The Rise of Social Insecurity in the EU: Concepts and Measures

Our paper shows that insecurity is a syndrome located between the two poles of multiple deprivation and social protection on the one side and and well-being on the other side. While the social profile of poverty seems closer to that of multiple deprivation, even though more diffused, the social profile of insecurity is different. First, and most notably, it overlaps a wide range of social situations as far as education, income, household composition, place in the life-course, social class position. Second, it affects not only households that experience some form of social exclusion (a member who is a long-term unemployed) or are in a lower social conditions (the mean earner is part of the working class), but also “normal” households that are protected from the risk of poverty or deprivation, but that still deal with means/ends mismatching and material compression of their living standards. Is this the case of households with a stable worker, with members who work as intermediate subordinate, whose income is located in median deciles. It confirms that insecurity affects not only the working class and lower income households, but also a relevant part of the middle class, including the petite bourgeoisie and part of highly educated intermediate subordinates,  and households with middle levels of education and income.