Options
Whelan, Christopher T.
Preferred name
Whelan, Christopher T.
Official Name
Whelan, Christopher T.
Research Output
Now showing 1 - 10 of 18
- PublicationIncome, deprivation and economic strain : an analysis of the European Community Household Panel(Economic and Social Research Institute, 1999-06)
; ; ; 759 - PublicationTargeting poverty : lessons from monitoring Ireland’s National Anti-Poverty Strategy(Economic and Social Research Institute, 1999-07-14)
; ; In 1997 the Irish Government adopted the National Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS), a global target for the reduction of poverty which illuminates a range of issues relating to official poverty targets. The Irish target is framed in terms of a relative poverty measure incorporating both relative income and direct measures of deprivation based on data on the extent of poverty from 1994. Since 1994 Ireland has experienced an unprecedented period of economic growth that makes it particularly important to assess whether the target has been achieved, but in doing so we cannot avoid asking some underlying questions about how poverty should be measured and monitored over time. After briefly outlining the nature of the NAPS measure, this article examines trends in poverty in Ireland between 1987 and 1997. Results show that the relative income and deprivation components of the NAPS measure reveal differential trends with increasing relative income poverty, but decreasing deprivation. However, this differential could be due to the fact that the direct measures of deprivation upon which NAPS is based have not been updated to take account of changes in real living standards and increasing expectations. To test whether this is so, we examine the extent to which expectations about living standards and the structure of deprivation have changed over time using confirmatory factor analysis and tests of criterion validity using different definitions of deprivation. Results show that the combined income and deprivation measure, as originally constituted continues to identify a set of households experiencing generalised deprivation resulting from a lack of resources.317 - PublicationMeasuring consistent poverty in Ireland with EU SILC data(Economic and Social Research Institute, 2006-05)
; ; In this paper we seek to make use of the newly available Irish component of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) in order to develop a measure of consistent poverty that overcomes some of the difficulties associated with the original indicators employed as targets in the Irish National Anti-Poverty Strategy. Our analysis leads us to propose a set of economic strain indicators that cover a broader range than the original basic deprivation set. The accumulated evidence supports the view that a revised consistent poverty measure that combines a threshold of two or more economic strain items with income poverty at seventy per cent of median income, identifies those exposed to generalised deprivation arising from lack of resources in a manner consistent with their use as targets in the National Anti-Poverty Strategy. The consistently poor differ from others not only in relation to income poverty and economic strain but also in terms of exposure to a range of life-style deprivations and subjective economic pressures.1170 - PublicationHousehold composition, living standards, and "needs"(Economic and Social Research Institute, 1999-06)
; ; 4962 - PublicationTargeting poverty : lessons from monitoring Ireland's National Anti-Poverty StrategyIn 1997 the Irish government adopted the National Anti-Poverty Strategy (NAPS), a global target for the reduction of poverty which illuminates a range of issues relating to official poverty targets. The Irish target is framed in terms of a relative poverty measure incorporating both relative income and direct measures of deprivation based on data on the extent of poverty from 1994. Since 1994 Ireland has experienced an unprecedented period of economic growth that makes it particularly important to assess whether the target has been achieved, but in doing so we cannot avoid asking some underlying questions about how poverty should be measured and monitored over time. After briefly outlining the nature of the NAPS measure, this article examines trends in poverty in Ireland between 1987 and 1997. Results show that the relative income and deprivation components of the NAPS measure reveal differential trends with increasing relative income poverty, but decreasing deprivation. However, this differential could be due to the fact that the direct measures of deprivation upon which NAPS is based have not been updated to take account of changes in real living standards and increasing expectations. To test whether this is so, we examine the extent to which expectations about living standards and the structure of deprivation have changed over time using confirmatory factor analysis and tests of criterion validity using different definitions of deprivation. Results show that the combined income and deprivation measure, as originally constituted, continues to identify a set of households experiencing generalised deprivation resulting from a lack of resources.
1072 - PublicationPolarization or "Squeezed Middle" in the Great Recession? : A Comparative European Analysis of the Distribution of Economic Stress(University College Dublin. Geary Institute, 2015-06-18)
; ; This paper analyses variation in the impact of the Great Recession on economic stress across income classes for a range of advanced European countries. Our analysis shows Iceland, Ireland and Greece to be quite distinctive in terms of increases in their multidimensional income, material deprivation and economic stress profiles. Between 2008 and 2012 these countries moved from being predictably located within anticipated welfare regimes to becoming clear outliers. For this set of counties, each of which was exposed to different but severe forms of economic shock, trends in income class polarisation versus middle class squeeze were variable. Each exhibited substantial increases in levels of economic stress. However, changes in the pattern of income class differentiation were somewhat different. In Iceland a form of middle class squeeze was observed. For income class polarization did not exclude middle class squeeze. Greece came closest to fitting the polarization profile. Changes in the distribution of household equivalent income had no effect on stress levels once the impact of material deprivation was taken into account. Changes in levels of material deprivation played a significant role in accounting for changing stress levels but only for the three lowest income classes. These findings bring out the extent to which the impact of the Great Recession on the distribution of economic stress across classes varied even among the hardest-hit countries. They also serve to highlight the advantages of a multidimensional approach that goes beyond reliance on income in seeking to understand the impact of such shocks.368 - PublicationMeasuring material deprivation in the enlarged EU(Economic and Social Research Institute, 2008-06)
; ; This paper uses new data from EU-SILC for twenty-six European countries to examine the structure and distribution of material deprivation in the enlarged EU. We identify three distinct dimensions of material deprivation relating to consumption, household facilities and neighbourhood environment, and construct indices of these dimensions for each country and the EU as a whole. The extent of variation across countries and welfare regimes is shown to depend on the dimension on which one focuses, as does the strength of the association with household income and subjective economic stress. The index of consumption deprivation has by far the highest correlation with income, provides a highly reliable measure in itself, and allows segments of the population to be identified that are sharply differentiated in terms of their multi-dimensional deprivation profiles. On the basis of this evidence we make some suggestions as to the manner in which the measurement of material deprivation in the European Union should be developed through the proposed special module of deprivation which will form part of the 2009 wave of EU-SILC.1417 - PublicationFrom Income Poverty to Multidimensional Quality of Life(Economic and Social Studies, 2019-12-16)
; ; In this paper we provide an overview of the movement in Ireland from a focus on income poverty to the incorporation of deprivation indicators in a multidimensional approach to the measurement of poverty. We then seek to place this approach, involving a restricted incorporation of deprivation dimensions, in the context of a broader multidimensional approach to the understanding of poverty in Ireland. We proceed to extend our consideration to multidimensional approaches to quality of life which have involved macro and micro approaches to developing aggregate measures that go well beyond the normal concerns of poverty research. In so doing, we will seek to show that while all of these approaches must face key judgements relating to choices of dimensions, thresholds, weighting and aggregation, there is significant variation in the challenges posed in relation to the scale of aggregation, the degree of multidimensionality aspired to and the availability of data sources that match such ambitions. Given these issues, the superiority of a multidimensional approach and of a focus more broadly on quality of life must be demonstrated rather than assumed.46 - PublicationThe role of social institutions in inter-generational mobility(University College Dublin. Geary Institute, 2010-02)
; ; ; ; The primary goal of inter-generational mobility (IGM) research has always been to explain how and why social origins influence peoples’ life chances. This has naturally placed family attributes at centre stage. But the role of social institutions, most notably education systems, as a mediating factor has also been central to IGM theory. Indeed, generations of stratification research were premised on the core assumption that equalizing access to education would weaken the impact of social origins. In theory, policies, institutions, as well as macro-economic and historical context, have been identified as crucial in shaping patterns of social mobility (D’Addio, 2007). But apart from education, empirical research has contributed little concrete evidence on how this occurs.673 - PublicationPersistent and consistent poverty in the 1994 and 1995 waves of the European Community Household Panel Study(Economic and Social Research Institute, 2000-07)
; ; ; In this paper we attempt to contribute to the growing literature on the mismatch observed when comparing income and deprivation measures of poverty through an analysis of the first two waves of the European Community Household Panel Study. We do so by developing for each country measures of point in time income poverty, persistent income poverty and consistent poverty involving both low income and a corresponding level of deprivation. Our analysis shows that the mismatch between income and deprivation measures is greatest at the least generously defined poverty lines. A similar relationship was found for persistence. But, while consistency was related to the overall level of poverty in a country, this was not true for persistence. To develop further our understanding of different poverty measures the relationship of these variables to economic strain is considered. While deprivation has a substantially stronger impact than income a significant interaction between the two factors is found to exist. As a prelude to a systematic multivariate analysis of the determinants of different types of poverty, the final section illustrates the manner in which conclusions about the impact of social class on poverty are affected by the choice of poverty measure and the country under consideration. It proceeds to place these findings in the context of the recent debate on the "democratisation" of poverty.373