both a consumption/deprivation and an income criterion. It first discusses
how the deprivation indicators developed in previous chapters are best
employed together with income information with this aim in view, arguing
that the basic deprivation index is most appropriate for this purpose. It
therefore focuses on households that are both below income thresholds and
reporting enforced basic deprivation. The number and characteristics of
these households are compared with those falling below the relative income
poverty lines described in Chapter 3, showing the difference that the use of
combined income-plus-deprivation criteria makes. Multivariate analysis is
then employed to look at the factors distinguishing households that (1) have
low incomes and are experiencing enforced basic deprivation, (2) report
enforced deprivation but do not have low incomes, (3) have low incomes
but do not report enforced deprivation, and (4) do not have low incomes
and do not report basic deprivation. The validity of this categorization is
assessed by reference to a number of other characteristics of the house-
holds, and the explanations for how households find themselves in the
'inconsistent' groups is considered. Finally, the levels of enforced depriva-
tion of housing and secondary items being experienced by each of these
groups is described, and the relationship between these items, resources,
and generalised exclusion is discussed.

Data available on deprivation, labour market histories, and attitudes are
then used in Chapter 7 to examine whether the much-discussed concept of
an 'underclass' can be fruitfully applied in societies such as Ireland facing
sustained high unemployment. The ambiguities surrounding the term are
discussed, and an operationalization put forward in terms of labour market
marginality, extreme deprivation, and a distinctive sub-culture as the cru-
cial elements constituting an underclass. A marginalized working class in
terms of labour market experience is identified, and the levels of depri-
vation and fatalism are compared with those found among those of the non-
marginalized working class. This allows the value of distinguishing those
who are marginalized to be demonstrated, without accepting the conno-
tations of sub-cultural effects often carried by the term 'underclass'.

Chapter 8 then explores the implications of the analysis and results set
out in previous chapters for the way poverty is conceptualized and
measured, highlighting the extent to which they illuminate current debates.
The key concepts of deprivation and poverty underpinning the analysis and
the central message of the results are restated. These are then related to
some preoccupations of the recent literature in this area: the influential
capability approach put forward by Sen, debates about defining and
measuring deprivation and the implications of its multidimensionality, the
relationship between poverty and social exclusion, the rights approach
to poverty and minimum income, and poverty and the underclass.

Chapter 9 turns to what the book's approach to poverty measurement
and its findings mean for anti-poverty policy. It looks first at their relevance

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