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Measuring Social Exclusion Risk at Regional Level: Approaches and Outcomes
The concept of social exclusion is currently regarded by researchers in social sciences as a multi-dimensional phenomenon which covers a number of interrelated aspects at a time. It normally involves exclusion from economic life, social services, public life and social networks. In 2010, the European Union adopted “Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth” for the period until 2020 which identified clear and quantifiable parameters for reducing the number of the socially excluded in the EU countries. However, no consensus is yet reached at the international level as to the definition of the concept of social exclusion as to the methodology to measure it. The European Union, World Bank, OECD and UN agencies are still using different indicators for assessing poverty, deprivation and social exclusion. In the Russian Federation, the category of social exclusion is rather a theoretical concept than a specific instrument for transforming and implementing social policies. Most Russian studies are discussing the problems of measuring social exclusion at the national level or among specific socially vulnerable population groups. Meanwhile there are now studies concerning spatial dimension of the level of social exclusion of the population of Russian regions. This study is designed to fill this existing gap.