Družboslovne razprave, Vol . XI (1995), No .19-20, pp .151-168
UDK: 364.2(492) : 364.4 : 316.344 .7
Social Exclusion and Poverty : The Dutch
Experience
HENK-JAN DIRVEN*
The concept of social exclusion is rather uncommon in the Netherlands .
Moreover, a lack of consensus exists about the definition of other concepts
such as poverty, deprivation, marginalisation and social disadvantage. This
contribution proposes first a conceptual framework in which a distinction
is made between the concepts of income poverty, relative deprivation, im-
poverishment and social exclusion . Second, a number of results are pre-
sented from an ongoing research programme on poverty, insecurity of
subsistence and relative deprivation in the Netherlands carried out by the
Tilburg Institute for Social Security Research (WORC/TISSER) . Third, a
brief review is given of the main policies to combat social disadvantage
proposed and implemented by the Dutch government .
Keywords: Netherlands, income poverty, relative deprivation, impoverish-
ment, social exclusion
1 Introduction
From the reports by WORC/TISSER produced for the European Commission's
Observatory on National Policies to Combat Social Exclusion (Dirven, 1990
; Dirv en & Jehoel-Gijsbers, 1990; Dirven et al., 1992; Kemperman, 1994), it appears
that the concept of social exclusion is rather uncommon in the Netherlands . More-
over, these reports indicate that a lack of consensus exists about the concept of
social exclusion and its relations to other concepts, such as poverty, deprivation,
marginalisation and social disadvantage . In order to solve this jigsaw puzzle of
poverty definitions, Section 2 of this contribution proposes a conceptual frame-
work in which a distinction is made between the concepts of income poverty, rel-
ative deprivation, impoverishment and social exclusion .
In Section 3, results are presented from WORC/TISSER's research programme
on poverty, insecurity of subsistence and relative deprivation in the Netherlands .
The main feature of the programme is its longitudinal character: the living condi-
tions of individuals are surveyed annually, thus giving the opportunity to analyse
trends in the social distribution of income poverty and relative deprivation as
well as transitions into and out of such situations . Finally, in Section 4, a brief
review is given of the main policies to combat social disadvantage carried out and
proposed by the Dutch government .
*Henk-Jan Dirven works at WORC/TISSER, Tilburg University, PO . Box 90153,
NL-5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands . E-mail : h .j.dirven@kub .n l
Henk-Jan Dirven
2 The Conceptualisation of Social Exclusion and Poverty
First, this section deals with the concepts used in the political (subsection 2 .1)
and scientific (subsection 2 .2) debates in the Netherlands . Second, a conceptual
framework is proposed in subsection 2 .3, which distinguishes between, on the one
hand, situations of income poverty and relative deprivation and, on the other, the
processes of impoverishment and social exclusion .
2.1 The Political Debate
In the studies conducted for the observatory on social exclusion, reviews were
made of the use of the concepts of social exclusion, poverty, (social) disadvantage
and marginalisation in the political debate in the Netherlands . These reviews
show that the concepts of social exclusion, poverty and marginalisation are very
uncommon in the political debate, if not completely absent . The concept of (so-
cial) disadvantage, on the other hand, is used rather frequently .
For example, in the introduction to the parliamentary report on the policy of
social renewal (Second Chamber, 1990) and the political debate surrounding it,
the concept of (social) disadvantage was used over and over again . However, the
concepts of poverty and marginalisation were hardly used and social exclusion
was never explicitly mentioned . The debate was formulated largely in terms of
(social) disadvantage . At present, the situation is not very different from the sit-
uation at the beginning of the decade .
The political debate on the social renewal policy implied a shift from a one-
dimensional perspective, in terms of a lack of income, towards a multidimension-
al perspective in terms of multiple disadvantage . Much attention was paid to
population groups having less than average employment rates, low educational
achievements and limited social participation . To some extent, housing condi-
tions and the health status of these population groups were discussed as well .
Moreover, both the report and the debate on the social renewal policy dealt exten-
sively with the concentration of physical and social problems in the old city dis-
tricts. Nevertheless, despite this multi-dimensional perspective, the emphasis was
put mainly on the educational, employment and income dimensions, implicitly
assuming these to be preconditions for a more favourable position in a number of
secondary areas such as health, housing and social participation .
2.2 The Scientific Debate
In the studies for the observatory, the concepts used in the scientific debates were
reviewed as well . It appeared that, within the Dutch scientific community, the
concept of poverty is used much more often than the concept of social exclusion .
Sometimes, the concept of social exclusion is used in relation to ideas on social
closure advanced by the American sociologist Frank Parkin (Kerstholt, 1988) .
Social exclusion is then seen as one of three types of social closure, the others
being usurpation and dual closure.' It is defined as the attempt by one group to
secure for itself a privileged position at the expense of some other group through
152
	
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Social Exclusion and Poverty : The Dutch Experience
a process of subordination . Social exclusion thus represents the use of power in a
"downward" direction .
