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This edited collection analyses social inequality in the European Union, within and between countries. The work critically explores both vertical inequality, existing between those with high incomes and low incomes, and horizontal inequality, existing between groups according to nationality, age, ethnicity, and gender.

Reducing Inequalities has been written by leading academics in the field who describe the current social situation in the European Union, focussing on inequality from a multidimensional perspective that includes income, poverty, social exclusion, education. The authors argue that social issues such as these have become national prerogatives for countries within the European Union. In response they ask: How does the European Union engage with inequality today? What principles of social solidarity ought to be applied between states and citizens of the European Union? What should be the role of European Union and its institutions regarding the challenge of reducing inequality?

This book will be of interest to anyone seeking to understand inequality as a multidimensional concept, rather than solely as an economic phenomenon, across different geographical and historical contexts.

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1. Introduction Section 1: Inequality and Poverty in European Union 2. Disposable Income Inequality, Cohesion and Crisis in Europe 3. Drivers of Growing Income Inequalities in OECD and European Countries 4. Unemployment, Precariousness and Poverty as Drivers of Social Inequality: The Case of the Southern European Countries 5. Distributional and Categorical Inequalities in Europe: Structural Configurations 6. Income Poverty in the EU: What Do We Actually Measure? Empirical Evidence on Choices, Underlying Assumptions and Implications (Based on EU-SILC 2005-2014) 7. Poverty and Social Exclusion Indicators in the European Union: The Role of Non-Monetary Deprivation Indicators 8. Inequality of Outcomes and Opportunities Among the Young Section 2: European Union Against Inequality 9. The European Union Social Tools in Question 10. European Union Policy on Gender Equality: The Scope and Limits of Equality in the Single Market 11. European Union and Human Rights: Reducing Inequalities and Asymmetries in the Context of the Economic Crisis 12. Normative Arguments for a European Social Union 13. Hayek´s Trap and the European Utopia We Need 14. Wealth, Taxation and Inequality 15. Conclusion: Back to the Future: Towards a European Social Agenda.

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"The book discusses the issue from different perspectives using various indicators such as income and economic inequalities, poverty and social exclusion, categorical inequalities and social class and educational inequalities. ... It is an interesting read for all irrespective of ones´ educational background - and for those who want to know more about the challenges relating to inequality that Europe currently faces." (Abhishek, European Journal of Social Security, Vol. 21(1), 2019)

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