The aim of this paper is to compare academic interpretations of the termsocial exclusion with the understanding of people with direct experienceof the phenomenon. A pre-selected group of residents of deprivedneighbourhoods were asked about various aspects of the concept andtheir responses...

Government support of private (occupational and personal) pensionsthrough the system of tax reliefs is large: between one quarter and onethird that of direct support of state pensions through public expenditure.However, it is regressive, lacks transparency and is difficult to control. Thispaper...

Since the mid-1990s the term and phenomenon of “social exclusion” has attractedmuch academic attention in the UK, and since 1997 has been an explicit focus ofgovernment policy. In a new book, CASE members examine the debate around themeaning of the term, and the extent and nature of problems...

Given the emphasis in recent welfare economics, political philosophy andsocial policy on the concept of opportunity, the need to find a way ofdifferentiating between outcomes that are the result of choice and outcomesthat are the results of constraint has become pressing. But all approaches...

Why is social exclusion a problem? What about ‘voluntary’ social exclusion –when an individual chooses to exclude him or herself from the wider society?Brain Barry has addressed these questions in a recent CASE book, arguing thatsocial exclusion, voluntary or involuntary, offends against...

This paper is an attempt to assess the extent to which the behaviour of anindividual is the result of the constraints that he or she faces – factorsbeyond individual control - or the result of the exercise of his or herpreferences. The study concentrates on participation or non-participationin...

Our report sets out a framework for delivering new and renovatedhousing in an integrated and sustainable way. Volume one presentsour framework; volume two explores the six elements of theframework in more detail; and volume three brings togethersupporting documentation gathered during the...

The Trafford Hall Making Things Happen Programme is an innovative and practical‘capacity building’ programme of residential training, linked to follow-up small grants, forsocial housing tenants in England and Wales. It aims to support community volunteers to beinvolved in improving...

This report summarises the key issues that arose and pulls together the actions proposed byleading experts at different levels, from the poorest neighbourhoods up to central government.There was no proposed or agreed single line of action; rather there were multiple strands ofthinking that,...

The report, 'A Fresh Start', was published in 1999. 'A Fresh Start' was based onfindings of the Working Group on Adult Basic Skills chaired by Sir Claus Moser.The Moser report brought home the huge amount of catching up that needs to be doneto improve levels of basic skills nationally. It...