News Archive
Latest from the Department
2026
MSCA Fellowship
Congratulations to Department of Social Policy PhD alumnus Tom Stephens who has been awarded €329,241 of funding by the EU Commission under its Horizon Europe programme, for a 2.5-year Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship. The evaluation score was 99.6/100. Read more here
Media Coverage
Professor Almudena Sevilla had some media coverage of her research with The Telegraph. She provided expert economic analysis for an article on the rise of singledom and its differential impact on men and women. The piece drew on her research on gender, household production, time use and labour market inequalities, highlighting how unequal household responsibilities and slow adjustment of social norms contribute to women’s decisions to remain single, as well as the long-run economic risks faced by women and the health and wellbeing risks faced by men. Her comments were quoted in the online version of the article published on 3 February 2026.
Read here.
Keynote speaker
Professor Stephen Jenkins was a keynote speaker at a recent Workshop on ‘Changing work, changing incomes: assessing the vulnerability of non-standard workers and self-employed’, that took place at the University of Antwerp on 27 January 2026. His talk was linked to his research on Unstable pay.
Eighth Annual Historical Economic Demography Workshop
Dr Mobarak Hossain was one of the speakers at the Eighth Annual Historical Economic Demography Workshop, LSE, giving a talk on Global inequality of opportunity in education decreased during the 20th century. Read more here.
2025
Excellence in Education Awards 2025
The Excellence in Education Awards recognise staff who have demonstrated outstanding teaching contributions and educational leadership within their departments.
Congratulations to our Department winners: Pippa Ager, Maxime Borg, Clare Gorman, Isabelle Huning, Johann Koehler, Nathaniel Ocquaye, Kylie Patterson, Isabel Shutes, Craig Stewart, Kitty Stewart, Jake Watkins, Hao Wu, Kevin Zapata Celestino.
Read more here.
Seed Research Fund Award for Dr Kevin Zapata-Celestino
Dr Kevin Zapata-Celestino has been awarded a Seed Research Fund for his proposal, Understanding of School Bullying in Nuevo León (Mexico).
The panel welcomed the relevance and timeliness of Kevin's project, particularly its focus on school bullying in Mexico and the study of student-to-teacher aggression. Reviewers highlighted the strong local partnerships, feasible survey design, and potential for scaled impact. The project promises valuable empirical evidence with important policy and societal implications.
China’s LGBT+ Spaces
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt, a globally recognised expert in LGBT issues in China, was interviewed by France 24 about recent closures of LGBT+ spaces in China. Rather than an example of targeted regression of sexual minorities, Dr Hildebrandt notes that “this community is the collateral victim of Xi Jinping's 'common prosperity' project”, President Xi Jinping’s program to promote both economic and social equality. Read more here.
Best paper award for PhDs at the Meeting of the Norwegian Association of Economists
Congratulations to NHH PhD candidate Pallavi Prabhakar and LSE PhD candidate Diwakar Kishore (co-author) for winning the Best Paper Award at the Meeting of the Norwegian Association of Economists (47th edition of "Samfunnsøkonomenens forskermøte”).
Read more here.
Robtel Neajai Pailey's Latest Op-ed Denounces US Deportations
Robtel Neajai Pailey has published analysis in Al Jazeera English critiquing Liberia’s offer to host Salvadoran national Kilmar Armando Abrego García – whose unlawful deportation by the Trump administration sparked international outrage. She argues that Liberia’s (foreign and domestic) policies must not be shaped by the whims of racist white men. Read the full commentary here.
Professor Anne West gives keynote address
Professor Anne West gave the key note address at the “Westminster Education Forum Policy Conference: Next steps for England’s school system” on 5th November 2025.
Her presentation was entitled: “The School System in England: Current State of Play and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill”. Read more here.The policy & politics of philanthropy in contemporary China
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt planned and led a two-day symposium on ‘The Policy and Politics of Philanthropy in Contemporary China’ that was held at the Institute for Global Public Policy at Fudan University in Shanghai, and co-sponsored by LSE’s Department of Social Policy. The symposium brought together the leading scholars on philanthropy, altruism and civic participation in China and will contribute to a special issue of a journal.
Read more here.
WISPPRH Hosts Early Interventions and Human Capital Workshop
On 24 October 2025, the Women in Social and Public Policy Research Hub (WISPPRH) Director Professor Almudena Sevilla and Academic Program Director Christine Ho organised the Early Interventions and Human Capital workshop, bringing together leading scholars from across Europe, Asia, and North America to explore how investments in the earliest stages of life shape health, learning, and long-term capabilities.
Read more here.
ONS Longitudinal Study Golden Anniversary
Professor Lucinda Platt was one of a selected group of plenary research presentations at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Longitudinal Study Golden Anniversary event, held on 15 October 2025 to mark the 2021 linkage to the ONS Longitudinal Study. She presented on ‘The economics of identity: ethnicity and social mobility’.
Almudena Sevilla, has been awarded the “Alumni UVa de Honor 2025” by the historic University of Valladolid
This honour recognises Almudena’s outstanding contributions to economics, policy, and the advancement of women in the field.
Professor Stephen Jenkins recognised as a Fellow of the Royal Economic Society
Congratulations to Professor Stephen Jenkins who has been recognised as a Fellow of the Royal Economic Society (FREcon), for the significant contribution he has made to economics. Read more here.
Professor Stephen Jenkins to be a Research Fellow at Rookwool Foundation Berlin
Professor Stephen Jenkins has accepted an invitation to be a Research Fellow at Rookwool Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin) where he will join an international network of scholars. RFBerlin is an independent research institute, conducting research into significant and global challenges to the economy, society and the welfare state. Read more here.
Robtel Neajai Pailey Wins Inaugural Rising Star Impact Prize
Robtel Neajai Pailey has been awarded the LSE's inaugural Rising Star Impact Prize. The Prize—which includes funding and a certificate—is in recognition of her scholarly contributions to the passage of Liberia’s dual citizenship law in 2022.
Read the related story in Liberia's Daily Observer about Robtel's inaugural Rising Star Impact Prize here.
LSE Impact Prize
Congratulations to Dr Kevin Zapata-Celestino who was highly commended in the Rising Star category in the LSE Impact Prize for his "Understanding School Bullying in Mexico" research.
Also to Katy Footman who was the runner up in the Outstanding PhD researcher impact category for her "Expanding treatment choice within abortion care in England and Wales" research and to Ilona PInter (recent PhD alumni) who was highly commended in this category for her "Child poverty in the context of UK asylum and immigration policy: Informing advocacy and policymaking around the Child Poverty Strategy" research.
More news
The China Quarterly Symposium
Dr Tim Hildebrandt has helped to conceive and plan a symposium on the Politics of Knowledge Production about China, hosted by The China Quarterly, a journal he co-edits. This symposium will bring together scholars from a variety of fields and around the world to present work on this prescient topic.
Professor Almudena Sevilla was a keynote speaker at the 43rd annual awards ceremony for the "la Caixa" Foundation Postgraduate Scholarships Abroad.
