Abstract:The issue of multidimensionality is well-established in poverty research and it is generally recognised that income alone is inadequate as a measure of social inclusion or quality of life (Ringen, 1988;Maître, Nolan and Whelan, 2006;Whelan, 2007; European Commission, 2010; European Commission, 2013;Stiglitz, Sen and Fitoussi, 2009). However, social policy still tends to address the different dimensions of quality of life (QoL) -such as poverty, health, housing and social cohesion -in isolation. This raises the question of the variation across dimensions or groups in the extent of multidimensionality. For instance, are housing or health problems experienced by people with a range of other QoL problems, or do they tend to occur in isolation? Does this differ between social risk groups, such as lone parents, older adults or children?The answers have implications for the service needs of people with health problems or with inadequate housing. We address these issues in this paper, analysing the 2013 Quality of Life module on the EU-SILC data for Ireland and adapting the Adjusted Headcount Ratio (AHCR) methodology of Alkire andFoster (Alkire and Foster, 2007, 2011a and to address the issue of multidimensionality.
Response to Reviewers:We have revised the manuscript based on the very helpful comments of the reviewers. The main changes are as follows: 1. Discussed our understanding of the concept of quality of life on page 1 2. Related dimensions of QoL to Sen's capabilities approach 3. Clarified the strengths and weaknesses of the AHCR approach compared to some alternatives 4. Clarified our understanding of social risk groups (p. 8)5. Explained why equal weighting of dimension was chosen (p. 6)
Corrected typos
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Based Figure 1 on all persons (not just adults)
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Poverty, Economic Stress and Quality of Life -Lessons from the Irish Case AbstractThe issue of multidimensionality is well-established in poverty research and it is generally recognised that income alone is inadequate as a measure of social inclusion or quality of life (Ringen, 1988;Maître, Nolan and Whelan, 2006;Whelan, 2007; European Commission, 2010; European Commission, 2013;Stiglitz, Sen and Fitoussi, 2009). However, social policy still tends to address the different dimensions of quality of life (QoL) -such as poverty, health, housing and social cohesionin isolation. This raises the question of the variation across dimensions or groups in the extent of multidimensionality. For instance, are housing or health problems experienced by people with a range of other QoL problems, or do they tend to occur in isolation? Does this differ between social risk groups, such as lone parents, older adults or children? The answers have implications for the service needs of people with health problems or with inadequate housing. We address these issues in this paper, analysing the 2013 Quality of ...