................................................................27
4.1 The global city between competitiveness and social cohesion...................................................27
4.1.1 On Words: cohesion and competitiveness...........................................................................27
4.1.2 The globalization of cities....................................................................................................28
4.2 “New” urban poverty, segregation and neighborhood effects...................................................31
4.2.1 What is new Urban Poverty?...............................................................................................31
4.2.2 Segregation..........................................................................................................................32
4.2.3 Neighborhood effects..........................................................................................................32
4.3 Gentrification and social mix......................................................................................................33
5 Adequacy and affordability: what can be learned from reference budgets ?....................................33
5.1 Poverty in Europe.......................................................................................................................33
5.2 Why and how to assess the adequacy of incomes......................................................................33
5.3 The at-risk-of-poverty indicator..................................................................................................34
5.3.1 Definition.............................................................................................................................34
5.3.2 Benefits................................................................................................................................34
5.3.3 Criticism...............................................................................................................................34
5.4 Reference budgets......................................................................................................................35
5.4.1 Methodology.......................................................................................................................35
5.4.2 Cross-nationally comparable RB’s........................................................................................35
5.5 The use of reference budgets.....................................................................................................36
5.5.1 The concrete meaning of the poverty line...........................................................................36
5.5.2 The adequacy of minimum income protection....................................................................37
5.6 Covid...........................................................................................................................................39
5.7 An adequate income: in practice?..............................................................................................39
5.8 Conclusions.................................................................................................................................40
6 The cultural dimensions of poverty and wealth................................................................................40
6.1 Is there a culture of poverty?.....................................................................................................40
6.1.1 The culture of poverty thesis...............................................................................................40
6.1.2 Socio-cultural dimensions of poverty: Steenssens...............................................................40
6.2 Reconsidering culture and poverty.............................................................................................41
6.2.1 Combining structuralist and culturalist explanations...........................................................41
6.2.2 Cultural dimension taken seriously, but reconceptualized..................................................42
6.2.3 Causal pathways to inequality.............................................................................................42
6.2.4 Narratives of social mobility................................................................................................43
6.3 The daily life of the super-rich....................................................................................................44
7 Old and new policy paradigms: what can be done?..........................................................................44
2
, 7.1 Climate change...........................................................................................................................44
7.1.1 Degrowth.............................................................................................................................45
7.2 Causes of poverty and social exclusion in the rich world............................................................46
7.2.1 Apocalyps or paths to paradise?..........................................................................................46
7.2.2 Horsemen: causes................................................................................................................46
7.3 Paradigms of welfare state.........................................................................................................46
7.3.1 Social assistance: Robin Hood..............................................................................................46
7.3.2 Social insurance: Piggy Bank................................................................................................47
7.3.3 Social investment: the Lion..................................................................................................47
7.3.4 Social innovation: the Butterflies.........................................................................................47
7.3.5 Basic income?......................................................................................................................48
7.4 Inherent tensions of welfare state..............................................................................................48
7.5 Welfare state efforts...................................................................................................................48
7.5.1 Not enough..........................................................................................................................50
7.6 New policy paradigms: end of cheap talk about poverty reduction...........................................51
7.6.1 Paradox of social investment state......................................................................................51
7.6.2 Social innovation..................................................................................................................51
7.6.3 Basic income........................................................................................................................51
7.7 Conclusion..................................................................................................................................52
8 Food Banks: Enemy or friend of welfare state?.................................................................................52
8.1 History........................................................................................................................................53
8.1.1 Leeflonen.............................................................................................................................53
8.1.2 FEBA.....................................................................................................................................53
8.1.3 Food banks in Belgium.........................................................................................................53
8.2 What does it mean to receive food aid?.....................................................................................53
8.3 Innovations.................................................................................................................................54
8.4 FEAD...........................................................................................................................................54
8.4.1 Mission................................................................................................................................55
8.4.2 Budget.................................................................................................................................55
8.4.3 Fead in Belgium...................................................................................................................57
8.5 Conclusion..................................................................................................................................57
9 Vlaams Jaarboek Armoede en Sociale Uitsluiting..............................................................................58
9.1 Focus on pandemic.....................................................................................................................58
9.2 Why disappointing stability/trend?............................................................................................58
9.3 Sien Winters: Flemish living monitor..........................................................................................58
9.4 Equal opportunities in Flemish education..................................................................................59
3
, 9.5 Access to justice and legal aid?...................................................................................................59
9.6 Structural poverty reduction......................................................................................................59
9.6.1 Criteria.................................................................................................................................59
9.6.2 Examples..............................................................................................................................59
9.7 Pandemic and inequality: lessons from the past........................................................................60
9.7.1 Impact income inequality?...................................................................................................60
9.7.2 uneven contagion-, morbidity and mortality risk.................................................................60
9.7.3 Unequal Social Consequences.............................................................................................60
9.8 Increased vulnerability of refugees.............................................................................................61
9.9 Unequal access to food...............................................................................................................61
9.9.1 Access to food......................................................................................................................61
9.9.2 Food injustice during pandemic...........................................................................................61
9.10 Unequal vaccination?...............................................................................................................61
9.11 Global inequalities....................................................................................................................62
9.12 Lessons.....................................................................................................................................62
9.13 Poverty, COVID-19 and the Belgian welfare state.....................................................................62
9.13.1 Triumph of welfare state?.................................................................................................62
9.13.2 The downside.....................................................................................................................63
9.13.3 Belgian welfare state not ready for future........................................................................63
9.13.4 Conclusion.........................................................................................................................63
9.14 Panelconversation: Why has poverty risk increased, not decreased?......................................64
10 Social innovation.............................................................................................................................65
10.1 Local social innovation and welfare state restructuring...........................................................66
10.1.1 In margins of welfare state................................................................................................66
10.1.2 Localisation of welfare state..............................................................................................66
10.2 Local social innovation and poverty..........................................................................................67
10.2.1 Defining local social innovation.........................................................................................67
10.2.2 Poverty...............................................................................................................................67
10.3 Two models of social innovation..............................................................................................68
10.3.1 Bottom-up initiatives for civic empowerment...................................................................68
10.3.2 Top-down discourses on enabling welfare state................................................................68
10.4 Social innovation, social investment and social protection......................................................69
10.4.1 Social protection................................................................................................................69
10.4.2 Social investment...............................................................................................................69
10.4.3 Social innovation................................................................................................................70
10.4.4 Interacting paradigms.......................................................................................................70
4
