Vulnerable group

DEFINITION 1: Groups that experience a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion than the general population. Ethnic minorities, migrants, disabled people, the homeless, those struggling with substance abuse, isolated elderly people and children all often face difficulties that can lead to further social exclusion, such as low levels of education and unemployment or  underemployment.

SOURCE: Social protection and Social inclusion Glossary. DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

HYPERLINK: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/spsi/vulnerable_groups_en.htm

DEFINITION 2: People who are long-term unemployed, and also others who are inactive but not registered as unemployed. It should include workers who are in some form of employment but are at a high risk of losing their jobs. It is, therefore, a very heterogeneous group, whose members share perhaps only the involuntary character of their present status (Atkinson, 2000).
COMMENT: There is no universal or common definition of vulnerability, but, in relation to employment, the concept of vulnerable groups denotes the risk of marginalisation from the labour market and social exclusion.

SOURCE: Access to employment for vulnerable groups. European Foundation for the improvement of living and working conditions. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2002.

HYPERLINK: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2002/44/en/1/ef0244en.pdf

RELATED TERMS: drop out