It is the result of five years of EU-funded research carried out by the “Second Network for the Analysis of the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC)”. This Network, “Net-SILC2”, was coordinated by Anne-Catherine and Eric and involved a large number of academics and experts in national statistical institutes

The book aims to contribute to society’s understanding of some of the substantive challenges facing “Social Europe” and to the development of methods that can bring about new insights into issues related to income, deprivation and work. The data on individuals and their households are used to contrast the experience of European countries, drawing out lessons of potential value to all. The strengths and weaknesses of cross-sectional and longitudinal EU-SILC data are also examined, and recommendations for their further improvement are made – in relation to both data production and data analysis. The book is intended not only for policy-makers and statisticians but also for all those concerned about the impact of economic, employment and social policies on people’s lives and about the ways in which the social dimension of Europe – including the monitoring of the EU social inclusion target – could be strengthened.