Academic literature on the topic 'Non-material poverty'

Multivariate poverty measurement methods have been actively developed worldwide in recent years. Such methods include evaluation of limitations to meet basic human needs in terms of housing, clothing, footwear, education, health care, etc. In many countries non-monetary poverty lines are used as official poverty thresholds. But Russia is taking the first steps in this direction. This article presents a poverty assessment in terms of material deprivations, based on the representative survey conducted by Rosstat in 2016. Poverty analysis in terms of material deprivations shows that in Russia the most vulnerable groups are multi-child families and households of the unemployed and pensioners (especially single), as well as families living in rural areas. Such households are characterized by a higher deprivations concentration as well as a higher prevalence of separate deprivations. Measuring poverty in terms of material deprivations cannot replace the monetary poverty evaluation, but it is an important and additional part of poverty assessment. Households of single pensioners have a higher deprivations concentration but they are not poor in terms of absolute income poverty (due to introduction of supplementary pension payments which make their pensions higher than regional poverty thresholds). That means that poverty measurement should consist of a set of different methods that would give a more accurate estimation of poverty and highlight the poorest groups of the population which should be focus of social protection.

Poverty has a close relationship with index quality of life, forming a vicious circle of poverty regarding material and non-material aspects. In addition, macroeconomic factors cause and are caused by poverty, such as investment and inflation. This study tries to see how the interaction between macro and religious indicators exists in Indonesia and the problem of poverty in provinces in Indonesia. The research method used the panel vector error correction model (PVECM) in the long-term and shortterm interaction, which showed that in long-term indicator I-HDI, investment and inflation don't affect the Indonesian poverty rate. The rate of independent indicators can't be a strategy for alleviating poverty in Indonesia. Unlike the long term, in the short term I-HDI, investment and inflation negatively impacted Indonesia's poverty alleviation.

The Human Development Index (HDI) is an indicator to measure the success of development in terms of human resources. However, HDI only looks at the physical/material capabilities (Material Welfare/MW). Therefore, to measure the success of economic development by paying attention to the physical/material side and looking at the non-physical/spiritual side (Non-Material Welfare/NW), an Islamic approach is used, namely the Islamic Human Development Index (IHDI). This study compares HDI and IHDI and the determinants that influence them. The results showed that the HDI in Jambi Province was in the medium category and the IHDI in the low category. The national zakat index (ZZN), religiosity index has a positive effect on HDI, and the poverty depth index has a negative effect, while economic growth has no effect. Furthermore, IHDI in the Regency/City of Jambi Province is positively influenced by the NZI, religiosity index, and poverty index, while economic growth has no effect.

This report addresses the government's and non-governmental organizations' roles in resolving poverty issues. Several of the government's positions in poverty alleviation are classified according to fiscal, health, academic, technical, and social factors. Collaboration between non-governmental organizations and the government will result in community welfare. This is shown by the many empowerment initiatives undertaken by the private sector and government to solve the issue of poverty. For example, growing children's education by requiring them to attend school and increasing women's empowerment by promoting different aspects of education and empowerment, such as free schooling and others. Apart from the economic field, the government and non-governmental organizations offer training to allow citizens to be more innovative in their raw material production. Additionally, in the health field, it is important for NGOs to protect the community's health in order for them to live by delivering free medical care and so on.

The proliferation of global value chains is portrayed in academic and policy circles as representing new development opportunities for firms and regions in the global south. This article tests these claims by examining original material from non-governmental organizations’ reports and secondary sources on the garment and electronics chains in Cambodia and China, respectively. This empirical evidence suggests that these global value chains generate new forms of worker poverty. Based on these findings, the article proposes the novel Global Poverty Chain approach. The article critiques and reformulates principal concepts associated with the Global Value Chain approach – of value-added, rent and chain governance – and challenges a core assumption prevalent within Global Value Chain analysis: that workers’ low wages are a function of their employment in low productivity industries. Instead, it shows that (1) many supplier firms in the global south are as, or more, productive than their equivalents in the global north; (2) often predominantly female workers in these industries are super exploited (paid wages below their subsistence requirements) and (3) chain governance represents a lead firm value-capturing strategy, which intensifies worker exploitation.

