Patterns of poverty and new paradigms in the European Union

The article reviews various definitions of poverty which describe this phenomenon on the basis of not only monthly income and material deprivation but also considering the multidimensional quality of life of the poor population. The paper analyzes the evolution of the concept, different types and levels of poverty and discusses the chief differences between opposing theoretical views. The first part of the paper focuses on culturalist approaches to poverty and presents summarized findings on family patterns and personal characteristics of the poor documented in a wide range of anthropological and sociological studies of this group. As recently the concept of social exclusion is increasingly replacing the concepts of poverty and marginalization the paper goes on to present current definitions of the new paradigm, main indicators and properties of social exclusion, as well as the meaning of this concept from the perspective of strengthening social cohesion and programs aimed at social inclusion promoted by the European Union