Marginalization, deprivation, and fatalism in the Republic of Ireland. Class and underclass perspectives

The emergence of large-scale long-term unemployment in the Republic of Ireland suggests that it might provide an interesting case to which to apply the concept of an 'underclass'. In this paper we explore the relationship between labour-market marginality, deprivation, and fatalism. The available evidence in relation to both social isolation and milieu effects suggests that the term 'underclass' can have only a very limited applicability in the Irish case. Instead, what we ate confronted with is different types of working-class marginalization arising from the rapid and uneven nature of class transformation in Ireland and changing patterns of emigration. In relation to what we have termed 'pervasive marginalization' the costs of economic change have been borne disproportionately by those members of the younger cohorts originating in the lower working class rather than by those in particular locations. The evidence relating to the social and psychological consequences of labour-market detachment, rather than providing support for the value of an 'underclass' perspective, confirms the continued relevance of class analysis.

The relationship between income and deprivation: A dynamic perspective

Income poverty lines may fail to distinguish households experiencing deprivation/exclusion. Analysing a large sample of Irish households, we find that current income is an important influence on deprivation levels, hut so are many other aspects of a household's current situation and how it arrived there. It is also important to distinguish different dimensions in using deprivation indicators with income to measure poverty.

RESOURCES, DEPRIVATION AND THE MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY

Ringen has advocated the use of both income and deprivation criteria in identifying those excluded from society due to lack of resources, a widely accepted definition of poverty. We illustrate with Irish data how this might be done, paying particular attention to how appropriate indicators of deprivation are to be selected. The results show that employing both income and deprivation criteria rather than income alone can make a substantial difference to both the extent and composition of measured poverty. This highlights the restrictive nature of poverty conceived in terms of exclusion rather than minimum rights to resources.

Economic vulnerability, multidimensional deprivation and social cohesion in an enlarged European community

In this article we have sought to combine regional and social exclusion perspectives on economic exclusion in the enlarged European Community. Our analysis, based on the European Quality of Life Survey, confirms that while the economically vulnerable, identified through latent class analysis, constitute substantially larger groups in the poorer economic clusters, they are much more sharply differentiated from others in the richer clusters. While the economically vulnerable are also disadvantaged in relation to measures of multidimensional deprivation and social cohesion, between economic clusters differences on these dimensions cannot be accounted for by corresponding variations in levels and intensity of economic vulnerability. In fact, the impact of such vulnerability on social cohesion is greater in the more affluent clusters. Copyright © 2005 SAGE Publications.

Identifying childhood deprivation:How well do national indicators of poverty and social exclusion in Ireland Perform?

In the context of the significance that the life-cycle has been afforded in social policy discussion in Ireland, current national measures of poverty and social exclusion have been criticised for failing to capture such phenomena accurately in relation to particular stages of the life-course. In this paper we have taken advantage of the inclusion of a special module on childhood deprivation in EU-SILC 2009 to create reliable measures of both household basic deprivation and childhood deprivation. Overall, our analysis leads us to the conclusion that those exposed to childhood deprivation are generally a sub-set of the children captured by population indicators. Adopting a multidimensional and dynamic perspective on household resources and deprivation enables us to capture the large majority of children exposed to childhood deprivation. Restricting our attention to childhood deprivation would lead us to miss out on a significant number of children living in households experiencing basic deprivation but not exposed to childhood deprivation. It would be unwise to assume that such deprivation has no consequences for children. While there is clearly a value in supplementing existing national measures with child specific indicators, it would not appear sensible to rely solely on the latter.

Socio-economic deprivation and visual acuity at presentation in exudative age-related macular degeneration

Aim: To evaluate the influence of socio-economic factors on visual acuity (VA) at presentation in exudative age- related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: The medical records of all consecutive patients with newly diagnosed exudative AMD examined at the Ophthalmology Departments of Grampian University Hospitals-NHS Trust, Aberdeen, and Gartnavel General Hospital, Glasgow, between July 2004 and June 2005, were reviewed. Demographics, duration of symptoms, VA in study and fellow eye, exudative AMD characteristics, status of fellow eye and patient home address, used to determine the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) score, were recorded. The effect of these parameters on VA at presentation was investigated using general linear modelling. Results: Two-hundred and forty patients (median age 79 years) were included in this study; 44 (18.3%) belonged to the lowest 20% SIMD score (most deprived). Age and location and type of the choroidal neovascular- isation were statistically significantly associated with VA at presentation (p = 0.003, p