Monitoring Poverty And Social Exclusion

The first and second editions of this report, Monitoring poverty and social exclusion: Labour's inheritance (1998) and Monitoring poverty and social exclusion 1999, attracted widespread coverage and set out a base line against which the Labour Government's progress on tackling poverty and social exclusion can be measured.

The series of reports, Monitoring poverty and social exclusion, produced annually since 1998 by the New Policy Institute and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, has had a major impact on the debate about poverty and social exclusion in Britain, improving public understanding and holding government accountable for progress. Ever since the first report, however, there have been discussions about the need for a more Scottish-specific analysis, partly in response to a widespread view that some of the issues are somewhat different in Scotland (for example, in health and education) and partly reflecting the observation that much of the debate in Scotland takes place in a Scottish-specific context.

The first edition of this report set out a base line against which the Labour government's progress on tackling poverty and social exclusion could be measured. This edition tracks the indicators over a further year and indicate how the country is fairing with respect to this important social issue.

A report developed to provide a model of assessment. This was built around nearly 50 statistical indicators, chosen on the basis of regular updating and established publication. The scale of the problem in 1996-7is first reviewed (i.e. the year before the Labour Government came to power) before determining whether matters have improved, deteriorated or remained unchanged since then.