Social isolation and its relationship to multidimensional poverty

While the multidimensionality of poverty is well-recognised, one dimension of poverty which has been often overlooked is weak social connectedness. This paper draws on conceptual, participatory and measurement literatures to show that social connectedness appears to be an important missing ingredient of multidimensional poverty analyses, with social isolation being a feature which exacerbates the condition of poor persons. To provide contextual detail as to its impact on persons in marginalized communities, we present qualitative primary data from South Africa and Mozambique and review pertinent studies of the First Nations of Canada and among persons with disability. A policy challenge for social isolation is that it is often seen as stemming from an individuals’ capacity rather than resulting from the broader social context. The closing section outlines areas for policy.

The study of multidimensional poverty has enlarged the range of factors which are considered part of impoverishment. For example, the Commission on Global Poverty Measurement led by Tony Atkinson proposed that physical security from violence be regularly monitored by the World Bank as a non-monetary dimension of poverty (World Bank, 2016). We argue in this paper that social isolation and decreased social connectedness can be important results of living in poverty, are themselves an aspect of poverty, and are also contributory factors to the persistence of poverty; consequently, they merit more extensive analysis than they often receive. This paper aims to catalyse that analysis by drawing together literature, case studies illuminating social isolation in different contexts, and observations of policy responses, in order to suggest how appropriate analyses of social isolation can meet a deeply human demand and improve policy design.

Synthesising a dispersed literature, we first examine how social isolation fits into multidimensional poverty conceptually. We then discuss primary field research from South Africa and Mozambique which reveals the influence of social isolation in the lived experience of poverty from the perspective of the impoverished themselves. The next section draws on documented histories of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada to investigate how isolation – in residential schools – created long-term impacts on poverty and isolation. Finally, drawing on the discussion on incorporating people with disabilities, we explore how reducing social isolation, through programmes aimed at reintegrating people with disabilities into their communities, can provide insight into directions for policy. In concluding, we show how addressing the issue of social isolation in a concerted fashion while recognizing that it arises in diverse contexts can potentially mitigate poverty.