The concept of social exclusion is also sometimes explicitly used to describe
the consequences of limited life-chances (Engbersen, 1990) . Research shows that
having no telephone, or an unlisted telephone number, is much more common
among the long-term unemployed than among the population in general . For that
reason, it has been proposed to take this as an indication of a process of social
exclusion .
While the concept of social exclusion is hardly used in the social sciences, nu-
merous studies have been carried out on the issue of poverty in the Netherlands . 2
Most of these studies have adopted a relative approach, comparing the situation
of people to that of their peer or reference groups . An absolute approach to pover-
ty, directed towards more extreme types of visible hardship, has received much
less attention .
Among the relative poverty definitions used in Dutch poverty research, four
main approaches may be distinguished: the budget method, the politically-dep
fined poverty line, the subjective poverty line and the relative deprivation index.
The details of these approaches are not dealt with here, but it should be noted
that the first three are exclusively defined in terms of income . The fourth ap-
proach (the relative deprivation index), however, includes more than just (a lack
of) income. In order to measure a state of multiple deprivation or disadvantage,
the relative deprivation index incorporates several areas of life .
2 .3 Solving the Conceptual Jigsaw Puzzle of Social Exclusion and
Poverty
From the political and scientific debates on social exclusion and poverty in the
Netherlands, it becomes clear that neither of the two concepts is very popular
among politicians, while the concept of poverty is clearly preferred by scientists .
Among the latter, it is widely acknowledged that no poverty line exists which is
capable of taking into account all aspects of the phenomenon of poverty simulta-
neously. As a consequence, a large number of different poverty lines are used,
often within the same study. In order to get some conceptual clarity, at least with
respect to the concept of poverty, a distinction may be made between poverty in
the sense of income poverty, or insecurity of subsistence, and poverty in the sense
of relative deprivation (Ringen, 1988) .
Poverty can be defined and measured in two ways : directly (in terms of con-
sumption) and indirectly (in terms of income) . A direct definition of poverty is one
in terms of relative deprivation ; poverty is viewed as being a low level of con-
sumption. Such a definition is termed direct because it focuses on the actual liv-
ing conditions of individuals . Measuring poverty using an income poverty line is
an indirect method; poverty is determined on the basis of the disposable income
of the household . Such a method of measurement is termed indirect because it is
not the actual living conditions which are being measured but only one of the
determinants of those conditions .
The indirect definition of poverty may be termed the subsistence definition .
According to this definition, people are poor if they do not have at their disposal
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Henk-Jan Dirven
the minimum amount of resources considered necessary in order to achieve a
certain level of consumption . This minimum amount of resources is called the
subsistence minimum or the income poverty line . In some cases, the determina-
tion of the income poverty line is based explicitly on a level of consumption taken
to be the minimum . This usually, however, remains implicit . It should be pointed
out that, according to this view, resources are generally taken to mean only the
disposable income of the household ; other economic resources, such as wealth or
social and cultural resources, are not integrated into the definition . A situation of
income poverty occurs if the disposable income of the household is lower than the
subsistence minimum .
The direct definition of poverty (the deprivation definition) states that indi-
viduals are poor if their level of consumption lags behind what is considered to be
sufficient within society. The direct definition is therefore based on a person's
actual living conditions, whereas the indirect definition is based on the determi
nants of these conditions. Re earch on the Ne herlands (Dirven & Berghman,
1991) indicates that income poverty is not the sole determinant of relative depri-
vation ; other economic resources, as well as social and cultural resources, appear
to have an independent impact as well .
Poverty definitions may thus be classified into definitions of income poverty
and definitions of relative deprivation . While the former are based on a one-di-
mensional perspective on poverty in terms of a lack of income, the latter take a
multi-dimensional perspective in terms of living conditions . It should be noted,
however, that one piece of the conceptual puzzle has not yet found its place : the
concept of social exclusion still has to be defined . One problem in defining social
exclusion may be that it, like the concept of poverty, may be used both in a static
and a dynamic sense (Berghman, 1994) . In a static sense, social exclusion, as well
as poverty, refers to the situation of individuals at a specific point in time . This
situation may be one of a lack of income or of multi-dimensional disadvantage . On
the other hand, both concepts refer to the process that brought about such a lack
of income or multi-dimensional disadvantage .
Table 1 . The conceptualisation of social exclusion and poverty.
Process
	
Situation
Indirect definition Impoverishment -> , Income poverty (insecurity
i of subsistence)
Direct definition Social exclusion -> i Relative deprivation (social
disadvantage)
This double connotation of the concepts of social exclusion and poverty may be
one of the ongoing conceptual discussions about how to define poverty . Therefore,
it may be wise to use different concepts for situations and processes . Table 1
displays the four possible combinations of direct and indirect definitions on the
one hand, and processes and situations on the other hand . One would agree that
the concept of social exclusion more strongly refers to a process than does the
concept of poverty. Social exclusion may then be used to denote the process lead-
154 DR, Vo1 .XI(1995)19-20
Social Exclusion and Poverty : The Dutch Experience
ing to relative deprivation or social disadvantage, while the concept of-income
poverty or insecurity of subsistence is used to refer to a situation brought about
by a process called impoverishment .
