Social Exclusion: What we need to know and what can be done about it.

Author: Iloka Benneth Chiemelie
Published: 24th April 2018

Step #1

To my very best of understanding, the most excluded people in this world are the poor and older people. With the world increasingly becoming capitalistic in both views and practice, the needs of the poor has become a concern for nobody and they are left to suffer such pain to their own accord. They are excluded from rights to education, good healthcare, leisure and other vital aspects of the society that should naturally be universally obtainable.

Social exclusion has evolved over the course of the past decades and early works were initiated by (Hoff, 2008)who considered the case of the poor and elderly in the society. His argument, he noted that exclusion occurs in cases where the available resources are by far below the average of what is commanded by the poor in the course of obtaining such resources, thus they are excluded from its usage (Hoff, 2008). Still on the argument of Townsend, poverty does not merely represent the lack of financial resources as it can also encompass non-financial resources; and there seems to be a lovely defined set of norms, material gods and other social pleasures that many of the people across the world are actually entitled to, but excluded from for a number of reasons.

(Barnes, Blom, Cox, Lessof, & Walker, 2006)also conducted a study on the exclusion of people based on income and as a result of poverty. In their definition of social exclusion, noted that people are excluded from participating the society due to their lack of materials resources (with special reference to income). They also noted that exclusion has broader mining but generally refers to the dynamic process of being shut out, fully or to some extent, form any of the social, political, economic, and cultural flow of the society in the course of determining the integration of people in the society. In fact, findings from their study does show that the most excluded people in the British society as a result of poverty (Barnes, Blom, Cox, Lessof, & Walker, 2006)

Indeed, numerous studies have featured poverty as the main cause of exclusion, which further validates the claim above that the poor are the most excluded people in the society. Other researchers noted that social exclusion should be defined to include both financial and non-financial factors but whichever is the case, poverty is the most common factors for exclusion (Miranti & Yu, 2011)as earlier indications have shown that poverty does not relate financial factors alone, but can actually be applied to non-financial factors. Poverty is the lack of necessary resources, of which makes people appear more inferior to the other (with the inferior ones being excluded from a number of activities(Gordon, et al., 2000)

Figure 1: Data of social exclusion

Source as adapted from: (Hoff, 2008)

In the case of older people, numerous studies have also been undertaken as it related to their social exclusion. In general, the elders are excluded as a result of their inability to deliver certain expectations due to decline in both age and strength (Scharf, Phillips, Kingston, & Smith, 2000). They are considered inferior and not capable of meeting up with the demands of the changing world and as such excluded from numerous aspects of the society ((Miranti & Yu, 2011). Time is another factors behind such exclusion. For instance, the younger ones are either too occupied with work , studies or other social lives that they don’t have time to take care of their elderly ones and would prefer taking them to the elderly homes. The above figure 1 indicates that this trend has been increasing over the course of the decade as the figures in 2002 were lower than those in 2008.

Step #2

Figure 2: areas of social exclusions

Source as adapted: (Hoff, 2008)

Social exclusion occurs in different case as illustrated in the figure

·         Housing and public transport – due to their poor resources, they might not be allowed to access certain housing and public transport system.

·         Civil activities and accesses to information  - poverty and age also excludes people in this areas as certain activities (e.g. forces like army and corporations) due to the minimum requirement on age as well as demand for certain resources.

They are also excluded from social amenities, common consumer goods, cultural activities, social relationships, financial products and other areas as indicated in the above figure. The impact of this exclusion is that they are not able to live like normal people and they are denied numerous freedom and abilities to satisfy their needs in the process. It can result to various consequences such depression and hatred for other people.

Step #3

This issues can be handled from both individual and government levels with the same objective of including everybody as part of the society. The can be done by:

Individual solutions

We should accommodate people around us irrespective of their age and social class, according them necessary support and respect where necessary. This will make them feel part of the society.

Government solution

The government should adopt necessary policies to ensure that everybody in the society is included and not maltreated in anyway or denied their right no matter the reason. 

References

Barnes, M., Blom, A., Cox, K., Lessof, C., & Walker, A. (2006, 1 4). The Social Exclusion of Older People: Evidence from the first wave of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Retrieved 9 2, 2016, from Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: http://www.ifs.org.uk/docs/odpm_social_exclusion.pdf

Gordon, D., Levitas, R., Pantazis, C., Patsios, D., Payne, S., & Townsend, P. (2000). Poverty and social exclusion in Britain. Retrieved 9 2, 2016, from Poverty and Social Education: http://www.poverty.ac.uk/sites/default/files/pse-esrc-bid-summary.pdf

Hoff, A. (2008, 10). Tackling Poverty and Social Exclusion of Older People – Lessons from Europe. Retrieved 9 2, 2016, from Oxford Institute of Ageing: http://www.ageing.ox.ac.uk/files/Working%20Paper%20308.pdf

Miranti, R., & Yu, P. (2011, 7). Persistence of Social Exclusion Among Older People in Australia: What Are The Protecting Factors? Retrieved 9 2, 2016, from Natsem: http://www.natsem.canberra.edu.au/storage/WP11%20Final.pdf

Scharf, T., Phillips, C., Kingston, P., & Smith, A. (2000, 11 3). SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND OLDER PEOPLE: TOWARDS A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK. Retrieved 9 2, 2016, from Keele Univrsity: https://www.keele.ac.uk/csg/downloads/centreworkingpapers/social%20exclusion.pdf