Social Equality

Abstract

Social equality is one of the basic elements of the social quality of a society. As a result, combatting poverty and social exclusion has become one of the priorities of the European Union. Thus, the development of composite indicators to measure social inequality is particularly important and has been one of the tools most widely used by international organizations and researchers for evaluation and monitoring. In this chapter we examine six indices for measuring social inequality in Europe from different perspectives: EU Material Deprivation Index, At-Risk-Of-Poverty or Social Exclusion Indicator (AROPE), Composite Indicators of Social Inclusion for European Countries, EU Multidimensional Poverty Index, Social Justice Index, and Migrant Integration Policy Index. For every index, different sections offer basic information about its conceptual and empirical framework, its process of construction and metrics together with the most recent available data.