Dr Iva Tasseva

This course is available on the BSc in Environment and Sustainable Development, BSc in International Social and Public Policy, BSc in International Social and Public Policy with Economics, BSc in International Social and Public Policy with Politics, Erasmus Reciprocal Programme of Study and Exchange Programme for Students from University of California, Berkeley. This course is freely available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. It does not require permission. This course is available with permission to General Course students.

This course is capped. Places will be assigned on a first come first served basis.

Why do poverty and inequality persist, how should we measure them, and what can social policy do about them? This course examines how poverty and inequality are defined and measured, how they vary across countries and over time, and how policies such as taxation, social security, education, labour market regulation, and migration and climate policies can reduce or reinforce them. We consider the role of factors such as gender, age, disability, and citizenship, drawing on evidence from high-, middle-, and low-income countries. A central theme of the course is the idea of ‘good’ social policy. We examine the characteristics commonly associated with effective policy design, assess how far existing policies in different countries measure up to these ideals, and consider how they might be reformed to better meet their goals such as reducing poverty and inequality.

By the end of the course, students will be able to interpret and critically assess measures of poverty and inequality, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different social policy responses to reduce them, and develop clear evidence-based arguments about how policy can be better designed to reduce disadvantage. They will also strengthen skills that will serve them during their studies and beyond, including critical engagement with theories and evidence, clear communication of complex ideas, and careful interpretation of tables and figures.

This course is for anyone interested in measuring poverty and inequality, as well as designing and evaluating social policies to address some of the most pressing challenges facing societies today.

10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of classes in the Autumn Term.
10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of classes in the Winter Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn and Winter Term.

All teaching will be in accordance with the LSE Academic Code which specifies a "minimum of two hours taught contact time per week when the course is running in the Autumn Term (AT) and/or Winter Term (WT)". Social Policy courses are predominantly taught through a combination of in-person lectures and in-person classes/seminars. Further information will be provided by the Course Convenor in the first lecture of the course.

Mock exam.

Essay in Autumn Term Week 11.

Students will attempt an essay in class under timed conditions

A detailed list will be provided at the start of the course.

• Atkinson, Anthony B. (2015). Inequality: What Can Be Done? Harvard University Press
• Atkinson, Anthony B. (2016). Measuring poverty around the world. Edited by John Micklewright and Andrea Brandolini. Princeton University Press
• Dean, Hartley & Lucinda Platt (2016). Social Advantage and Disadvantage. Oxford University Press
• Hills, John (2014). Good Times, Bad Times: The Welfare Myth of Them and Us. Policy Press
• IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities: https://ifs.org.uk/inequality/
• Latin America and Caribbean Inequality Review: https://lacir.lse.ac.uk/en-GB
• Ruane, Sally, Micheál L. Collins, and Adrian Sinfield (2020). State of the Art. The Centrality of Taxation to Social Policy. Social Policy & Society 19(3), 437–453
• Shafik, Minouche (2021). What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract for a Better Society. Princeton University Press
• Stuart Adam, Tim Besley, Richard Blundell, Stephen Bond ,Robert Chote, Malcolm Gammie, Paul Johnson, James Mirrlees, Gareth Myles, and James M. Poterba (2011). Tax by design. Oxford University Press

Exam (70%), duration: 180 Minutes in the Spring exam period.

Exam (30%), duration: 50 Minutes in the Spring exam period.

This course will be assessed by two in-person exams in the ST Exam period. One (70%) will be essay based. The other (30%) will be a multiple choice quiz.