Income Distribution and Social Exclusion of Children: Evidence from Italy and Spain in the 1990s

Income poverty rates are often used as indicators of the level of deprivation of populations and as measures of the relative position of sub-groups within populations. In this paper, we examine the links between monetary and non-monetary indicators of deprivation and social exclusion. We focus on children since they constitute one of the most vulnerable demographic groups in many countries. Understanding the poverty level and social exclusion of children is important not only in its own right but also because there is concern that the deprivation condition is transmitted from one generation to the next. Italy and Spain are two European countries that stand out for the high social risks faced by households with children. The welfare states of these two countries have put minimal effort in protecting these population groups. Our results strongly confirm the view that the use of non-monetary indicators enriches the analysis of well-being. It is indeed the case that the two countries, which perform very similarly in many aspects, show very diverse levels of deprivation and social exclusion once non-monetary indicators are used. In particular, Italy and Spain are characterized by substantial disparities in all the domains analyzed except for the domain of income poverty