Measuring Poverty and Social Exclusion in Australia: A Proposed Multidimensional Framework for Identifying Socio-Economic Disadvantage

Abstract

We propose a framework for measuring social exclusion in Australia and discuss a number of issues that need to be resolved in order to arrive at valid and useful indicators or measures. To do this we first provide a general overview of international developments in the measurement of poverty and social disadvantage, examine the meaning of the concept of social exclusion and summarise the various approaches taken by international and Australian studies to measuring social exclusion and identifying the socially excluded. We then outline our proposed framework for the measurement of social exclusion in Australia, identifying and discussing some of the issues that arise in moving from this framework to actual measures, including discussing the limitations imposed by the data currently available in Australia.

Understanding the persistence of inequality in higher education: evidence from Australia

“…However, the issue of how to accurately define a low-SES student in an administrative context is the subject of ongoing debate (Lim and Gemici 2011;Saunders et al 2007;Scutella et al 2009). …”

Factors Associated With Concurrent Tobacco Smoking and Heavy Alcohol Consumption Within a Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Australian Sample

“…Drinkers are also more likely to be smokers (Bien & Burge, 1990;Falk et al, 2006;Kahler et al, 2008) with higher rates of drinking often cooccurring with higher rates of smoking (Dawson, 2000;Falk et al, 2006;John et al, 2003;Kahler et al, 2008). A Wilkins, & Horn, 2009) experience the highest rates of smoking and heavy drinking, when measured independently. Limited research has examined concurrent smoking and heavy drinking in socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, especially as they might relate to psychosocial factors and in comparison to use of either substance alone or use of neither substance.…”

Social Exclusion Index-for Health Surveys (SEI-HS): a prospective nationwide study to extend and validate a multidimensional social exclusion questionnaire

“…allows researchers to study the relationship between SE and health, knowledge indispensable for designing effective policies to diminish socioeconomic health inequalities. This is a promising development as SE provides a broader and thereby potentially more effective range of policy options than concepts like poverty and loneliness [3, 60, 61]. The SEI-HS can be used in identifying risk groups for targeting specific interventions and monitoring their impact over time [6, 7, 61], and in raising the profile and visibility of excluded groups and alerting professionals to the diverse causes and consequences of SE [13].…”

“…This is a promising development as SE provides a broader and thereby potentially more effective range of policy options than concepts like poverty and loneliness [3, 60, 61]. The SEI-HS can be used in identifying risk groups for targeting specific interventions and monitoring their impact over time [6, 7, 61], and in raising the profile and visibility of excluded groups and alerting professionals to the diverse causes and consequences of SE [13]. Finally, our approach to the development of a short embedded index with canonical correlation analyses, may serve as an example to the further development of key public health measures.…”