Social Policy Ranked 1st in the UK by the Complete University Guide
We are pleased to announce that the Department of Social Policy has been ranked number 1 in the Complete University Guide 2026!
The Complete University Guide which includes 130 institutions has released its 2026 league tables that rank the best universities in the UK, overall and in 74 subject areas. Social Policy at LSE has been ranked number one with a 100% overall score. The London School of Economics and Political Science has been ranked 3rd in the country and best university in London. Read more here
LSE Class Teacher Awards
LSE Class Teacher Awards are given to Graduate Teaching Assistants, Teaching Fellows and Guest Teachers in recognition of their very special contribution to teaching at LSE. They are organised by the LSE Eden Centre. Congratulations to this year’s Department of Social Policy’s winner: Roni Küppers. Also, to those who were Highly Commended: Maxime Borg, Joaquín Mayorga Camus and Emma Louise Blondes. Read more here.
Congratulations to Thelma Obiakor (one of our recent PhD alumni) who has been successful in her application for an ESRC Post-doctoral Fellowship. Thelma will be working on topics under the heading "Enhancing Learning Outcomes in Nigeria through Effective Language of Instruction Policies" at the University of Cambridge, mentored by Professor Ricardo Sabates.
"I’m excited about the opportunity to continue my research through the ESRC postdoctoral fellowship at Cambridge. I’m thankful for the strong foundation I built in the department and for the incredible support from my supervisors. I look forward to exploring new directions for my work in this next chapter." Thelma Obiakor.The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill – towards equal accountability for academies?
In a recent LSE British Politics and Policy blog, Professor Anne West and David Wolfe argue that the The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill doesn’t go far enough in addressing the fragmentation of the school system. Read here.
REF 2029
The four UK higher education funding bodies, working with the REF Main Panel Chairs and Advisory Panel members, have appointed chairs and deputy chairs for the 34 expert sub-panels that will assess research in REF 2029. Professor Lucinda Platt has been appointed Deputy Chair of the REF 2029 Sociology sub-panel.
Read more here.
Cracking down on care worker visas will not solve the care crisis
In a recent LSE British Politics and Policy blog, Dr Isabel Shutes argues while ending the care work visa scheme might reduce international recruitment, there is little reason to believe it will improve employment conditions for care workers. Read here.
LSE Photo Prize 2025
Congratulations to MSc Criminal Justice Policy student Shrivalli Ghosh on placing second in LSE’s Photo Prize Competition! The theme this year was ‘Home at LSE’ which Shrivalli captured in her photo ‘The Glow of Being Seen’. Read more here.
Dr Liam Beiser-McGrath gives keynote speech
Dr Liam Beiser-McGrath gave a Keynote speech on Urban air pollution and health to the 2025 Health Challenge Thailand conference, an annual conference supported by the Office of Educational Affairs at the Royal Thai Embassy in the United Kingdom. Read more here.
Dr Mobarak Hossain appointed lead editor for WYoE
Dr Mobarak Hossain has been appointed as an incoming lead editor for the World Yearbook of Education (WYoE), a prestigious annual publication by Routledge that critically examines key developments in educational policy and practice worldwide. Established in 1965, the WYoE offers cutting-edge and internationally comparative perspectives on major issues in the field of education.
UK WEN Annual Networking Event 2025
Professor Almudena Sevilla, CBE, spoke at the Royal Economic Society UK WEN Annual Networking event, on 1st April 2025 in her capacity as Chair, giving an update on UK WEN activity.
Other speakers included the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves. The aim of the event was to enhance the visibility of women economists and their contributions across all sectors. Read more here.
Emeritus Professor Hartley Dean elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences
Emeritus Professor Hartley Dean has been elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. The Academy of Social Sciences is the national academy of academics, practitioners and learned societies in the social sciences. Fellows are recognised for excellence in their fields and their substantial contributions to social science for public benefit. Selection is through an independent peer review which considers excellence and impact. Read more here.
Dr Shuang Chen quoted by the Washington Post
Dr Shuang Chen was quoted by the Washington Post about China’s latest subsidies, the introduction of "baby bonuses", to boost the birth rate.
Read more here.Dr Kevin Zapata Celestino's latest blog post
Writing for the LSEs Phelan United States Centre's Blog, Dr Kevin Zapata Celestino and Dr Omar Alejandro Loera-González argue that action against Mexico is impractical and counterproductive for the US. Read the blog post here.
Robtel Neajai Pailey's Op-ed Argues for 'Africa Beyond Aid'
In an op-ed published by Liberia's Daily Observer Newspaper, Robtel Neajai Pailey argues that Washington’s executive order freezing USAID funding serves as a catalyst for 21st century decolonisation. She champions an 'Africa Beyond Aid' agenda for the continent's socio-economic transformation. Read the full commentary here.
Robtel Neajai Pailey Outlines the Pitfalls of Aid in a Live Broadcast
Robtel Neajai Pailey was a special guest on Liberia's state broadcaster, ELBC, in which she discussed the pitfalls of aid, why Liberia must move beyond so-called 'foreign assistance' and how the country can finance its own development. Listen to the interview here.
Media coverage
Professor Almudena Sevilla gave an an interview with the Caixa Foundation via their MediaHub, a major platform from one of Spain’s largest foundations funding social science research (from PhD support to research project funding), discussing her work and research on gender economics. Read more here.
PhD recent completions
Congratulations to all of our PhD candidates who have recently completed their PhDs! And a thank you to all of the supervisors for their expert supervision.
Dr Kevin Zapata-Celestino's research on bullying gains media attention in Mexico
Dr Kevin Zapata-Celestino recently wrote an editorial piece for El Norte (one of the most influential newspapers in Mexico), in which he presented the findings of his research titled "Bullying explained by bullies".
Read more here.Dr Kevin Zapata-Celestino's research on bullying was presented nationwide in Mexico at the high-rating morning news show "De Pisa y Corre" with renowned journalist Paola Rojas. Watch here.
Dr Johann Koehler gives expert advice to Select Committee
The House of Commons Justice Select Committee published Dr Johann Koehler's co-authored submission of Written Evidence to its inquiry into "Rehabilitation and Resettlement: Ending the Cycle of Reoffending."
Read the submission here.
LSE at Posters in Parliament 2025
Posters in Parliament is an annual opportunity to showcase the research of LSE undergraduates and celebrate British undergraduate research in general. Each participating UK university nominates two participants to exhibit their undergraduate research in the exhibition. Congratulations to Anruo (Emma) Wang, Undergraduate student in the Department of Social Policy on being one of the LSE Undergraduate students selected to represent LSE at Posters in Parliament 2025 in Portcullis House, Westminster on Wednesday 5 March with her project Ethnic Minorities and Preferential Education Policy in China: A Myth of Meritocracy or a Path to Equality.