Abstract The Christian Scriptures present an idealized vision for human flourishing that includes material and economic justice, as well as relational, spiritual wholeness. This binds Christians to a non-negotiable responsibility to work to prevent and alleviate poverty as an act of participation in God’s redemption of creation. Key to this work is an appropriate and accurate understanding of human flourishing (and its corollary, human poverty) as multi-dimensional. Consequently, any Christian theology that seeks to address the prevention and alleviation of poverty must also explore the necessary issues from a multi-dimensional perspective. While there are diverse ways in which Christians can participate in this divine work, a Christian vision for the alleviation and elimination of poverty must have a focus on long-term structural solutions to injustice, and the importance of community and relationship. This article gives particular attention to a Canadian context. (150 words only)

AbstractA concern with ensuring minimum standards of dignity for all and a doctrine based on the need to secure for everyone basic levels of rights have traditionally shaped the way in which international human rights law addresses poverty. Whether this minimalist, non-relational approach befits international law objectives in the area of world poverty begs consideration. This article offers three justifications as to why global material inequality – and not just poverty – should matter to international human rights law. The article then situates requirements regarding the improvement of living conditions, a system of equitable distribution in the case of hunger, and in particular obligations of international cooperation, within the post-1945 international effort at people-centred development. The contextual consideration of relevant tenets serves to demonstrate that positive international human rights law can be applied beyond efforts at poverty alleviation to accommodate a doctrine of fair global distribution.

AbstractDespite recent declines in child poverty in the UK, there is evidence that children from the poorest families remain a legitimate concern. Little is known about the circumstances of children in severe poverty for whom policy responses may need to be different. This study examines the extent and risk factors of severe child poverty in the UK, based on the 2004/5 Family Resources Survey. Given the multi-dimensional nature of poverty, its measurement encompasses both material deprivation (child and parent deprivation) and low household income. The results show significant regional variations in severe child poverty experience, ranging from 3 per cent of children in South and East England to 10 per cent in London. The multinomial logistic regression results conform to what might be expected, showing relatively high risks of severe poverty among children: with workless parents; whose parents have low levels of education; in large families of four or more children; from ethnic minority groups, especially of Asian origin; and in families with disabled adult(s). However, the results with respect to lone parenthood and benefit receipt do not conform to expected patterns. For instance, the overall risk of severe poverty is lower for children of lone parents, compared to those of similar background characteristics with both parents. Also, the results suggest that non-receipt of benefits in the family is associated with higher likelihood of experience of severe child poverty, an issue that requires policy attention and is worth investigating in future research.

Evolution of poverty measurement methodology is moving away from a monetary approach as the one and the only towards the extended technique that combines different definitions of poverty. One of the approaches is to combine monetary indicator (income poverty) and non-monetary poverty assessment through deprivations. This approach gave birth to a comparative methodology for assessing poverty and social exclusion (AROPE index) which was adopted by EU countries in 2010. According to the AROPE methodology, population at risk of poverty or social exclusion is defined as those who are poor in terms of income poverty, suffer severe deprivations or living in households with a very low work intensity among members of household in working age (or without the employed). Analysis of the AROPE index and its components for the EU countries shows their extreme heterogeneity in terms of this index. However, despite the criticism, the methodology will remain unchanged until 2020, so that poverty dynamics in EU countries can be studied. According to the Statistical Survey of Income and Participation in Social Programs conducted by the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), AROPE rate in Russia (2016) is slightly higher than in EU (2017) but the proximity of the AROPE rates in Russia and EU raises doubts about the adequacy of the real standard of living reflection through this index. In 2017, the European Commission decided to modify the part of AROPE methodology related to material deprivation evaluation by expanding the list of deprivations and excluding those household goods that are already included in the consumption standard in European countries.

