Dynamics and the Design of Social Policies
- Start date: 01 October 2008
- End date: 31 March 2013
Most analysis of social policies and taxation is based on comparing alternative situations at a fixed point in time. But this is a limited perspective: policy is often best understood as a changing process, not as a fixed package. Wherever people's entitlements to services or benefits or their liability to tax depend on their circumstances, similar questions have to be addressed: not just which circumstances, but also over what time period and remaining in place for how long?
This fellowship will carry out a programme of research that explores questions about the ways in which social policies react - or do not react - to changes in people's circumstances. Areas to be covered include: the design of social security benefits and tax credits; "welfare to work" and employment policies; income tax and national insurance contributions; social housing and other support for people's housing; support for children from both state and absent parents; patterns of saving for retirement; paying for long-term care; and inheritance.
As well as examination of each specific policy area, the research will bring the findings together within a single framework, comparing current British practice with examples from other countries, and drawing out implications for how future policy might develop.
Further information
Project contact: Professor John Hills, London School of Economics
- Email: j.hills@lse.ac.uk
ESRC contact: Chris Wyatt
- Email: chris.wyatt@esrc.ac.uk
- Telephone: 01793 413054