The items giving rise to material deprivation

Table 3 shows the proportion of the population deprived of each of the nine items that go to calculate the measure. This indicates clearly that there are two items in particular - the ability to afford one week's holiday a year and the ability to meet unexpected expenses - that are lacked by the largest number in each country. It is the third item that varies across countries: in some countries, it is being in arrears with household bills, in others not being able to afford a proper meal every other day or being unable to keep the house warm, and in three countries it is not being able to afford a car.

In no country is the proportion unable to afford a colour TV much above 2%, and only in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Lithuania is this the case for those unable to afford a phone. While there are slightly more people in most countries who report not being able to afford a washing machine, only in Bulgaria and Romania is the proportion above 5%. These items could, therefore, be excluded from the measure with no effect at all.

The other point to note about Table 3 is the difference in the pattern of variation between countries shown by the proportion unable to afford a holiday and those unable to face unexpected expenses. Whereas the former varies closely with the overall rate of material deprivation, the latter is much less systematically related to this. It is also the case that inability to afford a holiday is much more closely related to median income levels across the countries than is inability to meet unexpected expenses. Indeed, it is slightly more closely related to median income levels than the overall rate of material deprivation (the correlation co-efficient is -0.83, as against -0.81).

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