Poverty is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon with many forms and causes. It is normally measured quantitatively by using income criterion. But understanding poverty only in terms of income criterion can misrepresent its nature and underlying causes. It is a much broader and deeper issue of deprivation mainly associated with both quantitative and qualitative aspects. It is essential to place considerable values on both quantitative and qualitative aspects in understanding poverty. Thus, vulnerability is one of the criteria which is used to understand poverty in these two aspects. Vulnerability is a constant companion of material and human deprivation, given the circumstances of the poor and the near-poor or non-poor. It means the probability of being exposed to a number of risks. It is generally accepted that poor people are more vulnerable in various circumstances than non-poor people due to many reasons. Thus, this paper attempts to analyse the nature of vulnerability of the poor and non-poor households and the root causes leading to their level of vulnerability. For this purpose, Neboda West Grama Niladhari Divison of Dodangoda Divisional Secretariat in Sri Lanka was selected for the study. A sample of fifty households was selected for the study by following stratified random sampling technique. Questionnaire and the in-depth interviews were used for data gathering. In order to examine whether there is a significant difference between poor and non-poor households regarding quantitative aspects of vulnerability, mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation and the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used. For analysing qualitative aspects of vulnerability relating to these two groups absolute and percentage values were used. As the findings, this study disclosed that there is a significant difference between poor and non-poor households regarding vulnerability. As its quantitative aspects income and its variability and as the qualitative aspects ownership to physical assets, education, income diversification, links to networks, safety nets and access to credit market significantly vary between these two groups by confirming significant difference of the ability to face adverse shocks.

Il sintagma “povertà educativa”, introdotto in Italia da Save the Children nel 2014 e successivamente tradotto dalla stessa onlus come “educational poverty” in ambito internazionale, ha avuto un certo successo sul piano politico e istituzionale nel contesto italiano, contribuendo a catalizzare l’attenzione sulle povertà dei minori e, in particolare, su quelle immateriali. Negli anni è stato utilizzato per designare un complesso insieme di fenomeni, tuttavia dal punto di vista pedagogico è mancata una disamina critica che ne facesse emergere i significati latenti. Pur provenendo dall’ambito delle discipline economico-sociali, il costrutto di “povertà educativa” interpella in modo inequivoco la riflessione pedagogica, riferendosi evidentemente a dimensioni squisitamente pertinenti al mondo dell’educazione. La presente ricerca ne ha ricostruito le origini e ha cercato di delineare direzioni di senso utili alla definizione dello spettro delle diverse “povertà educative” e di possibili modi per prevenirle e contrastarle. Le fonti selezionate attingono a letteratura internazionale aggiornata a dicembre 2021. Ulteriore fonte sono le voci di adolescenti, raccolte durante un esercizio di ricerca qualitativa ispirato al movimento Student Voice e condotto con un approccio di derivazione fenomenologica.
The phrase “povertà educativa”, introduced in Italy by Save the Children Italia in 2014 and later translated internationally as “educational poverty” by the same organization, has been successful in Italy both politically and socially, contributing to drawing attention to child poverty and, in particular, to financing prevention projects and enforcement actions against non-material child poverty. Over the years it has been used to denote a complex set of phenomena, however a critical pedagogical examination was missing in order to bring out some of its implicit meanings. Even if it originated from the fields of economics and social sciences, the idea of an “educational” poverty unequivocally challenges the pedagogical reflection, clearly referring to dimensions that are uniquely relevant to the world of education, both in its formal and informal implications. The present research reconstructed its origins and tried to outline meaningful directions for defining both the spectrum of different "educational poverties" and possible ways of preventing and contrasting them. The selected sources were drawn from an international literature updated in December 2021. Furthermore, adolescent voices were collected during a qualitative research exercise inspired by the Student Voice movement and conducted with a phenomenological derivation approach.

The work examines the contemporary trend of raising a child with one parent, usually the mother. It deals with the various reasons that lead to this family arrangement, and highlights the problems with which a lone parent is struggling. It focuses namely on difficulties in reconciling work with caring for a child and a household, and on the resulting financial distress. The target group is introduced to readers through case studies of women living in a shelter for mothers and children in distress; the case studies are further evaluated, particularly in terms of the benefits of social services. Various types of assistance from the state are discussed, which single-parent families can benefit from; these are mainly financial support and social services. The next chapter describes alternative kinds of state aid. Attention is drawn to the pitfalls associated with the use of aid, such as dependence on social services and lack of motivation to activate one's own capabilities and to utilize one's own social environment. Possible solutions of the issue are outlined in the conclusion.