Top 30 under 30 in Germany by ZEIT Campus
Congratulations to Tung Doan, MSc ISPP student who has been selected as One of the Top 30 under 30 in Germany by ZEIT Campus. This recognition acknowledges his work as a founding member of the NGO FiscalFuture whose work brings young people closer to financial policy issues in workshops and dialogue formats. "The state often bypasses young people when making financial decisions," says Tung. "Many politicians want to minimise debt, which makes no economic sense." He believes that it would be intergenerationally just to invest sufficiently in schools, public transport and affordable housing now.
Read the online-version of the article (in German) here.
Image copyright: David Loeffler, ZEITCongratulations to Professor Almudena Sevilla who has been recognised in the New Years Honours List 2025.
Professor Almudena Sevilla from the Department of Social Policy has been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her contributions to economics and the advancement of women in the field. Professor Sevilla is known for her research on the economic role of women and how policies like pay transparency and anti-harassment laws optimise talent allocation and productivity, leading to stronger, more sustainable growth.
Read more here.
Dr Johann Koehler speaks about prison overcrowding
Swiss Public Broadcast (RSI) recently interviewed Johann Koehler on prison overcrowding in England & Wales. Johann spoke about the current policy crisis, its implications for safety and security, and what to expect from the Government’s upcoming plans for justice reform.
Listen to the broadcast here (the broadcast is mostly in Italian, however Johann's interview (beginning at 24:39) is in English.
Dr Tim Hildebrandt gives talk on his research into the development of NGOs in China
Dr Tim Hildebrandt was invited by the Manchester China Institute at the University of Manchester to give a talk on his nearly two decades of research into the development of NGOs in China, and reflect on his most recent large quantitative study of NGO registration in the country.
Recent research activities- Professor Lucinda Platt
Professor Lucinda Platt gave a keynote, ‘The developing landscape of ethnic inequality and achievement in the UK’ at the final Conference of the Project Multiple Ethnic Inequalities (MEI) at the University of Milan from the 9-10 October 2024. Beneficiaries were academics working in the field of migration and ethnic inequalities.
Lucinda was also invited to present as part of the IAB Special Lecture series at the IAB, Nuremberg, Germany. The title of the presentation was 'Patterns and Paradoxes of Migrant and Ethnic Inequalities'. The lecture drew on some of Lucinda’s longstanding research on migration and ethnic inequalities, including that being carried out for the ESRC-funded programme on Racial and ethnic inequalities across the life course, and work carried out for the IFS Deaton Review of Inequality. Read more here.
Dr Tim Hildebrandt interviewed for a story about the difficulties facing academics researching China
In Tim Hildebrandt's capacity as an editor of The China Quarterly, he was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal for a story about the difficulties facing academics researching China.
Read more here.
Robtel Neajai Pailey Inducted into Liberia's Order of the Star of Africa
Robtel Neajai Pailey has been inducted into the Order of the Star of Africa, one of Liberia's highest civilian honours, for her 'distinguished service to the Republic'. This Award was bestowed upon Robtel at the 177th Independence Day official programme in Monrovia after she served as national orator in a speech entitled 'A Radical Agenda for Re-imagining Liberia' drawing on her academic and activist work.
Professor Almudena Sevilla invited to talk for a documentary for ITV on "The Cost of Childless"
In the ITV documentary "The Cost of Childless," Professor Almudena Sevilla discussed how current social norms and policies around parenthood contribute to low fertility rates by restricting men who wish to be more involved at home and hindering women who aspire to balance motherhood with careers. The discussion highlighted the need for societal and policy changes that support the evolving roles and desires of modern parents, fostering an environment where both men and women can fulfill their personal and professional aspirations.
DSA in Conversation With: Professor Anne West & BELMAS AGM
On the 18th June 2024, the inaugural ‘DSA in Conversation With’ event was held by the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society (BELMAS). Professor Anne West discussed with the BELMAS Distinguished Service Award (DSA) Chair, Professor Helen Gunter ‘Reforms to school-based education in England since 1988: Continuity and change’. Read more here.
Professor Lucinda Platt invited panelist at the UCL Sociology Network's 2024 Annual Lecture
Professor Lucinda Platt was part of an invited panel (of four speakers) at the UCL Sociology Network's 2024 Annual Lecture, addressing the question: How Can Sociology Engage with the Major Challenges of our Time? This took the form of short talks from each of the panel members followed by Q&A.
Watch the video here.
LSE Class Teacher Awards
LSE Class Teacher Awards are given to Graduate Teaching Assistants, Teaching Fellows and Guest Teachers in recognition of their very special contribution to teaching at LSE.
Congratulations to this year’s winners from the Department of Social Policy: Chiara Chiavaroli, Joaquin Mayorga Camus and Virgi Sari. And congratulations to Fiona Gogescu for being Highly Commended. Read more here.
Best Dissertation Prize
Congratulations to Fabio Battaglia, LSE Fellow in the Department of Social Policy, who has been awarded the Best Dissertation Prize by the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS) for his PhD thesis. Read more here.
Robtel Neajai Pailey Featured in the LSE's Hub for African Thought
Robtel Neajai Pailey is featured in the LSE’s Hub for African Thought ‘Thinkers’ Series’ alongside African and diasporic intellectuals such as Frantz Fanon, Thandika Mkandawire, Wangari Maathai and Sabelo J Ndlovu-Gatsheni.
Modern marriage dynamics
Professor Berkay Ozcan joined a panel of experts hosted by Boodle Hatfield LLP to discuss modern marriage dynamics, exploring what motivates people to enter into the legal union of marriage and whether we should continue to award a special status to the married in society.
Read more here.
NEXT Milan Forum
On 18-19 March, students from the U7+ alliance (including LSE) were selected to attend the NEXT Milan forum at the University of Bocconi, to discuss major global issues with experts and peers. Paula González Vila who is currently studying for an MSc in International Social and Public Policy Research shares her experience and highlights of attending the forum here.
Professor Tim Newburn- British Society of Criminology Outstanding Achievement Award 2024
The British Society of Criminology is awarding its Outstanding Achievement Award 2024 to Professor Tim Newburn, Professor of Criminology and Social Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, for a four-decade career across practical and academic criminology.
Read more here.Recent research activities- Professor Stephen Jenkins
Professor Stephen Jenkins and Dr Mike Brewer (Resolution Foundation, RF) are the co-principal investigators for a new project on Earnings Volatility with funding from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). The project uses administrative data on pay from HMRC’s Real-Time Information database covering 2014-2019, using information about worker characteristics linked in from the Annual Survey of Hours and Employment.
On 18 April, Stephen and Mike organised a workshop on Income Volatility. Nye Cominetti (RF) presented, on behalf of Mike and Stephen, some initial findings from their project on earnings volatility. Amongst those in attendance were researchers from five other projects, plus representatives from HM Treasury, DWP, and the JRF.
On 22 April, Professor Stephen Jenkins gave an invited seminar presentation on "Have recent trends in UK income inequality been significant?" at the INEQ Research Institute, Economics University of Vienna (WU Wien).
