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In the EU there is growing concern about poverty among children, and among families with children. In most OECD countries, income poverty among children now exceeds that among the elderly, who traditionally were the demographic group most at risk of poverty (Jäntti and Danziger, 2000). However, the policy response of most industrialized countries in the past decades towards poverty among the elderly - extending coverage and levels of pension benefits - is less obvious as a policy option as regards poverty among families with children. There are two basic reasons for this. First of all, there is a consensus that increases in social spending are to be avoided, in view of the expected upward pressure on government budgets resulting from the ageing of the population in the coming decades. Secondly, in contrast to the elderly, families with children are supposed to be self-reliant, i.e. to be able - in normal circumstances - to earn sufficient income through their own efforts to escape poverty. Benefit dependency is seen as economically inefficient, as socially and morally degrading, and also as ultimately an ineffective route to escape poverty. Given this starting point, this paper tries to reach some general policy recommendations for combating income poverty among children and families. It is organized as follows. In the next section, families with children are most at risk of poverty are identified. Single parents obviously belong to this category, but - what is less well known - so do families with three or more children. There is then discussion of some of the new social risks leading to child poverty, which are related to low skills and to the current impossibility of many parents to combine care for children and paid work. In the fourth and final section, there is suggestions for possible policy responses which would support families in meeting the direct and indirect costs of children.

The aims of this collective research project in seven countries and regions in the EC, as regards content, were to establish in a comparative way the number of poor households in each country, to identity social groups at high risk of poverty, to assess the adequacy of social security in guaranteeing a minimum income (thus focusing on results, instead of on the means involved), and to distinguish between temporary and longer- term poverty by means of the panel method. The number of poor households varies from 10-40 per cent (more generous standard) or from 6-20 per cent (strictest standard). The number of long-term poor is much lower. Very few households are in absolute poverty. Important factors determining poverty are: unemployment, social status, age, whether single or not, and whether having only one income in the household (in Ireland and Greece also labour incomes that are too low). The impact of social security transfers on poverty is the strongest in the Benelux countries, least and in fact rather low in Catalonia and in Greece. This inadequacy can be explained by two factors: in many cases the amounts of benefits going to the poor are too low; and the redistributive effect of social security is horizontal rather than vertical, i.e. a large part of the benefits is not going to the bottom groups. From a methodological point of view, several poverty lines were tested. The so- called subjective standard is more realistic (also with regards to the equivalence scales) because it is based on the evaluation of a minimum income made by the population itself; but fluctuations complicate comparative analysis of countries over time. The so-called relative or statistical EC-standard is more appropriate for comparative purposes, but the level of the standard is arbitrarily defined (which is also true for the equivalence scale) and this method measures income-inequality rather than poverty. It is advisable to use the statistical method for the future comparative studies. Poverty-lines will always be based on a reasonable convention. grounded in a generous or restrictive notion of poverty.

The methodology currently used to measure poverty in the European Union faces some important limitations. Capturing key aspects of poverty is done using a dashboard of indicators, which often tell conflicting stories. We propose a new income-based measure of poverty for Europe that captures in a consistent way in a single indicator the level of relative poverty, the intensity of poverty, poverty with a threshold anchored in time and a pan-European perspective on poverty. To do so, we work with a recently developed poverty index, the extended headcount ratio (EHC) and derive the relevant poverty lines to apply the index to poverty in Europe. We show empirically that our measure consistently captures the aspects typically monitored using a variety of indicators and yields rankings that seem more aligned with intuitions than those obtained by these individual indicators. According to our measure, Eastern Europe has a much higher level of poverty than Southern Europe, which, in turn, has a considerably higher level of poverty than North-Western Europe. In North-Western Europe, the evolution of our measure over time correlates most strongly with the at-risk-of-poverty rate, while in Southern and Eastern Europe, it correlates most strongly with at-risk-of-poverty with the threshold anchored in time.