3 Research
This section presents results from WORC/TISSER's research into poverty in the
Netherlands . First, it deals with situations . Some methods of measuring income
poverty and relative deprivation are discussed and illustrated by a number of
results . Second, the focus is shifted towards processes, and some empirical re-
sults are presented concerning impoverishment and social exclusion .
3.1 Income Poverty
In this contribution, two income poverty lines are used to determine income pov-
erty: the National Social Minimum Income (NSMI) and the Subjective Poverty
Line (SPL) . These poverty lines are similar in that they are not imposed by the
researcher but have been drawn externally . The National Social Minimum In-
come can be said to be based on political consensus (or, at least, on a majority
view) as regards the minimum subsistence level. The Subjective Poverty Line can
be regarded as being rooted in the everyday experiences of individuals trying to
make ends meet (Van den Bosch, 1994) .
Although no official income poverty line exists in the Netherlands, the amounts
given in the National Assistance Act3 can be taken as the level of income consid-
ered by the authorities as the minimum necessary to live in a situation of security
of subsistence . The amounts are dependent on the composition of the recipient's
household, his or her age, and whether or not he or she shares a home . In deter-
mining the National Social Minimum Income level, not only assistance benefits
but also holiday allowances, incidental benefits, family allowances and student
grants are included in the calculations .
The Subjective Poverty Line (Goedhart et al ., 1977) is based on the judge-
ments of a representative sample of heads of households about the minimum
income for their household . Although the presence of the word "subjective" may
perhaps suggest otherwise, this poverty line is not a purely subjective one . It
refers to the fact that calculating the level of the Subjective Poverty Line is based
on the "subjective" judgements of heads of households . From these judgements
an "average" or inter-subjective judgement is derived, taking as the point of de-
parture the answers to the so-called minimum income question : what net income
do you consider to be the absolute minimum for your household in your circum-
stances? In other words, if you had any less, you would not be in a position to
make ends meet .
The answer to the minimum income question appears to be related to the
composition of the household, the actual household income and the average in-
come of the household's reference group, which consists of family, friends, neigh-
bours, acquaintances and colleagues . It can be shown that a level of income exists
in such a way that, for all incomes below this level, the income of the household is
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Henk-Jan Dirven
lower than the minimum income, whereas for all incomes above this level the
income of the household is higher than the minimum income . This level of income
is called the Subjective Poverty Line ; it is the point at which households can just
make ends meet .
In general, the level of the Subjective Poverty Line is higher than the level of
the National Social Minimum Income . Apparently, the opinions of politicians and
the population differ with respect to the level of the subsistence minimum . In
order to determine insecurity of subsistence, the level of the National Social Min-
imum Income and the Subjective Poverty Line is compared with the annual dis-
posable income of the household . The latter is determined on the basis of a list of
27 income components and includes the incomes of all household members . A
person is considered to be in a situation of income poverty if the annual disposa-
ble income of the household to which he or she belongs is lower than the National
Social Minimum Income or the Subjective Poverty Line .
Table 2. The evolution of income poverty, 1985-1988 .
1985
	
1986 1987 1988
House- Indivi- House- Indivi- House- Indivi- House- Indivi-
holds dual- holds duals holds duals holds duals
NSMI 8.7 7.3 7 .5 6 .6 8 .0 6 .1 7.9 6.2
SPL 14.7 10.1 16 .3 11.5 18 .4 12 .8 18.6 12.3
Source : Muffels et al . (1992) .
Table 2 presents results on the evolution of income poverty in the Netherlands
between 1985 and 1988. The results are derived from the Dutch Socio-Economic
Panel Survey (Lemmens, 1991), which is a household panel survey of about 5,000
households started in 1984 . In Table 2, the panel figures are analysed as if they
represent a series of repeated cross-sections . This enables to us carry out analy-
ses of trends, which give us an insight into the changes in poverty risks over time .
As far as the overall picture is concerned, it appears that a slight decrease in
the incidence of income poverty occurred between 1985 and 1988 according to the
National Social Minimum Income level, while the Subjective Poverty Line reveals
a slightly upward trend in the incidence of poverty. Applying a log-linear analysis
of these trends, only the results for the Subjective Poverty Line turned out to be
statistically significant . The increasing trend for the Subjective Poverty Line may
indicate that the reform of the Dutch social security system in 1987 did result in
increasing feelings of subsistence insecurity.