Measuring research quality in a more inclusive way
New research from Erin Hengel, Almudena Sevilla and Sarah Smith "suggest that comprehensive definitions of research quality may be more effective at promoting diversity in academia compared to narrower measures."
Read more here.Recent research activities- Professor Lucinda Platt
As part of her role as an international advisory panel member for a research project on the transitions of young people with disabilities funded jointly by the Luxembourg and Swiss research councils and directed by researchers at the Universities of Luxembourg and Fribourg, Lucinda provided input on the various work packages of the project, including on dissemination and knowledge transfer at an advisory group meeting on 18 April.
Professor Lucinda Platt presented on a paper on disability for the National Statistician's Inclusive Data Advisory Committee (NSIDAC) Meeting in March, and joined in discussion about data collection relating to children and the ONS social charter.
Robtel Neajai Pailey Analyses Liberia's Fight against Corruption
Robtel Neajai Pailey discussed Liberian President Joseph Boakai’s fight against corruption with Victoria Uwonkunda on BBC's Newsday, the world’s largest breakfast programme. She was also interviewed by BBC News and Mongabay on general anti-corruption efforts and mining sector reforms in Liberia, respectively.
Celebrating the Career of Professor Tim Newburn
For over 40 years, Professor Tim Newburn has been a key figure in British and European criminology and social policy. The author of over 40 books, Tim’s influence spans the whole field, from comparative and historical scholarship through policy studies, policing, youth justice, drugs and alcohol, urban violence and restorative justice to criminological theory.
At a special event hosted by the Department of Social Policy and LSE Law School on 2 March 2024, Tim’s colleagues and students gathered to discuss his influence and his major contributions to the field, and to the LSE, and to celebrate his career.
Read more here.
LSE Fellow gives expert view on climate change
Dr Virgi Sari, LSE Fellow in the Department of Social Policy, was invited to deliver a lecture on ‘The impact of climate change on Indonesia and the region’ at an Executive Briefing Event for the Swedish Ambassador to Indonesia organised by SOAS university on 15 January 2024.
Alumni recognised in King's New Year Honours
We are delighted to announce that three of our alumni have been recognised by HM King Charles III in the New Year Honours list.
Professor Michaela Benzeval (MSc Health Planning & Financing 1992, PhD Social Administration 1999)
CBE for Social ScienceLouisa Mitchell (MSc Social Policy 2010)
MBE for services to Children and Young PeopleIsabelle Trowler (MSc Social Policy and Social Work 1996)
CBE for services to Children's Social Care
In Memory of Steen Mangen (1950-2023)
It is with the deepest sadness that the Department of Social Policy announces the death of Steen Mangen, who passed away suddenly in his home on 10 December 2023. Steen earned his PhD in the Department in 1977 and "re-joined" the Department as a "New Blood Lecturer in European Social Policy" in 1985 – the year European leaders agreed on the Single European Act paving the way for greater economic and political integration. Steen served the School as a member of faculty for 33 years, before retiring in 2018.
Professor Lucinda Platt's research activities
Professor Lucinda Platt gave a Keynote Lecture for Fifth Dondena Workshop on Public Policy, Bocconi, Milan, Italy: on The Social Inclusion and Exclusion of Migrants and their Descendants in the UK: Patterns, Puzzles and Policy Challenges on 18th December 2023.
On 28 November 2023, Professor Lucinda Platt acted as one of the discussants for a webinar which took as its starting point Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett's The Spirit Level and considered what has happened in relation to inequality in the 14 since. This was organised by the Fairness Foundation in collaboration with the Policy Institute at King's College London as part of their Fair Society Series. The event was attended by over 300 people and the recording can be found here as well as with a discussion / comment here.
Fabio Battaglia awarded prize for his research
Congratulations to Fabio Battaglia, LSE Fellow in the Department of Social Policy, who is one of the ‘Italy Made Me 2023’ award winners for researchers! The annual 'Italy Made Me award' is for researchers in the early stages of their career, who are based in the UK and who completed part or all of their studies in Italy.
Read more here.Robtel Neajai Pailey Wins Second Book Award
Robtel Neajai Pailey has won the African Studies Association of Africa (ASAA) 2023 Pius Adesanmi Memorial Award for Excellence in African Writing for her 2021 Cambridge University Press monograph Development, (Dual) Citizenship and Its Discontents in Africa. The Award—which includes a plaque, cash prize and lifetime membership of the ASAA—honours an outstanding single-authored book focused on Africa and/or the global African world. It was announced at the 5th biennial ASAA conference in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on 28 October 2023.
Robtel Neajai Pailey Analyses Liberia's Presidential Run-off for International and Local Press
Robtel Neajai Pailey provided analysis of Liberia's high-stakes presidential run-off for Deutsche Welle News, the BBC's Weekend, @AfricaAtLSE, Liberian Daily Observer, African Arguments, Analyst Newspaper and Frontpage Africa Newspaper.
Writing to make a difference
For National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this November, LSE Alumni are celebrating the stories of alumni who have become published novelists. Melissa Knight (MSc Social Policy and Planning 2008) decided to become a youth worker following her own experiences growing up in Greenwich. Concerned about the narratives around marginalised young people following the 2011 London Riots, Melissa was inspired to write her first novel, Since the Riots. Read more here.
Crafting the Core: The Science Behind the Contribution of a Paper
For the last two decades, Professor Almudena Sevilla’s dedication has been towards empowering women in the Economics profession, a male-dominated discipline. To equip women Economists in academia with tools for success she has developed "Crafting the Core: The Science Behind the Contribution of a Paper":
Almudena will be shedding light on this important issue at an upcoming workshop at the Universidad de Sevilla at the beginning of November 2023 with long-term colleagues and collaborators Pilar Cuevas-Ruiz and Cristina Borra.
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt gives talk on his new research
On 27 October, Dr Timothy Hildebrandt gave a talk in Shanghai at the Dr Seaker Chan Center for Comparative Political Development, Fudan University on his new research examining the historical trends of NGO registration. The project, using big data and machine learning, is a collaboration with Dr Blake Miller (Methodology) and their PhD student Guodong Ju.
Professor Berkay Ozcan keynote speaker at Strategica 2023
Professor Berkay Ozcan was the keynote speaker for the National Bank of Romania & the National University of Political Studies & Public Administration in Romania (SNSPA) Strategica Conference which took place from 26-27 October in Bucharest, Romania. STRATEGICA 2023 is a platform that brings together academics, researchers, authorities, business representatives, and policymakers in order to share their views, experience, and latest research results, aiming to improve the state of the world.
New funding for Understanding Society
ESRC have announced their continuing investment in Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study, on which Professor Lucinda Platt is a co-investigator. The award is to fund a further six waves of data collection and associated activity including training and capacity building and dissemination and engagement, amounts to £100 million investment. Lucinda is part of the co-investigator team and leads on the immigration and ethnicity aspects of the study. The award will fund waves 17-22 of Understanding Society and will cover activities of the study to 2032. Read more here.
What makes a good school?
Dr Sonia Exley talks about how parents experience school choice and how they go about choosing schools on a BBC Radio 4 programme.
