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The social safety net as an investment in children

Hosted by the Department of Social Policy

In-person and online public event (LSE campus, venue tbc to ticketholders)

Speaker

Professor Hilary Hoynes

Chair

Professor Coretta Phillips

Join us for the Department of Social Policy’s Annual Lecture at which Hilary Hoynes will explore the concept of viewing the social safety net as a long-term investment in children.

Traditionally, economic research has emphasised the incentive effects of tax credits and transfer programs, often neglecting their potential benefits, particularly for children. Hoynes will review a growing body of evidence showing that childhood access to programs like food stamps, the EITC, and Medicaid leads to significant improvements in health, education, earnings, and reduced criminal justice involvement in adulthood. Using cost-benefit analyses like the Marginal Value of Public Funds (MVPF), Hoynes argues these programs often pay for themselves over time. She concludes that understanding these long-term benefits is crucial to shaping effective policy and reimagining the safety net as a strategic societal investment.

Meet our speaker and chair

Hilary Hoynes (@HilaryHoynes) is Chancellor’s Professor of Economics and Public Policy at University of California Berkeley. Hilary Hoynes is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Art and Sciences, and the National Academy of Social Insurance; and is an elected Fellow of the Society of Labor Economics. She is the recipient of the Daniel M. Holland Medal from the National Tax Association and the Carolyn Shaw Bell Award from the American Economic Association.

Coretta Phillips is Professor of Criminology and Social Policy. She joined the Department of Social Policy in 2001, and her research interests lie in the field of race, ethnicity, crime, criminal justice and social policy. Since 2022, her major research efforts have focused on a multi-disciplinary ESRC project providing the first systematic, comprehensive and historically grounded account of the crime and criminal justice experiences of Gypsies and Travellers in England since the 1960s.

More about this event

Join us on campus or register to watch the event online at LSE Live. LSE Live is the home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.

The Department of Social Policy (@LSESocialPolicy) provides top quality international and multidisciplinary research and teaching on social and public policy challenges facing countries across the world. From its foundation in 1912 it has carried out cutting edge research on core social problems, and helped to develop policy solutions.

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This public event is free and open to all. This event will be a hybrid event, with an in-person audience and an online audience.

For the in person event: You can request one ticket via the online ticket request form, which will open after 12noon on Monday 22 September. The ticket line will stay open until all tickets have been allocated. 

For the online event: Registration for this event will open in early September.

For any queries email events@lse.ac.uk.

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