3.2 Relative Deprivation
While income poverty lines may be used to describe the income situation of house-
holds, relative deprivation indices are employed to study situations of multiple
disadvantage . Following the works of Townsend (1979), Mack & Lansley (1985)
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Social Exclusion and Poverty: The Dutch Experience
and Desai & Shah (1988) on the definition and measurement of relative depriva-
tion, Muffels (1993) developed a subjective deprivation poverty line . It is based on
social consensus among the Dutch population about the level of consumption con-
sidered sufficient for a given type of household .
The derivation of the subjective deprivation poverty line follows two main
steps. First, the degree of relative deprivation of a household is determined using
a continuous subjective deprivation scale . This scale is based on the answers giv-
en by heads of households to two questions regarding a list of material and social
items which was included in the questionnaire of the 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1991
waves of the Dutch Socio-Economic Panel Survey . 4 For each individual item, re-
spondents were asked whether they found it definitely necessary to have or to do
the item and whether they actually had or did the item themselves . Calculating
the subjective deprivation scale is, then, a matter of adding up the number of
items that the respondent claimed not to have or do and to subtract the number
of items that the respondent claimed to have or do . However, while adding-up and
subtracting these items, weights were used reflecting the extent to which various
items were possessed or done as well as thought necessary by the reference group
of the household. The latter was assumed to consist of households with heads
having the same age and educational level .
The second step in the derivation is to transform the subjective deprivation
scale into a subjective deprivation poverty line . The transformation is based on
the level of satisfaction expressed by the respondent with respect to his or her
living conditions. This was measured by the so-called life resources evaluation
question, which was asked directly after the list of items : if you consider the way
in which your household lives at the moment, would you call your household poor,
or in fact rich, or somewhere in between? You can answer by giving a score for
your situation. A score of 1 means that you consider yourself to be very poor; a
score of 10 means that you consider yourself to be very rich .
The level of the subjective deprivation poverty line is then calculated by deter-
mining the level of deprivation which corresponds to a specific score in the an-
swer to this question . For example, as with a school report in the Netherlands, it
may be assumed that a score of 5 1/2 indicates the dividing line between a "satisfac-
tory" and an "unsatisfactory" score, in this case as regards the evaluation of one's
living conditions. Since the score in the answer to the life resources evaluation
question is also influenced by reference group factors, age and marital status of
the heads of household, and indicators of financial "stress", 5 the resulting subjec-
tive deprivation poverty line varies across household types . The level of the pov-
erty line can be taken to be the line which exists, according to the Dutch population,
between a sufficient and an insufficient level of consumption for a given type of
household .
To determine the evolution of relative deprivation between 1985 and 1991,
three subjective deprivation poverty lines were used, each based on a different
score to the life resources evaluation question, i .e. 5 (unsatisfactory), 51/2 (be-
tween unsatisfactory and satisfactory) and 6 (satisfactory) . These were called SDL5,
SDL51/2 and SDL6 respectively. The subjective deprivation poverty lines were com-
pared to each household's score on the subjective deprivation scale . If the latter
was higher, the household was considered to be relatively deprived .
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Henk-Jan Dirven
Table 3 The evolution of relative deprivation, 1985-1991,
n 1985
	
1986 1988 	1991
SDL5
Households 5.8 4.6 4.6 3.2
Individuals 4.7 3.5 3.5 2.1
SDL51/2
Households 14.0 13.2 11.6 9.0
Individuals 10.8 10.2 9.4 6 .1
SDL6
Households 28.8 29.6 25.1 19.2
Individuals 24.2 24.5 20.3 13.4
Source: Muffels et al . (forthcoming) .
As Table 3 indicates, a substantial decrease in the incidence of relative depriva-
tion was observed between 1985 and 1991 among both households and individu-
als. By the way, the proportion of relatively-deprived households appears to be
higher than the proportion of relatively deprived individuals. Apparently, relative
deprivation is more common among smaller households . Statistical testing showed
that the incidence of relative deprivation in 1991 was lower than in 1985 at all
three levels of the subjective deprivation poverty line . Moreover, the ratio of de-
prived to non-deprived households and individuals appeared to have decreased by
about 10% per year. Closer examination of the figures showed that this was main-
ly caused by decreasing levels of the subjective deprivation poverty line . Appar-
ently, the level of deprivation considered by the Dutch population to be the dividing
line between satisfactory and unsatisfactory living conditions has decreased since
1985 .
3.3 Impoverishment
Impoverishment can be defined in terms of a process which brings about a situa-
tion of income poverty or insecurity of subsistence . It thus refers to a chain of
events which causes people's income to fall below the income poverty line . This
section presents empirical evidence on such poverty transitions and their deter-
minants. To determine the incidence of poverty transitions, mobility tables can
be constructed in which income poverty in one year is cross-classified with in-
come poverty in the following year. Such mobility tables can then be described in
terms of inflow and outflow, to answer questions such as : how many 'rich' people
fell below the income poverty line and how many poor people escaped from in-
come poverty within a given period of time? Table 4 gives figures on annual in-
158 DR, Vol.Xl(1995)19-20
Social Exclusion and Poverty : The Dutch Experience
and outflow between 1986 and 1988 according to the National Social Minimum
Income and the Subjective Poverty Line .