The Global Health Initiative at LSE
The Global Health Initiative at LSE published a blog post about Dr Yuxi Zhang and Dr Timothy Hildebrandt's ongoing research examining the effect of Covid-19 on domestic healthcare migration in China. Read here.
LSE100 Award Winners 2022-23
Congratulations to Annamaria Wettstein who received the LSE100 Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement, awarded in recognition of their exemplary work as part of a group research project "The Plastic Packaging Pilot Scheme: Changing incentives in the supermarket supply chain" on LSE100.
Read more about the 2022-2023 LSE100 award winners here.Robtel Neajai Pailey Interviewed on BBC's Newsday
Robtel Neajai Pailey was interviewed on BBC's Newsday, the world's largest breakfast programme, about the track record of Liberia's President George Weah. She was also quoted in a Liberian Daily Observer story about what is at stake in the country's fourth post-war general and presidential elections.
Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey Writes Op-ed on Liberia's October Elections
Robtel Neajai Pailey has authored a commentary, published in both the @AfricaAtLSE and African Arguments blogs, predicting a calamity if Liberia's President George Weah is re-elected in the country's fourth post-war general and presidential elections on 10 October 2023.
The two-child limit: a growing hole in the UK’s safety net
Introduced in 2017, the UK government’s two-child benefit cap was supposed to incentivise parents into work. Instead, it has plunged a rising number of children into poverty, research by Dr Kitty Stewart reveals, harming not just their experiences of childhood today, but their long-term opportunities and life chances.
Read more here.Professor Lucinda Platt has taken up the role of President of the European Academy of Sociology
As of 22nd September 2023 Lucinda Platt has taken up the role of President of the European Academy of Sociology. The European Academy of Sociology is a fellowship of respected scholars with expertise in many different areas of sociology, united around the common concern to promote rigorous standards in sociology.
Read more here.
Dr. Leonidas Cheliotis wins the 2022 ESC European Journal of Criminology Best Article Award
Dr. Leonidas Cheliotis, Associate Professor and Deputy Head of the Department of Social Policy, has won the European Society of Criminology's 2022 European Journal of Criminology Best Article Award, in recognition of his article 'Depression and repression: Global capitalism, economic crisis and penal politics in interwar Greece' (freely downloadable here).
Professor Stephen Jenkins's research activities
Stephen Jenkins was an invited panellist at the 5 September 2023 international launch of Zachary Parolin's new book on "Policy in the Pandemic Policy: lessons from Covid-19" (Russell Sage Foundation).
Stephen gave a plenary lecture at the biannual conference of the Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, Aix-en-Provence, 10-12 July. His topic was "How should we assess measurement error biases in estimates of poverty dynamics?" In addition, he talked about "Redistribution, horizontal inequity, and reranking: direct taxation in the UK, 1977–2020" in a parallel papers session.
On 3 July 2023, Stephen visited the Analytics and Insight Team, New Zealand Treasury, Wellington NZ, which included giving a short talk on "Have recent changes in UK income inequality been significant? Top-income adjustments and statistical inference"Professor Lucinda Platt featured in a new podcast series launched by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
Hosted by Soumaya Keynes, and related to work carried out as part of the Deaton Review of Inequalities, Lucinda contributed to the podcast on gender inequalities at work.
The podcast is available here.Robtel Neajai Pailey Writes for Al Jazeera on Liberia's 20-Year 'Peace'
Robtel Neajai Pailey has co-authored a commentary for Al Jazeera English reflecting on 20 years of 'negative peace' in Liberia. She and Aaron Weah argue that their country must strive for 'positive peace' going forward. Read more here.
LSE KEI Fund awarded to Jakob Dirksen
The LSE KEI Fund has awarded Jakob Dirksen GBP 5,000 for his project "Engaging the G7 and G20 Community Towards New Conceptions and Measures of Social Progress Beyond GDP"
Jakob recently co-authored an article on a related topic - "Rethinking and Remeasuring Prosperity" - with a strong focus on Germany's welfare measurement and policies. This has now been published (in German, in the journal Wirtschaftsdienst(Economic Service)).
Read more.
Department of Social Policy student receives prestigious Diana Award for social action work
LSE undergraduate student Akhila Potluru who studies in the Department of Social Policy has received The Diana Award for her involvement in water advocacy.
Established in memory of Princess Diana, the award is one of the highest accolades a young person can achieve for volunteering and humanitarian work Read more here.
Dr Sonia Exley interviewed by TIME magazine about Educational policy changes in South Korea
Dr Sonia Exley spoke to Koh Ewe from TIME magazine about new policy changes in South Korea which are intended to reduce families’ need for spending on private supplementary tutoring outside of school.
Read more here.
Behavioural Public Policy journal receives its first impact factor, a score of 5.1
The journal, Behavioural Public Policy, published by Cambridge University Press and edited, via Dr Adam Oliver, out of the offices of the Department of Social Policy, is the leading forum for theoretical, conceptual and applied analyses in this relatively new but burgeoning subfield of public policy. In June 2023, we are delighted to report that the journal received its first impact factor, a score of 5.1.For more information about the journal, view here.
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt interviewed by BBC for a story on the growing crackdown of LGBT groups in China
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt was recently interviewed by the BBC for a story on the recent crackdown of LGBT groups in China.
Read more here.
Dr Johann Koehler delivers presentation at the Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
On the 26 June, Dr Johann Koehler delivered a presentation at the Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg’s Institute for Psychology as part of its Summer Colloquium. The title of his presentation was ‘Can prisons reduce reoffending? A meta-evaluation of custodial and community treatment programs’. Read more here.
David Billis (1934-2023)
David Billis, a pioneering scholar of voluntary and nonprofit studies, had a long association with the Department of Social Policy as founder-director of the Centre for Voluntary Organization, later the Centre for Civil Society. His influence on the field was recognised through a Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA).
Read more and share your memories and thoughts here.Professor Almudena Sevilla appointed new Council member of the Royal Economic Society
Congratulationsto Professor Almudena Sevilla who has been appointed a new Council member of the Royal Economic Society. She will serve in this position until 2028.
The Royal Economic Society is a learned society and membership organization founded in 1890. Their purpose is to promote the study of economic science.
Dr Berkay Ozcan elected to the RC28 Board
Congratulations to Dr Berkay Ozcan who has been elected to the board of Research Council 28 (RC28) Social Stratification and Mobility of the International Sociological Association.
RC28 general objectives are to promote high quality research on social stratification and social mobility, and the international exchange of scientific information in this field.
Dr Liam Beiser-McGrath welcomed as DSI Affiliate
The LSE Data Science Institute have welcomed Dr Liam Beiser-McGrath as a new DSI Affiliate.
DSI Affiliates are current members of staff from across the LSE community who are engaged with data science in their research or teaching. Affiliates participate in the activities of the institute and have special access to its resources. Liam's research primarily focuses on the political economy of climate change, using experimental research designs and machine learning.The 'pink economy' in China
Dr Tim Hildebrandt gave a live TV interview on BBC’s Asia Business report on 5 June to talk about the ‘pink economy’ in China and address some of the misconceptions about LGBTQ+ affluence worldwide.