This chapter looks at child poverty trends in Sweden across two recessions, the first (severe) 1991–6, and the second (hardly noticeable) 2008–10, using a number of measures. Absolute (bread-line) household income poverty and economic deprivation surged, with some lag, during the first recession, but shrunk steadily as the macro-economy improved up until around 2006, after which there is no trend but temporary fluctuations. Relative income poverty fell somewhat during the earlier recession but has grown since the mid-1990s, mainly because of a more precarious situation for one-parent families and non-employed parents (often immigrants). In a rare but theoretically important step, child poverty is also measured by young people’s own reports, showing few trends between 2000 and 2011. While material conditions improved somewhat, relative poverty did not change, in stark contrast to household relative poverty—perhaps because poor parents distribute more economic resources to their children during hard times.

This book explores learning outcomes for low-income rural and township youth at five South African universities. The book is framed as a contribution to southern and Africa-centred scholarship, adapting Amartya Sen’s capability approach and a framework of key concepts: capabilities, functionings, context, conversion factors, poverty and agency to investigate opportunities and obstacles to achieved student outcomes. This approach allows a reimagining of ‘inclusive learning outcomes’ to encompass the multi-dimensional value of a university education and a plurality of valued cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes for students from low-income backgrounds whose experiences are strongly shaped by hardship. Based on capability theorising and student voices, the book proposes for policy and practice a set of contextual higher education capability domains and corresponding functionings orientated to more justice and more equality for each person to have the opportunities to be and to do what they have reason to value. The book concludes that sufficient material resources are necessary to get into university and flourish while there; the benefits of a university education should be rich and multi-dimensional so that they can result in functionings in all areas of life as well as work and future study; the inequalities and exclusion of the labour market and pathways to further study must be addressed by wider economic and social policies for ‘inclusive learning outcomes’ to be meaningful; and that universities ought to be doing more to enable black working-class students to participate and succeed. Low-Income Students, Human Development and Higher Education in South Africamakes an original contribution to capabilitarian scholarship: conceptually in theorising a South-based multi-dimensional student well-being higher education matrix and a rich reconceptualisation of learning outcomes, as well as empirically by conducting rigorous, longitudinal in-depth mixed-methods research on students’ lives and experiences in higher education in South Africa. The audience for the book includes higher education researchers, international capabilitarian scholars, practitioners and policy-makers.

