Social exclusion mobility in Spain, 1994-2001

Social exclusion can be defined as a process leading to a state of multiple functioning deprivations. Cross-sectional headcount ratios of social exclusion may overstate the extent of the problem if most individuals do not remain in the same state in successive years. To address this issue, we need to focus on mobility. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyse changes in the individual levels of social exclusion focusing on the extent to which individuals change place in social exclusion distribution. We find that social exclusion is partially transitory and, therefore, we suggest a more restrictive definition of social exclusion. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.