Robtel Neajai Pailey keynote speaker at CASID 2023
Robtel Neajai Pailey was the keynote speaker of the CASID 2023 conference, where she reflected on a range of issues at the intersection of scholarship and social justice. The conference is co-hosted by the Canadian Association of African Studies and the Society for Socialist Studies.
Read more here.LSE Class Teacher Awards
Congratulations to Thelma Obiakor and Eugenia Bilbao-Goyoaga Zabala who received LSE Class Teacher Awards in recognition of their very special contributions to teaching at the School!
Read more here.
Welfare & Policy Conference
Eugenia Bilbao-Goyoaga Zabala, Thelma Obiakor, Magdalena Rossetti-Youlton and Iva V. Tasseva presented their research at the Welfare & Policy Conference "Individual and collective responses to a troubled world" in Bordeaux. The conference covered a wealth of topics including development, well-being, inequality, poverty, labour markets, health, migration and climate change.
Robtel Neajai Pailey interviewed for BBC's Focus on Africa
Robtel Neajai Pailey discussed Liberia's forthcoming elections with Esau Williams of the BBC's Focus on Africa on 4 May 2023. The impromptu interview was conducted in-person at the BBC World Service, New Broadcasting House, in London.
Robtel Neajai Pailey writes about forthcoming Liberian elections
Robtel Neajai Pailey has co-authored a commentary in African Arguments which predicts an electoral crisis in Liberia if certain conditions are not met before high-stakes voting in October for president, vice president, senators and representatives.
Read more here.
Erin Hengel winner of the 2022 Austin Robinson Memorial Prize
The 2022 Austin Robinson Memorial Prize has been awarded to Erin Hengel for the article ‘Publishing While Female: Are Women Held to Higher Standards? Evidence From Peer Review.’
The Austin Robinson Memorial Prize is awarded annually for the best paper published in The Economic Journal by an author (or authors) who are within five years of receiving their PhD.
Read more here.Data from Prof Lucinda Platt referenced in Education Select Committee Session
21 March session saw the Education Committee focus on Support for Childcare and Early Years. In response to a question on the long-term impacts of late intervention on SEND children, Mary Mulvey-Oates, early years project manager at Contact, referenced data from Prof Lucinda Platt. She highlighted how disabled children entering primary were twice as likely not to have friends, and this carried through to social exclusion in later life.
Women In Social and Public Policy Research Hub (WISPPRH)
The Department of Social Policy hosted the launch of the Women in Social and Public Policy Research Hub (WISPPRH)) on 8 March, with an open roundtable discussion as the centerpiece of the event. This event brought together renowned scholars, representatives of the civil society, and stakeholders in the fields of gender, climate change, and policy. The purpose of the roundtable discussion was to start a conversation on the potential benefits of collaboration and knowledge sharing among centers and programs dedicated to gender issues, with the ultimate goal of making progress on this critical topic. Read more about WISPPRH here.
Academy of Social Science Fellows
Congratulations to Dr Kitty Stewart who has been elected as a Fellow to the Academy of Social Sciences in recognition of her contributions to the understanding of the drivers and consequences of child poverty, and the preventative role that can be played by social security and early years policy.
Read more here.
Keynote presentation
Professor Michael Murphy gave a keynote presentation, "Disability in sub-Saharan Africa: analysis of census data" at a Workshop "Ageing and Health of Older Persons in Sub-Saharan Africa" on February 20 in Entebbe, Uganda. Michael Murphy is Emeritus Professor of Demographyin the Department of Social Policy.
Research news
Congratulations to Professor Eileen Munro who has been awarded, jointly with Nancy Cartwright of Durham University, funding from the AHRC for a 2.5 year project on "Providing Credible Evidence For Singular Causal Claims". Eileen Munro is an Emeritus Professor of Social Policy in the Department of Social Policy.
Leverhulme Major Research Fellows
Congratulations to Professor Anne West who has been awarded a Major Research Fellowship by the Leverhulme Trust.
The fellowship will cover a two-year period and will begin in September 2023. Professor West will work on a new research project entitled "School admissions and school choice in comparative perspective". The main outcome of the research project will be a monograph published by Routledge.
Read more here.
China's Population decline
Dr Shuang Chen has had recent media coverage on China’s population decline.
Follow the latest coverage in
BBC Future
TIME magazine
You can also read more about Dr Chen’s work in
LSE Research for the World
Supporting Governments to Measure What Matters and Advance Social Progress
Jakob Dirksen has worked with Governments and International Agencies around the world to improve the measurement of welfare and poverty – and to better align governmental priorities and policies with the evidence-base that more sophisticated yardstick indicators of social welfare provide. He has directly supported various Governments and UN Agencies around the world and also contributed to international agenda setting, e.g. through work with the official think tanks of the G7 and G20. As part of the most recent media coverage around these efforts, Jakob was interviewed by Nigerian TV and German Radio to discuss the results of Nigeria’s new Multidimensional Poverty Index and new concepts and measurements of welfare and prosperity in Germany, respectively.
Tim Hildebrandt interview with Weekendavisen on the recent protests in China
Tim Hildebrandt was interviewed by the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen on a story "The party’s terrible year" about the recent large protests in China. Tim researches social movements in China and other countries. Read more here.
Evidence Week in parliament
Tania Burchardt and Kitty Stewart took part in Evidence Week in parliament on the w/c 14th November to share research on social inequalities, talking to a range of MPs, researchers and civil servants, as well as other events throughout the week.
You can find out more here.
Diwakar Kishore awarded Research Development Fund
Congratulations to Diwakar Kishore, PhD candidate, who was recently awarded the Research Development Fund by Said Business School at the University of Oxford to conduct a randomised controlled trial (RCT) in India.
Robtel Neajai Pailey wins book award
Robtel Neajai Pailey has won the 2022 African Politics Conference Group (APCG) Best Book Award for her monograph Development, (Dual) Citizenship and Its Discontents in Africa: The Political Economy of Belonging to Liberia (Cambridge University Press, 2021). The Award will be formally presented in November at the annual meeting of the African Studies Association (USA), of which APCG is an affiliate organisation.
Thinking Allowed
Professor Tim Newburn talks about the social history of ‘orderly Britain’ – the way in which we’ve resolved everyday problems, from dog fouling to smoking and queuing- in a recent episode of Thinking Allowed.
Find out more about his latest publication 'Orderly Britain' here.
Annual International Behavioural Public Policy Conference
From 7th-10th September 2022, the Department of Social Policy hosted the first annual International Behavioural Public Policy Conference.This new annual conference, the first of its type, aimed to fill a gap by providing a forum for those interested in the link between behavioural science and public policy to discuss their work.