Table 4. Transitions into and out of income poverty, 1986-1988 (inflow, outflow and
relative risk.).
1986-1987
	
1987-1988
Inflow Outflow Relative risk Inflow Outflow Relative risk
NSMI 4.8 64.5 10.9 3.8 61.2 16.1
SPL 10.9 31 .4 17.7 4.8 44.3 25.2
Source : Dirven & Berghman (1991) .
Table 4 should be read in the following way : of all people living in households
above the National Social Minimum Income level in 1986, 4 .8% became poor in
1987. The corresponding figure for the 1987-1988 period was 3 .8%. On the other
hand, 64.5% of all people living below the National Social Minimum Income level
in 1986 had escaped this situation by 1987. The corresponding figure for the 1987-
1988 period was 61.2%. The figures according to the Subjective Poverty Line should
be interpreted in the same way. Comparing inflow and outflow shows that the
probability of escaping income poverty within one year is much higher than the
probability of falling below the income poverty line .
Mobility tables can also be analysed in a different way. Suppose that competi-
tion exists between people who are secure of subsistence and people insecure of
subsistence, and that this competition is about scarce positions above the subsist-
ence minimum . Then the question is whether, and to what extent, the outcome of
this competition is unequal for these two subgroups . The extent of this inequality
can he expressed in terms of the relative risk, which is also known as the odds-
ratio . A value of 1 indicates a perfectly equal outcome . Any value exceeding 1
indicates an unequal outcome to the advantage of people above the income pover-
ty line .
The relative risks for the 1986-1987 mobility tables were 10 .9 and 17 .7 respec-
tively, using the National Social Minimum Income and the Subjective Poverty
Line. These values appeared to be significantly smaller than those found for the
1987-1988 period. Apparently, the outcome of competition between persons above
and below the income poverty line became more unequal between 1986 and 1988 .
This may reflect a more prolonged trend towards the marginalisation of an un-
derclass in Dutch society during the 1980s, which was found by other researchers
(Ultee et al ., 1992) as well.
In an attempt to explain transitions into and out of situations of income pov-
erty, an analysis has been made of the relationships between changes in employ-
ment status, marital status and the number of children living at home and
transitions into and out of income poverty (Dirven & Berghman, 1991) . The main
results from these analyses are summarised in Table 5 for both married and un-
married men and women . It appeared that, unsurprisingly, finding a job decreased
the probability of becoming income poor for both married and unmarried men
and women, whereas losing a job increased the probability of becoming income
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Henk-Jan Dirven
poor. Furthermore, for married men and women the probability of escaping in-
come poverty was higher if the spouse found a job and lower if he or she lost a job .
Indeed, the relationship between income poverty and unemployment is clear . How-
ever, changes in family composition appeared to have independent effects as well .
Although marriage appeared to have no independent effect on the probability
of escaping income poverty and the probability of becoming income poor for un-
married men, it did have these consequences for unmarried women . Moreover,
losing a spouse through death or divorce did not increase the probability of be-
coming insecure of subsistence for married men, whereas it did for married women.
Table 5. The impact of changes in employment status and family composition on .
the odds of becoming income poor, 1986-1988 .
Married men Married women Unmarried men Unmarried women
Change in employment
status
-finding a job
	
- - - -
-losing a job + + + + + + + +
Change in employment
status of the spouse
-finding a job - - n .a . n .a .
losing a job ++ ++
Change in marital
status
-marriage n .a . n .a . 0 -
-death or divorce 0 + + n.a. n.a .
Change in the
number of
children living
at home
-increase 0/+ 0/+ n.o . + +
-decrease 0 0 - 0
- Decreasing odds
++ Increasing odds
0/+ No effect according to the National Social Minimum Income level,
increasing odds according to the Subjective Poverty Line
0 No impact
n.a . Not applicable
n.o . No observations
Source: Dirven & Berghman (1991) .
160	DR,Vol.Xl ( 1995)19-20
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The latter results suggest that financial incentives exist for women to get and to
stay married . Even if an unemployed woman finds a job after her divorce, she
may suffer substantial losses of income . This may be explained from the rather
low wages of working women, especially of those women who stopped working
during marriage . Furthermore, the children are usually taken care of by the woman
after a divorce, causing many women to work part-time or to not work at all .
Finally, family allowances and alimony are often insufficient to cover the full cost
of bringing up children .
The results also showed that an increase in the number of children living at
home had a direct impact on the probability of becoming income poor for married
persons if the Subjective Poverty Line was used, but no impact according to the
National Social Minimum Income. This result may be explained by the fact that,
in the Netherlands, the real costs of bringing up children are not fully covered by
family allowances and, therefore, by the National Social Minimum Income . An
increase in the number of children also appeared to increase the probability of
becoming income poor for unmarried women, irrespective of the poverty line used .