Economy and mankind are inextricably interlinked. Just as the economy or the production of material wealth is unimaginable without a man, so human existence and development are impossible without the wealth created in the economy. Shortly, both the goal and the means of achieving and realization of the economy are still the human resources. People have long ago noticed that it was the economy that created livelihoods, and the delays in their production led to the catastrophic events such as hunger, poverty, civil wars, social upheavals, revolutions, moral degeneration, and more. Therefore, the special interest of people in understanding the regulatory framework of the functioning of the economy has existed and exists in all historical epochs [A. Sisvadze. Economic theory. Part One. 2006y. p. 22]. The system of economic disciplines studies economy or economic activities of a society. All of them are based on science, which is currently called economic theory in the post-socialist space (the science of economics, the principles of economics or modern economics), and in most countries of the world - predominantly in the Greek-Latin manner - economics. The title of the present book is also Modern Economics. Economics (economic theory) is the science that studies the efficient use of limited resources to produce and distribute goods and services in order to satisfy as much as possible the unlimited needs and demands of the society. More simply, economics is the science of choice and how society manages its limited resources. Moreover, it should be emphasized that economics (economic theory) studies only the distribution, exchange and consumption of the economic wealth (food, beverages, clothing, housing, machine tools, computers, services, etc.), the production of which is possible and limited. And the wealth that exists indefinitely: no economic relations are formed in the production and distribution of solar energy, air, and the like. This current book is the second complete updated edition of the challenges of the modern global economy in the context of the coronary crisis, taking into account some of the priority directions of the country's development. Its purpose is to help students and interested readers gain a thorough knowledge of economics and show them how this knowledge can be applied pragmatically (professionally) in professional activities or in everyday life. To achieve this goal, this textbook, which consists of two parts and tests, discusses in simple and clear language issues such as: the essence of economics as a science, reasons for origin, purpose, tasks, usefulness and functions; Basic principles, problems and peculiarities of economics in different economic systems; Needs and demand, the essence of economic resources, types and limitations; Interaction, mobility, interchangeability and efficient use of economic resources. The essence and types of wealth; The essence, types and models of the economic system; The interaction of households and firms in the market of resources and products; Market mechanism and its elements - demand, supply and price; Demand and supply elasticity; Production costs and the ways to reduce them; Forms of the market - perfect and incomplete competition markets and their peculiarities; Markets for Production Factors and factor incomes; The essence of macroeconomics, causes and importance of origin; The essence and calculation of key macroeconomic indicators (gross national product, gross domestic product, net national product, national income, etc.); Macroeconomic stability and instability, unemployment, inflation and anti-inflationary policies; State regulation of the economy and economic policy; Monetary and fiscal policy; Income and standard of living; Economic Growth; The Corona Pandemic as a Defect and Effect of Globalization; National Economic Problems and New Opportunities for Development in the conditions of the Coronary Crisis; The Socio-economic problems of moral obsolescence in digital technologies; Education and creativity are the main solution way to overcome the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus; Positive and negative effects of tourism in Georgia; Formation of the middle class as a contributing factor to the development of tourism in Georgia; Corporate culture in Georgian travel companies, etc. The axiomatic truth is that economics is the union of people in constant interaction. Given that the behavior of the economy reflects the behavior of the people who make up the economy, after clarifying the essence of the economy, we move on to the analysis of the four principles of individual decision-making. Furtermore, the book describes how people make independent decisions. The key to making an individual decision is that people have to choose from alternative options, that the value of any action is measured by the value of what must be given or what must be given up to get something, that the rational, smart people make decisions based on the comparison of the marginal costs and marginal returns (benefits), and that people behave accordingly to stimuli. Afterwards, the need for human interaction is then analyzed and substantiated. If a person is isolated, he will have to take care of his own food, clothes, shoes, his own house and so on. In the case of such a closed economy and universalization of labor, firstly, its productivity will be low and, secondly, it will be able to consume only what it produces. It is clear that human productivity will be higher and more profitable as a result of labor specialization and the opportunity to trade with others. Indeed, trade allows each person to specialize, to engage in the activities that are most successful, be it agriculture, sewing or construction, and to buy more diverse goods and services from others at a relatively lower price. The key to such human interactions is that trade is mutually beneficial; That markets are usually the good means of coordination between people and that the government can improve the results of market functioning if the market reveals weakness or the results of market functioning are not fair. Moroever, it also shows how the economy works as a whole. In particular, it is argued that productivity is a key determinant of living standards, that an increase in the money supply is a major source of inflation, and that one of the main impediments to avoiding inflation is the existence of an alternative between inflation and unemployment in the short term, that the inflation decrease causes the temporary decline in unemployement and vice versa. The Understanding creatively of all above mentioned issues, we think, will help the reader to develop market economy-appropriate thinking and rational economic-commercial-financial behaviors, to be more competitive in the domestic and international labor markets, and thus to ensure both their own prosperity and the functioning of the country's economy. How he/she copes with the tasks, it is up to the individual reader to decide. At the same time, we will receive all the smart useful advices with a sense of gratitude and will take it into account in the further work. We also would like to thank the editor and reviewers of the books. Finally, there are many things changing, so it is very important to realize that the XXI century has come: 1. The century of the new economy; 2. Age of Knowledge; 3. Age of Information and economic activities are changing in term of innovations. 1. Why is the 21st century the century of the new economy? Because for this period the economic resources, especially non-productive, non-recoverable ones (oil, natural gas, coal, etc.) are becoming increasingly limited. According to the World Energy Council, there are currently 43 years of gas and oil reserves left in the world (see “New Commersant 2007 # 2, p. 16). Under such conditions, sustainable growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) and maximum satisfaction of uncertain needs should be achieved not through the use of more land, labor and capital (extensification), but through more efficient use of available resources (intensification) or innovative economy. And economics, as it was said, is the science of finding the ways about the more effective usage of the limited resources. At the same time, with the sustainable growth and development of the economy, the present needs must be met in a way that does not deprive future generations of the opportunity to meet their needs; 2. Why is the 21st century the age of knowledge? Because in a modern economy, it is not land (natural resources), labor and capital that is crucial, but knowledge. Modern production, its factors and products are not time-consuming and capital-intensive, but science-intensive, knowledge-intensive. The good example of this is a Japanese enterprise (firm) where the production process is going on but people are almost invisible, also, the result of such production (Japanese product) is a miniature or a sample of how to get the maximum result at the lowest cost; 3. Why is the 21st century the age of information? Because the efficient functioning of the modern economy, the effective organization of the material and personal factors of production largely depend on the right governance decision. The right governance decision requires prompt and accurate information. Gone are the days when the main means of transport was a sailing ship, the main form of data processing was pencil and paper, and the main means of transmitting information was sending letters through a postman on horseback. By the modern transport infrastructure (highways, railways, ships, regular domestic and international flights, oil and gas pipelines, etc.), the movement of goods, services and labor resoucres has been significantly accelerated, while through the modern means of communication (mobile phone, internet, other) the information is spreading rapidly globally, which seems to have "shrunk" the world and made it a single large country. The Authors of the book: Ushangi Samadashvili, Doctor of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University - Introduction, Chapters - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11,12, 15,16, 17.1,18 , Tests, Revaz Shengelia, Doctor of Economics, Professor of Georgian Technical University, Chapters_7, 8, 13. 14, 17.2, 17.4; Zhuzhuna Tsiklauri - Doctor of Economics, Professor of Georgian Technical University - Chapters 13.6, 13.7,17.2, 17.3, 18. We also thank the editor and reviewers of the book.

AbstractThis chapter explores the value of bringing thought about invisible energy policy together with key analytic endeavours in the field of energy poverty. It uses empirical material to develop understanding of how capabilities that are linked to experiences of energy deprivation are shaped by (non-energy) policy. Within this, the chapter explores the potential for the invisible energy policy orientation to advance existing work related to the ways that wider discourses and framings shape experiences of energy poverty issues. The chapter gives particular focus to the implications of relations between discourses of fuel poverty and those of broader poverty, arising from energy and welfare policy, respectively, extending analysis by exploring how such discourses act upon subjects in ways that affect possibilities for challenging conditions of energy poverty.

This chapter challenges the popular focus on well-being or happiness as the new over-arching policy goal of public and private sectors. It argues instead for a traditional social policy focus on income distribution and social justice as the means to achieve the greatest improvements in well-being. Using a variety of measures, data from the PSE-UK 2012 survey are analysed to demonstrate the material basis of well-being and low life satisfaction. The results show that average well-being scores for those living in poverty are well below the scores for the non-poor. Living with a limiting illness or disability was also found to have a substantial negative effect on well-being. Overall satisfaction with life falls more sharply as household incomes fall, indicating that there are particular gains to be had from focusing on the material needs of the most disadvantaged. Income redistribution is not therefore a zero-sum game. Rather, the results show that the lives of the poor and the long-term sick and disabled would be measurably improved by lifting them out of poverty and improving their material conditions. All in all, the results challenge the idea that well-being is ‘all in the mind’ and detached from material resources.

This chapter, and the one following, focus on Agamben’s recent work on form-of-life and the Franciscan practice of poverty. DeCaroli argues that form-of-life should be understood as a particular form of life that is aware of the contingency of the rules that govern our existence, and does not attempt to replace them, but to patiently expose the machinery of their operation. Franciscanism was an incomplete attempt to develop such a form-of-life through a community of non-appropriative use that claimed no social or juridical foundation. The name for this way of living was poverty – which does not mean poverty in material things (although the Friars did live modestly) – but rather poverty in those less tangible things, such as possession and privilege, that profoundly shape our social reality, but whose operation we are often only faintly aware of.