LSE alumni Dr Antonella Bancalari receives a Fulbright-Royal Society of Edinburgh Award to visit the Department of Economics at Yale University
Dr Antonella Bancalari, alumnus of the School of Public Policy and the Department of Social Policy at the LSE, has received a Fulbright Award to enable her to conduct research at the Economic Growth Centre, Department of Economics, Yale University, on one of the most well-regarded and impactful fellowship programmes in the world.
Commenting on receiving the Award, Antonella said: "It is a great honour to be the recipient of a UK-US Fulbright Award, mostly considering that I’m Peruvian. This fellowship is a unique opportunity to join a renowned group of Development Economists based at Yale’s Economic Growth Centre. As a Fulbright scholar I look forward to sharing my research and field-work experience, starting new collaborations, and learning how leading academics promote evidence-based policymaking globally."
Robtel Neajai Pailey featured in new segment of #TutuTalks
In the latest edition of #TutuTalks sponsored by the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, Robtel Neajai Pailey discusses how her work sits at the intersection of scholarship, social justice, storytelling, policy and practice. Robtel was also quoted and her research referenced/hyperlinked in an Al Jazeera English article about the recent passage of Liberia's dual citizenship law.
State secondary school governance across England not fit for purpose
The state secondary school system in England is fragmented across key areas – from governance, and admissions arrangements to the curriculum and responsibility for use of resources such as the pupil premium – research from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and David Wolfe of Matrix has found. Read more here.
Stephen Jenkins appointed to a US National Academies of Science expert panel
Stephen Jenkins has been appointed to the Panel on an "Integrated System of U.S. Household Income, Wealth, and Consumption Data and Statistics to Inform Policy and Research" established by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Committee on National Statistics.
The 16-member panel is to: (1) review the major income, consumption, and wealth statistics currently produced by U.S. statistical agencies, and (2) provide guidance for modernizing the information to better inform policy and research (such as understanding trends in inequality and mobility).
As part of its deliberations, the panel will be evaluating the need for and value of a fully integrated system of income, consumption, and wealth statistics to provide consistent macro- and micro-level statistics.
Over the next two years, the panel will produce a final report with conclusions and recommendations regarding the relevance, accuracy, timeliness, geographic and population detail, and consistency of statistics on income, consumption and wealth, and the need for an integrated system of these statistics
For further information about the panel, read here.
REF 2021 Submission receives highest score
We are delighted that our exceptional contribution to the field of Social Policy has been recognised in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), with our submission obtaining the top-ranked score. Read more here.
Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey's research featured on Gambian television
Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey delivered a public lecture at the University of The Gambia on 27 April, which was featured on The Gambia's premier TV network, QTV News. The segment begins at 00:10:47.
Social Stratification Conference at LSE
From 21-23 April 2022, the Department of Social Policy hosted the first major international conference to take place in person at LSE since the pandemic. This was the first in-person meeting of the RC28 (Social Stratification and Social Mobility) of the International Sociological Association since its Summer 2019 meeting at Princeton. More information here.
Dr Hakan Seckinelgin invited as a panellist to event that marked the 107th year of the Armenian Genocide
Dr Hakan Seckinelgin was invited by Le Mémorial de la Shoah (French Holocaust Memorial memorialdelashoah.org) as a panellist for a public roundtable debate under the title ‘Le génocide des Arméniens: négationnisme d’Etat et société civile en Turquie’ on Tuesday 12 April 2022. Hakan’s contribution focused on ‘denialism and the structure of Turkish civil society’. The event marked the 107th year of the Armenian Genocide.
Roger Graef
Roger Graef, who has died at the age of 85, and was primarily known as a television documentary-maker, was a long-standing friend of the Mannheim Centre for Criminology at the LSE and was a significant figure in the worlds of criminology and criminal justice.
Read more here.
In memory of Christopher Langford (1941- 2022)
LSE is deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Christopher Langford, who died aged 80 on 20 January 2022.
Chris was an emeritus reader in Demography in the department of Social Policy at the LSE. He started working here in 1967 until he retired in 2001. Retirement was just in name as he was keen to come to the LSE to work and could be seen in the research lab until a few years ago. Read more and share your memories and thoughts here.
Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey presents the major findings and policy recommendations of her monograph to Liberia's Senate
Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey presented the major findings and policy recommendations of her monograph to the plenary of Liberia's Senate in Monrovia on 14 December 2021. The book has also been favourably reviewed in Development in Practice, International Migration Review, Review of African Political Economy, African Studies Review and African Studies Quarterly.
Civil Society and democratization in the former Soviet Union
Dr Armine Ishkanian was interviewed for QCode Magazine about civil society and democratization in the former Soviet Union. This was part of a series to mark the 30th anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Read here.
Findings of IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities
On the 6 December 2021, Professor Lucinda Platt participated in an event - Men and women at work: the more things change the more they stay the same?- as part of her role as a Panel Member for the IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities. Lucinda also spoke to Sky News and BBC Scotland, and Women's Hour on the 6 December about the findings that were being covered in the event.
Panel event on violence and injustice in Greece
Dr. Leonidas Cheliotis, Associate Professor of Criminology and Deputy Head of the Department of Social Policy, participated in a high-profile panel on violence and injustice in Greece, organised by LSE's Hellenic Alumni Association. The event, which was held in Greek, took place in Athens on 29 November, at the Cultural Centre 'Hellenic Cosmos' of the Foundation of the Hellenic World, and Dr. Cheliotis joined online. Other speakers included: Ioanna Paliospyrou (graduate of the University of Piraeus), whose recent violent victimisation sparked the discussion; Nikos Alivizatos (Emeritus Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Athens); and Eva Antonopoulou (journalist). The event can be watched here (video starts at 21.10).
Message from Professor David Lewis
I will be moving to the LSE's Department of International Development from 1 September 2021.
I just wanted to thank everyone who has made my quarter century in the department so memorable - from early days in the Centre for Voluntary Organisation / Civil Society in the 1990s, to the MSc Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries (SPPDC) programme during the 2000s, and then later as head of department in the mid 2010s.
Throughout my time here I have had the pleasure of working with amazing people - students, support staff, and faculty.
I decided to make the move for two reasons. The first is that after such a long time I've felt the need to make a change, shake things up a bit, and take on new challenges. The second is that my work has always focused on international development issues and ID seems the logical place to develop it further.
I'm very much looking forward to this new phase of university life, and it also feels like a good time to reflect on how much I've learned and benefited from being in one of the School's most influential and important departments.
I look forward to keeping in touch in the future, and I wish the department every success during the years to come.
Ninth Meeting of the Society for the Study of Economic Inequality
The Ninth Meeting of the Society for the Study of Economic Inequality (ECINEQ) was held online, from July 8 to July 10, 2021, hosted by LSE as a collaboration between LSE Department of Social Policy, International Inequalities Institute and STICERD.
Professor Stephen Jenkins delivered the Presidential Address.
The conference provided an international forum for researchers interested in the analysis of economic inequality and related fields.
Read more here.
New paper uses popular music to explore inequality
A new paper and upcoming book explore how popular culture, such as music, can be used to understand poverty and development issues.