Finally, a decrease in the number of children living at home decreased the proba-
bility of becoming income poor for unmarried men, but showed no significant
effects for married persons and for unmarried women .
To sum up, the available empirical evidence supports the idea that the process
of impoverishment is triggered by changes in employment status and family com-
position . These changes also appear to have different impacts on men and wom-
en, which suggests that various processes of impoverishment exist for sub-groups
within the population . In addition, more recent results on the process of impover
ishment in the Netherlands indicate that structural features of the system of
social protection also have an independent impact on transitions to income pover-
ty (Muffels, 1993) . Implicit tax rates and high levels of benefit are shown to have
positive effects on transitions to income poverty because of disincentive effects
on the supply of labour. The system itself may thus contribute to the process of
impoverishment .
3 .4 Social Exclusion
The concept of social exclusion can be used to denote the process which brings
about a situation of relative deprivation . Due to the lack of long-term figures on
people's living conditions, hardly any attempts have been made to study the proc-
ess of social exclusion . Some turnover tables have only recently become available
within the framework of WORC/TISSER's research programme, in which transi-
tions into and out of relative deprivation were analysed . Some of the results are
displayed in Table 6 . Inflow, outflow and relative risks are presented for the three
levels of the subjective deprivation poverty line referred to earlier . Two three-
year periods were investigated : 1985-1988 and 1988-1991 .
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Henk-Jan Dirven
Table 6. Transitions into and out of relative deprivation, 1985-1991 .
1985198_8
	
1988-1991
Inflow Outflow Relative risk Inflow • . Relative risk
SDL5 2.2 74.5 14.9 1.2 26.6
SDL51/z ;_5 6 55 .3 13.6 2.8 59.3 _ 24.0
SDL6 9.4 48.1 10.4 5.7 54.2 13.9
Source : Muffels et al . (forthcoming) .
First, inflow appears to be at a much lower level than outflow. Although the bal-
ance between inflow and outflow is much better in terms of absolute numbers,
inflow appeared to be lower in absolute numbers as well, causing the incidence of
relative deprivation to decrease between 1985 and 1991 . Second, inflow decreases
with the level of the subjective deprivation poverty line . This can be explained
from the fact that the lower level of the poverty line implies a longer mean dis-
tance towards the poverty line for people not living in relative deprivation . If the
subjective deprivation poverty line is lower, people's living conditions have to de-
teriorate more sharply to arrive at a situation of relative deprivation. Third, com-
paring the two periods shows that inflow in the 1985-1988 period was about half
that in the 1988-1991 period at all levels of the subjective deprivation poverty
line .
Looking at outflow shows that more people escape relative deprivation if the
level of the poverty line is lower. This can be explained in a similar way to the
decrease in inflow with the lowering of the poverty line . If the poverty line is
lower, the mean distance of deprived people from the poverty line is lower and a
small improvement of people's living conditions is sufficient to escape relative
deprivation . At the lowest level of the subjective deprivation poverty line, outflow
decreased between 1985 and 1991, whereas it increased at higher levels .
Again, the relative risk may be used to indicate the level of inequality between
individuals above and below the poverty line in terms of maintaining and achiev-
ing favourable living conditions . The main conclusion to be derived from Table 6
is that the level of inequality increased between 1985 and 1991 . This should be
attributed mainly to the decreasing level of inflow in the same period . Apparently,
the decrease in relative deprivation in the Netherlands is the result of lower risks
of becoming relatively deprived rather than greater opportunities to escape such
a situation. To conclude, it should be noted that the analysis of impoverishment,
as well as the analysis of social exclusion, reveals the growing dualisation of Dutch
society in the second half of the 1980s .
4 Policies
In the Netherlands, no policies exist which explicitly aim to combat social exclu-
sion or poverty. Despite the emphasis put on the concept of social disadvantage in
the political debate on the social renewal policy at the beginning of the decade,
the concept of social disadvantage is dealt with in only two paragraphs of the
162	DR,, Vol.XI(1995)19-20
Social Exclusion and Poverty : The Dutch Experience
government report on social policy (Second Chamber, 1994) . There, it is explicitly
acknowledged that, despite high levels of minimum benefits, problems of social
disadvantage do exist in the Netherlands . Moreover, social disadvantage is char-
acterised as a problem of non-participation in the labour market . The govern-
ment argues that, while the Dutch system of social protection appears to be rather
effective in alleviating financial disadvantage, it is rather ineffective in increas-
ing (full-time) participation in the labour market . 6
Various policy measures are proposed by the Dutch government to simultane-
ously increase employment levels and decrease the number of benefit recipients .
Taken together, these measures should increase participation in the labour mar-
ket and reduce social disadvantage . Recalling the multi-dimensional definition of
social disadvantage within the political debate in the Netherlands, the concept of
social disadvantage is clearly related to the concept of relative deprivation as
defined within the conceptual framework of Section 2 . Although the proposed
policy measures are not explicitly framed in terms of social exclusion, they can be
seen as intervening in the process leading to social disadvantage or relative depri-
vation, which has been called the process of social exclusion within the conceptual
framework .
In its report on social policy, the Dutch government proposes the following
general policy framework for the coming years . First, macro-economic measures
such as wage restraint, tax reductions and shifts in the tax burden are considered
necessary to increase employment levels . In that respect, tax reductions for low-
paid jobs are regarded as one of the main instruments of employment . Second, in
order to reduce problems associated with long-term unemployment to an accept-
able level, the government calls on the social partners to develop a common strat-
egy. In the meantime, measures are taken to increase the additional employment
sector by 40,000 jobs.7? Third, a fundamental reverification of the social security
system is proposed in order to increase incentives to participate in the labour
market. The system should meet new standards : its preventive function should
be improved, selectivity should be increased, recipients should be required to adopt
a more active attitude towards employment in return for the benefits received,
more attention should be paid to private schemes and the bodies charged with
implementing these measures should be judged upon their effectiveness .
It is too early yet to evaluate the proposals made by the present government .
However, some evaluation has been made of policies implemented by the previous
Dutch government, which followed three main tracks to reduce social disadvan-
tage. Increased participation in the labour market by means of a general employ-
ment policy and an active labour market policy constituted the first track . These
were seen as necessary, but insufficient, preconditions for solving problems of
disadvantage . Therefore, two additional tracks were followed . Income policy con-
stituted the second track, especially with respect to the role of the social security
system in stimulating participation in the labour market . The third track was a
direct approach to persistent disadvantage at the local level by means of the so-
cial renewal policy.
A few examples of the previous government's policy to reduce social disadvan-
tage are briefly discussed here . These programmes are : the Job Pool scheme and
the Youth Employment Guarantee scheme, which are two major labour insertion
programmes, the system of minimum protection and the social renewal policy .
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Henk-Jan Dirven
The Job Pool scheme
The Job Pool scheme was introduced in 1990 . It provides additional jobs in the
public sector at the minimum wage to those long-term unemployed people who do
not succeed in finding a regular job and who do not qualify for training or educa-
tion. As such, the Job Pool scheme is the tail-end of the system of labour provi-
sion. At present, about 24,000 people participate in the scheme, the inajority of
whoin are aged over 35 and have been uneinployed for inore than five years .
The Youth Employment Guarantee scheme
The Youth Employment Guarantee scheme is part of the active labour market
policy for young people introduced in 1992 . Its aim is to prevent long-term unem-
ployment and to increase opportunities for finding a regular job . The scheme is a
safety-net provision offering a temporary job at the ininimum young persons wage
after six months of uneinployment . At present, it applies to school-leavers below
24 years of age and to unemployed youngsters below 21 . In 1998, all school-leav-
ers below 27 and unemployed youngsters below 21 will be covered . The Youth
Einployment Guarantee scheme provides about 18,000 additional jobs in the pub-
lic sector. Every six months, it is assessed whether the participant can enter the
regular labour market or whether he or she needs additional training or work
experience to improve his or her opportunities . If a job offer under the scheme is
refused, unemployment benefit inay be reduced .
The system of minimum protection
Both in terms of expenditure and the number of recipients, the National Assist-
ance scheme is the main provision guaranteeing ininimum resources in the Neth-
erlands . Moreover, it should be regarded as the tail-end of the Dutch social
protection system, since it is also implemented in those cases where categorical
income provisions and supplementary benefits do not apply. The aim of the Na-
tional Assistance scheme is to provide financial assistance to every legal resident
who cannot adequately provide for the necessary costs of living of his or her house-
hold, or who is threatened with such a situation .
The social renewal policy
The central element of the social renewal policy is the direct approach towards
the individual citizen at the local level . For that purpose, a number of responsibil-
ities have been transferred to local authorities and institutions . Intervention by
central governinent has been restricted to setting the general framework within
which the local authorities can take measures to combat social disadvantage ac-
cording to their own opinions and priorities. It should be noted that the social
renewal policy does not involve additional budgets ; a number of existing munici-
pal budgets have been combined into one block grant .
Evaluation
Some evaluation has been done of the above programmes . The conclusions to be
drawn from the available studies on labour market ineasures (cf. Serail & Ter
Huurne, 1995) are disappointing . "Creaming-off" effects appear to be present in
most instances . The increase in the labour market opportunities of participants
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DR, Vol .XI(1995)19-20
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is estimated to be modest. Also, doubts can be raised about the extent to which
additional jobs are really additional .
However, even if active labour policies do not reduce aggregate levels of unein -
ployinent, some could argue that they contribute to increasing mobility in and
out of unemployment. And, of course, there may be good arguments for prefer-
ring an open society in which the burden of unemployment is shared between
inany people for a short period of time to a society with an underclass of long-
term unemployed people. Nevertheless, the available evidence on the mobility of
the unemployed (Ultee et al ., 1992) does not support these arguments .
Evaluating the system of miniinum protection in terins of its iinpact on the
incidence of incoine poverty shows that the efficacy of the Dutch system is high
(Deleeck et al ., 1992 ; Coinmission of the European Coinmunities, 1994) . As in the
other member states, however, the system appears to be rather inefficient . Al-
most half of aggregate social transfers goes to households that were at or above
the National Social Minimuin Incoine level without social security transfers or to
households which have more than what they strictly need to stay above that lev-
el. Finally, research on the non-take up of benefits (cf . Van Oorschot,1991) indi-
cates that serious problems exist with respect to informing the least privileged of
their rights .
Evaluative studies of Dutch social renewal policy (Oeij, 1993; Van der Wouden
et al., 1994) conclude that administrative renewal has been effective . Moreover,
the integration of policy measures is also considered to have been inore or less
successful . However, none of these studies show the extent to which social renew-
al policy has contributed to a reduction of social disadvantage .
5 Conclusions
From this contribution, the following inain conclusions about the Dutch experi-
ence of social exclusion and poverty may be drawn :
In the political as well as the scientific debate, the concept of social exclusion
is not very coinmon. A number of other concepts are used : while politicians prefer
to talk about social disadvantage, scientists more often use the concept of pover-
ty. However, no consensus appears to exist about the exact definition of these
concepts .
To solve the conceptual jigsaw puzzle of poverty definitions, two types of dis-
tinctions may be inade . The first is between direct and indirect definitions of
poverty, i .e. in terins of people's actual living conditions and in terms of income
respectively. The second distinction lies between situations and processes . The
concept of social exclusion may then be used to refer to the process leading to
unfavourable living conditions . The latter situation inay be called relative depri-
vation . The concept of income poverty can be defined as a situation in which
people have an income below the subsistence minimum and the concept of impov-
erishment inay be used to refer to the process leading to such a situation .
Empirical evidence from WORC/TISSER's poverty research shows that the
incidence of relative deprivation in the Netherlands decreased in the second half
of the 1980s, while the income poverty rate did not, and may even have increased .
Remarkably, the decreasing incidence of relative deprivation appeared mainly to
DR, Vol .Xl(1995)19-20
	
165
Henk-Jan Dirven
be the result of changed attitudes towards the dividing line between satisfactory
and unsatisfactory living conditions .
The results on impoverishment and social exclusion revealed a growing duali-
sation of Dutch society in the second half of the 1980s . Inequalities between indi-
viduals above and below the income poverty line, as well as those above and below
the subjective deprivation poverty line, appear to have increased in terms of gain-
ing and maintaining a more favourable position . This may well be the consequence
of increasing levels of income inequality in the same period .
The analysis of impoverishment demonstrated the iinpact of changes in em-
ployment status and family composition on the odds of falling below the income
poverty line . While losing a job appeared to have severe effects for both inen and
women, the latter appeared to be disproportionally affected by changes in marital
status as well.
Notes
1 . Usurpation is that type of social closure mounted by a group in response to its
outsider status and its collective experiences of exclusion . It is therefore the use of
power in an "upward" direction . Usurpatory activities normally stand in an un-
comfortable relationship to the legal order . The concept of dual closure takes ac-
count of the fact that some groups may be involved in social exclusion as well as
usurpation .
2. Recent examples are Berghman et al . (1989), Muffels et al . (1990), Dirven &
Berghman (1991), Van Praag et al . (1993), Fouarge (1994) and Dirven & Berghman
(1995) .
3 . For students, the standard budgets in the Student Grants Act can be considered as
the minimum .
4 . The items used for this contribution are based on a list proposed by Townsend
(1986) and include the following : a meal including meat, poultry or fish at least
once every two days, regular acquisition of new clothes, a WC of one's own in the
home (and not shared with other households), a well-maintained home, a home
which is free from damp, the ability to pay the rent or mortgage without problems,
to pay gas, water and electricity bills without problems, a car, a washing machine,
a refrigerator, a telephone, a home in a wellpmaintained area, regular contact with
family, friends and acquaintances, to have acquaintances, friends or family round
to eat (dinner) at least once per month, good health, to go out for the evening once
every two weeks (without the children, if any), at least one week's annual holiday
away from home (not to visit family), membership of a social or cultural organisa-
tion (sports club, social club, music group, etc .) .
5. Indicated by the head's opinion about the current financial situation of the house-
hold and by his/her financial expectations .
6. These arguments are supported by empirical evidence presented by the Commis-
sion of the European Communities (1994) and the Dutch Social and Cultural Plan-
ning Office (1994).
7 . At present, the additional employment sector comprises about 130,000 jobs, of which
84,000 are in sheltered workshops .
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