Conditions (EU-SILC), available for the 27 EU countries, and can be disaggregated for vulnerable groups that can be identified in the household surveys.

## **Despite the advantages, AROPE has faced scrutiny as a multidimensional poverty measure,**

**with critics highlighting various shortcomings.** For example, the AROPE framework is still limited to economic dimensions (employment, income, and material deprivation) without considering other dimensions that were already included in other multidimensional poverty measurements. Some indicators of access to basic services and affordability, or education, which are highly policy-relevant, are not included in this framework. Furthermore, it fails to acknowledge that the concurrence of several indicators can lead to the accumulation of difficulties and consequently result in more severe situations of social exclusion.<sup>22</sup> From this perspective, an individual is labeled as at risk of poverty or social exclusion regardless of the number or extent of dimensions in which they fall short. The approach also disregards the depth of poverty, as it is not possible to determine the intensity of shortfall from each threshold and prioritize those below the poverty line (see, e.g., Barcena-Martín et al., 2020 **;** Nolan and Whelan, 2011a, 2011b; Copeland and Daly, 2012; Maître et al., 2013; Fusco, 2015).

**<mark>The specific target population of this study includes primarily those at high risk of poverty or social exclusion in recent years, measured with the AROPE framework, and the chronically poor and materially and socially deprived in Bulgaria, with a focus on Roma.</mark>** <mark>This means we focus on the multidimensionally poor (a snapshot of who is deprived in a given year). Additional analysis of chronic poverty and chronic material and social deprivation (capturing who is consistently monetary poor/consistently deprived over time) is also undertaken in Bulgaria. Within this group, attention will be given to the Roma to understand whether they are overrepresented among them.</mark>

# III. Data and Empirical Strategy

**To analyze multiple deprivations and at-risk-of-poverty or social Exclusion (AROPE) among vulnerable groups in the EU (excluding the Roma), we rely on cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EUSILC).**

**<mark>The EU-SILC is a comprehensive survey conducted in 27 European Union member states as well as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.</mark>** <mark>The EU-SILC is composed of national probability sample surveys of individuals 16 years and older and is conducted annually. The target population comprises private households. It collects data on income, poverty, social exclusion, and living conditions of households and individuals. EU-SILC offers two primary types of data: cross-sectional data, which captures information over a specific time frame and includes variables related to income, poverty, social exclusion, and living conditions, and longitudinal data, which tracks individual-level changes over a four-year period.   Social exclusion and housing conditions data are predominantly gathered at the household level, while labor, education, and health information is obtained from individuals aged 16 and above. Detailed income components are also primarily collected from individuals within the survey. The EU-SILC relies on a stratified multi-stage (two-stage stratified) sampling with a primary sampling unit (Census</mark>

> 22 AROPE identifies individuals as multidimensionally poor if they meet any of the thresholds (union criteria), meaning that a deficiency in one dimension is enough to classify them as at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

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