In the article, Professor David Lewis (LSE), Dennis Rodgers (The Graduate Institute, Geneva) and Michael Woolcock (World Bank) investigate this under-researched area and discuss how music is important as a medium of struggle and dissent.
Read more here
Comparative Mortality Statistics
As a direct result of a Social Policy Working Paper on COVID-19 comparative mortality statistics published earlier this year, Professor Anne West has been invited by the Director-General of the WHO to join the Technical Advisory Group for COVID-19 Mortality Assessment (as an observer).
Scroungers versus Strivers: the myth of the welfare state
This LSE IQ episode is dedicated to social policy giant Professor Sir John Hills, who died in December 2020.
In this episode, John tackles the myth that the welfare state supports a feckless underclass who cost society huge amounts of money. Instead, he sets out a system where most of what we pay in, comes back to us. He describes a generational contract which we all benefit from, varying on our stage of life. Listen here
Child Poverty
Dr Kitty Stewart and Mary Reader have written about their Nuffield Foundation funded research findings for the Independent, and how their research shows that, even prior to the pandemic, child poverty and inequalities among young children had risen since 2015. Read here.
In memory of Professor Robert Pinker
Professor Pinker had a long association with the Department of Social Policy, as Professor of Social Work Studies and then Professor of Social Administration between 1978-1996. His influence on the discipline was recognised through a Special Recognition Award from the Social Policy Association in 2015. Share your memories and thoughts here.
A Partnership in Peril?
Health charities and the NHS in a pandemic
A new study published by LSE Consulting describes the 2020 pandemic as a "wake up call" for health policy planners in England. The paper by Dr Tony Hockley and Professor Alison Leary details how charities have been filling major gaps in health and care services that are set to grow in the coming decades, and how policymakers have done little to involve these charities in planning their response to the pandemic.
Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey launches book on Dual Citizenship
Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey held the inaugural launch of her latest book, Development, (Dual) Citizenship and Its Discontents in Africa: The Political Economy of Belonging to Liberia, at the University of Liberia on 7 January 2021. Read more here.
What’s the point of social science in a pandemic?
While the scientific community has taken centre stage in the fight to overcome the virus, how have social scientists helped us navigate – and evaluate –the UK’s response? Dr Adam Oliver contributes to this LSE IQ Podcast. Listen here.
In memory of Professor Sir John Hills
It is with immense sadness that we share the devastating news of the passing of Professor Sir John Hills. He made tremendous contributions to social science and his work has had a major impact on social policy, especially in relation to poverty and inequality. Friends, colleagues and students can share their memories here.
How can we end child poverty in the UK?
A campaign by the Manchester United footballer, Marcus Rashford, has prompted the UK government to provide extra support for children from low-income families during the pandemic. Even before coronavirus, child poverty had been rising for several years. This bite-sized episode of LSE iQ explores the question, ‘How can we end child poverty in the UK?’ Joanna Bale talks to Dr Kitty Stewart.
Listen here.
Professor Lucinda Platt has been appointed to the UK Statistics Authority's Inclusive Data Task Force
The Taskforce will have a UK remit, providing recommendations on improving the UK’s inclusive data holdings and infrastructure. The work of the Taskforce will reflect user needs from a broad range of stakeholders including central and local government, academics, civil society, think tanks and businesses. Read more here.
Development, (Dual) Citizenship and Its Discontents in Africa
Dr Robtel Neajai Pailey explains her forthcoming book Development, (Dual) Citizenship and Its Discontents in Africa on the BBC World Service's Weekend. Read more here.
Professor Lucinda Platt has been appointed as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences
We're delighted to announce that Professor Lucinda Platt is one of 73 leading social scientists who have been elected to the Fellowship of The Academy of Social Sciences. Nominated for their outstanding contributions to research, policy education, society and economy. Read more here.
China poverty alleviation
Professor Stephen Jenkins was an invited speaker at a Webinar on "China poverty alleviation – knowledge generation and international sharing", jointly organised by the International Poverty Reduction Center in China (IPRCC), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – China Office, and Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development, 29 September 2020. He spoke about "European approaches to poverty alleviation and social inclusion".
What does Social Policy look like for you within your community?
The theme for this year's offer holders photography competition was "What does Social Policy look like for you within your community?"
Find out more about the winning submissions here.
COVID-19 and child poverty
Professor Lucinda Platt scripted a short video for the Economics Observatory to highlight COVID-19 and child poverty. Watch here.
Professor Francisco H.G. Ferreira welcomed as an affiliated member
We are excited to welcome Francisco H. G. Ferreira as an affiliated member to the Department of Social Policy! Francisco is the Amartya Sen Professor of Inequality Studies and Director (designate) of International Inequalities Institute.
You can read more about Francisco here.
COVID-19: Complex reasons for different country responses
There are many complex reasons why countries have reacted differently to the COVID-19 outbreak and these should be fully understood before any judgment is passed about a certain response.
This is the key finding emerging from a collection of COVID-19 response blogs written by health experts from over 40 different countries and regions around the world, and collated by Dr Adam Oliver. Read more here.
Are some ethnic groups more vulnerable to COVID-19 than others?
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected some sections of the population more than others, and there are growing concerns that the UK’s minority ethnic groups are being disproportionately affected. Professor Lucinda Platt and Ross Warwick authors of new research from IFS. Read more here.
Research reveals the true extent of corruption in fisheries
Dr Yifei Yan writes article for Virtual Ocean Dialogues about corruption in fisheries and highlights the need for a more comprehensive mix of anti-corruption measures. Read more here.
What does COVID-19 mean for Rural Development?
Professor David Lewis writes opinion piece for IPS on the implications and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for people in rural areas. Read more here.
Analysis on Chinese citizen's view of COVID-19
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt contributes to article in Washington Post to offer some unique insights into Chinese citizens' views of their governments's COVID-19 response. Read more here.
UK pensions reform research
NEST have been working with the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Bath to bring together existing information and share the previously private recollections of key decision-makers involved in the reforms through a series of video interviews. Included is an interview with Professor Sir John Hills. Watch here.
Child Benefit
With millions of families facing a catastrophic loss of income due to the coronavirus, leading social policy academics from LSE and universities across the UK, have signed a letter calling on the Chancellor to raise Child Benefit.
Read more here.
The behavioural science behind the UK's social distancing policy
Dr Adam Oliver speaks to WIRED about effective ways to get people to voluntarily stay home during the outbreak of Covid-19. Read more here.
Eileen Munro, Emeritus Professor of Social Policy has been appointed to the Board of Cafcass
Cafcass (the Child and Family Court Advisory Social Service) was created under the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 and safeguards and promotes the welfare of children involved in family court proceedings.
Read more here.
Podcast
Professor John HIlls talks about inequality in the UK today and the impact it can have on mental health. Listen here.
Congratulations to the following students who have won prizes in the LSE Festival Research Competition
Lucy Bryant- Poster Prize for "Regulating Live Music: who's running the show?"
Evelina Bondareva - