The authors show how poverty is the outcome of the interaction between several factors including education, gender and family structure. They emphasise the importance of distinguishing between poverty and non-monetary measures of deprivation and isolation. Although the poor are more at risk of suffering from deprivation, the authors demonstrate that this relationship is more tenuous than many people suppose. Employing rigorous theoretical and methodological analyses they go on to relate their findings to the policy environment in each of the countries, which were specifically chosen to reflect differing welfare systems. In this way the authors compare the impact of government policy on both the level of poverty and social exclusion, and on who is most at risk of experiencing them.

Both statistically and in policy terms this book will be essential reading for students and academics of economics and the social sciences, and policy makers at both the national and European level.

'The book is an interesting read for those interested in how social exclusion affects European society. It is a book to recommend to those involved in decision making, especially those who think that social problems can simply be resolved with an increase in economic growth. . .' -- European Library

Matt Barnes, Senior Researcher, National Centre for Social Research, London, UK, Christopher Heady, University of Kent, UK, Sue Middleton, Emeritus Professor, University of Waikato, New Zealand, Jane Millar, Professor of Social Policy and Director, Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy, University of Bath, UK, Fotis Papadopoulos, Researcher, Athens University of Economics and Business, Graham Room, Professor of European Social Policy, University of Bath, UK and Panos Tsakloglou, Associate Professor, Department of International and European Economic Studies, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece