A life‐course perspective on social exclusion and poverty

Abstract

This article assesses whether it is possible to reconceptualize the traditional research approaches to the relationship between poverty and the life cycle on the basis of different sociological perspectives on the life course found in the literature. While the family-cycle approach, which was originally formulated by Seebohm Rowntree (1902), is criticized for being static, descriptive, normative and inflexible, dynamic poverty research is mostly confined to the quantitative analysis of income trajectories, and thus offers only a partial solution to our problem. However, the life-course perspective allows us to combine the best elements of these traditional approaches and to reconceptualize them into a general framework for the study of social exclusion and poverty. To this end, three sociological perspectives on the life course are considered: the traditional North-American life-course perspective formulated by Elder (1974), the Continental institutional approach, and a combined approach which we label the 'political economy of the life course'. Drawing from these three perspectives, we propose a general framework of analysis and formulate hypotheses regarding the phenomena of social exclusion and poverty over the life course which can subsequently be empirically validated.

Diverse pathways in becoming an adult: The role of structure, agency and context

“…Yet, transitions such as leaving school, entry into the labour market, and timing of first birth are not discrete, clearly bounded events -they are interdependent, often requiring compromises regarding the coordination of different roles (Elder & Shanahan, 2006). A limitation of analysing transitions as single events or change from one status to another is that it does not account for potential U-turns, detours, and zig-zag movements (Dewilde, 2003), such as returning to education or moving in and out of employment. Standard population based approaches, calculating average coefficients regarding the timing and sequencing of transitions do not take into account the dynamics and potential non-linearity of transition experiences (Gauthier, Bühlmann, & Blanchard, 2014).…”

Welfare, labour market deregulation and households’ poverty risks: An analysis of the risk of entering poverty at childbirth in different European welfare clusters

“…These differences are related to institutional factors such as job mobility, unemployment and other labour market characteristics. On the other hand, welfare systems differ in the type and level of support they provide for families and career circumstances and thus influence the (economic) consequences that certain family events may involve (Dewilde, 2003;DiPrete and McManus, 2000;Fouarge and Layte, 2005;Saraceno et al, 2012;Western et al, 2012). In terms of poverty rates, the frequency and duration of poverty spells vary systematically across countries (Duncan et al, 1993;Fouarge and Layte, 2005;Nolan et al, 2006) and welfare systems Whelan, 2011, 2014;Pintelon et al, 2013).…”

“…Although European nations face similar risks, needs and trade-offs connected to post-industrial challenges, their ability to cope with the 'new' social risks affecting individuals and families is, in fact, highly heterogeneous (Cantillon, 2011;Dewilde, 2003;Esping-Andersen, 2002;Ferrera, 2005;Fouarge and Layte, 2005;Western et al, 2012). At the household level, income dynamics are influenced by specific events connected to the employment situation within the household and to changes in the household's composition (DiPrete, 2002).…”

Análisis De Los Modelos Explicativos De Retención De Estudiantes en La Universidad: Una Visión Desde La Desigualdad Social

“…Basado en lo expuesto, se puede indicar que los procesos de acumulación de desventajas no son un problema particular de un curso de vida desviado de la persona (Dewilde 2003), sino de una estructura de oportunidades que hace a este proceso más incierto y complejo. Esto es, conduce a un acumulado histórico de desventajas.…”