Contemporary archaeology has often combined the study of material culture with a strong social justice imperative, including examining the causes of abandonment of social housing (Buchli and Lucas 2001) and constructing lived experiences of homelessness (Zimmerman et al. 2010). Within this burgeoning field, archaeologies of cities have a significant role to play in interpreting the social implications of transition and change in the city by engaging with the spatial and temporal dimensions of material realities. By explicitly materializing the forgotten or hidden aspects of the post-industrial city, contemporary archaeology allows us to view global processes through the lens of local material expressions. Hilary Orange’s edited volume Reanimating Industrial Spaces (2014) is indicative of the current fascination in contemporary archaeology with the meaning of abandoned places of industry, the link between people and places and the often difficult transition from functional industrial places to post-industrial heritage spaces. Such volumes use a variety of methodological approaches to show how people, place and materials constitute the contemporary, post-industrial city. In doing so they reveal how contemporary archaeology has the potential to critique official narratives that frequently highlight resurgence and development while ignoring inconvenient truths of degradation, unemployment and poverty (see also Ernsten, Chapter 10). The latter experiences speak to this case study of East Belfast in Northern Ireland. For a society of its size Northern Ireland has been the subject of intense political and academic scrutiny, indeed often being accused of over-analysis to the point of exceptionalism (including Whyte 1990). Much of the research has centred on social relationships in urban areas impacted by internecine violence, however, in recent years this focus has shifted to the persisting problems of segregation and sectarianism as a remnant from the Troubles (c.1968–c.98) into the peace process. With the fifteen-year anniversary of the Belfast Agreement of 1998 (hereafter ‘the Agreement’) in 2013—a peace accord that at the time was positively greeted as the end of violence and initiating a move toward ‘normalisation’ (Irish News 2005)—there has been much debate as to the ongoing lack of substantive societal change. At the level of civic politics progress has been made, even if it has been non-linear and at times in danger of derailment.

The objective of the paper is to investigate if remittances sent to Macedonia have a role to play for shielding socially-vulnerable households. To that end, we devise an index of social vulnerability, comprehending income poverty, unemployment of both spouses, single parents, as well conditions of impaired health, undernourishment, material deprivation and insufficient clothing, so as to capture non-income vulnerability conditions. Remittances then are allowed to determine the index of vulnerability. As remittances are likely endogenous to vulnerability, we use the noneconomic motive to migrate as instrument, as it is likely correlated with remittances, since any migrant is likely to send remittances irrespective of his migration motive; while uncorrelated with the shocks onto vulnerability. We use the Remittances Survey 2008 and conditional mixed process (CMP) estimator. Results suggest that remittance-receiving households have, on average 6% higher probability to report zero-vulnerability, suggesting that they indeed could act as social protection. However, as the assumption of noneconomic motive for migration being a good instrument may be easily dismantled, we further pursue Conley et al.’s (2012) method, allowing for a direct link between noneconomic motive and vulnerability. Results suggest that if we have a reasonable belief that they are determined simultaneously, or directly correlated due to the existence of a third unobservable factor, then it is reasonable to consider that this influence slightly reduces the effect of remittances on vulnerability.

Public expenditures on non-contributory pensions are equivalent to at least 1 percent of GDP in several countries in Latin America and is expected to increase. We explore the effect of non-contributory pensions on the well-being of the beneficiary population by studying the "Pensiones Alimentarias" program established by law in Paraguay, which targets older adults living in poverty. Households with a beneficiary increased their level of consumption by 44 percent. The program improved subjective well-being in 0.48 standard deviations. These effects are consistent with the findings of Bando, Galiani and Gertler (2020) and Galiani, Gertler and Bando (2016) in their studies on the non-contributory pension schemes in Peru and Mexico. Thus, we conclude that the effects of non-contributory pensions on well-being in Paraguay are comparable to those found for Peru and Mexico and add to the construction of external validity.