Whereas several studies have examined the timing of exit from social assistance, little is known about the exit destinations after social assistance and whether these entail different risks of re‐entry into social assistance. Using administrative data, we studied 13,552 people with various migration backgrounds who entered social assistance in Belgium in 2004 or 2005. We tracked their social assistance spell(s) and the income source(s) after exit on a quarterly basis over 4 years, using random‐effects hazard models. We found that one‐third of the beneficiaries exited from first‐spells to work, whereas 14% left to active labour market programmes (ALMPs) and 16% to social insurance benefits. About a third re‐entered social assistance, in particular after short work exits. Participation in ALMPs and social insurance benefit receipt was less common among beneficiaries with migration background compared with native‐born and these exits led less frequently to re‐entry than did exits to paid employment.

Enlargement of the European Union to the less prosperous countries of Eastern Europe has invigorated the debate about the accurate measurement of poverty. Even though there is agreement that poverty indicators should somehow take account of the social context, there is much discussion of the extent to which poverty indicators should be relative (i.e. dependent on the social context). The compound indicator of poverty and social exclusion which is used in the new Europe 2020 Strategy consists of one sub-indicator using national poverty lines and another one which adheres to a single European poverty line. As a result, the number and distribution of the poor differs markedly with each sub-indicator. Although each sub-indicator has both academic merit and political importance, we believe that reference budgets may offer important additional information on the cross-national variation in the minimum income needed to participate fully in society. Moreover, poverty lines based on reference budgets can suggest ways to reduce poverty. The main disadvantage of the European reference budgets currently used is that they are difficult to compare. In this article we outline how to move forward towards cross-country comparable reference budgets, listing the main points of discussion in order to develop the essential common theoretical framework and methodology.

In social policy debates, there are fundamentally different views of links between such key variables as employment, low pay, social transfers and poverty. This paper reviews basic empirical evidence on the validity of these views and the policy prescriptions that follow from them, drawing mainly on cross-country comparative studies. These reveal that clear and striking cross-country correlations prevail, but not, as is often so readily suggested, between low pay (wage compression) and employment performance, or between employment performance and poverty. Instead, results indicate a strong but negative cross-country correlation between the level of social spending and the incidence of poverty, as well as a strong and positive cross-country correlation between the incidence of low pay and the incidence of relative poverty. While the former correlation has become part of the received wisdom in social policy research, the latter is more surprising, as the correlation is not due to a strong link between low pay and poverty at the individual level. In addition, the incidence of low wage employment and social expenditure are also strongly and (negatively) related. We examine these correlations in more depth, particularly the link between the level of social spending and poverty. Since there is such a clear and strong negative link between the level of social expenditure and the level of poverty, it is tempting to think that more social spending offers an easy means of reducing poverty. However, a simple simulation exercise using Luxemburg Income Study data from the mid 90's suggests that putting more money into social transfer systems as they currently exist in the EU would not have a positive outcome on poverty rates in all countries. In the final section of the paper, we briefly summarise the results, and put forward a recommendation for further research.

In the social policy debate, fundamentally different ideas prevail about the interlinkages between such key variables as employment, low pay, social transfers and poverty. This paper presents basic empirical evidence on the validity of these ideas and the policy prescriptions that follow from them, mainly drawing on cross-country comparative analysis. We show that clear and striking cross-country correlations prevail, but not, as is often so readily suggested, between low pay (wage compression) and employment performance, or between employment performance and poverty. Instead we find a strong and positive cross-country correlation between the incidence of low pay and the incidence of relative poverty, and we also find a strong but negative cross-country correlation between the level of social spending and the incidence of poverty. In addition, the incidence of low wage employment and social expenditure are also strongly and (negatively) related. We examine these correlations in more depth, particularly the link between the level of social spending and poverty. Since there is such a clear and strong negative link between the level of social expenditure and the level of poverty, it is tempting to think that more social spending offers an easy route to less poverty. However, a simple simulation exercise using Luxemburg Income Study data from the mid 90's suggests that putting more money in social transfer systems as they currently exist in the EU would not have positive outcomes on poverty rates in all countries. The final section of the papers sets out an agenda for further research.

The Belgian unemployment insurance is often blamed to discourage the labour supply due to the unemployment trap, generous length of the benefit entitlement and the passive nature of the benefits. One possible policy option to fight the disincentives of the benefit schemes, is the restriction of the (length of the) benefit entitlement. The impact of these 'negative' incentives on the re-entry behaviour is highly controversial, as well as in academic literature as in policy matters. This contribution evaluates the suspension measure article 80 in the unemployment insurance which imposes a time limit on benefits (through suspension) for the cohabiting long-term unemployed who are assumed no longer to be willing to work. We focus on the methodological background of the re search: the quasi-experimental survey design, the selection bias, the control group, the longitudinal perspective and the importance of these issues for the interpretation of data and results. The results indicate a fairly weak incentive effect of sanctions.

Dit artikel beoogt inzicht te verwerven in de doelmatigheids- en verdelingsresultaten van sociale zekerheidssystemen in Europa. Niet de juridische en institutionele verschalen tussen landen zijn aan de orde, maar wel de empirische impact van sociale zekerheidstransfers op de welvaartsituatie van huishoudens. Bron van data is de comparatieve studie naar armoede, inkomensverdeling en sociale zekerheid (EUROPASS) in zeven landen en regio's van de Europese Gemeenschap. Ondanks omvangrijke sociale middelen slaagt de Sociale Zekerheid er niet in om de bestaansonzekerheid volledig op te heffen. In de 'rijkere' landen, met name de Benelux, zijn sociale zekerheidstransfers weliswaar merkelijk effectiever en is de bestaansonzekerheid lager dan in de zgn. "armere" landen (lerland, Catalonië en Griekenland). Welvaartuitkomsten zijn resultant van de omvang der ingezette middelen, maar daarnaast spelen de behoeften (omvang van de pre-transfer bestaansonzekerheid), alsook de selectiviteit (mate dat middeleninzet gericht is op bestaansonzekerheid) een belangrijke rol. Het beperkt aantal landen geeft aan deze inzichten een indicatief karakter, die moeten getoetst worden op basis van verder onderzoek.

In Europe poverty is usually measured with the at-risk-of-poverty indicator which defines the poverty threshold as 60 per cent of national median income. With this indicator, poverty seems to be lower in some 'poor' EU countries than in some of the richest EU Member States. Also, when the median income changes quickly, the evolution of poverty as shown by the indicator can be counterintuitive, for instance resulting in stagnation or even a decrease in poverty when median incomes fall and living conditions of the poor deteriorate. In this article we propose a new poverty indicator, the Poverty Gap Ratio with priority to the pan-European poor (PGR-PAN) which is not subject to these limitations. The indicator is based on two lines: a hybrid poverty line which increases with national average income and a pan-European poverty line which is fixed in real terms across time and across countries. We use reference budgets to identify a set of useful poverty thresholds. On the basis of EU-SILC data we show that our indicator results in results that are in better agreement with intuitive notions about poverty within the EU and captures more adequately changes as well as cross-national differences in living standards. Furthermore, we contend that the use of our indicator can lead to a more consistent evaluation of poverty in comparison with other indicators of poverty and social exclusion.

In Europe poverty is usually measured with the at-risk-of-poverty indicator which defines the poverty threshold as 60 per cent of national median income. With this indicator, poverty seems to be lower in some 'poor' EU countries than in some of the richest EU Member States. Also, when the median income changes quickly, the evolution of poverty as shown by the indicator can be counterintuitive, for instance resulting in stagnation or even a decrease in poverty when median incomes fall and living conditions of the poor deteriorate. In this article we propose a new poverty indicator, the Poverty Gap Ratio with priority to the pan-European poor (PGR-PAN) which is not subject to these limitations. The indicator is based on two lines: a hybrid poverty line which increases with national average income and a pan-European poverty line which is fixed in real terms across time and across countries. We use reference budgets to identify a set of useful poverty thresholds. On the basis of EU-SILC data we show that our indicator results in results that are in better agreement with intuitive notions about poverty within the EU and captures more adequately changes as well as cross-national differences in living standards. Furthermore, we contend that the use of our indicator can lead to a more consistent evaluation of poverty in comparison with other indicators of poverty and social exclusion.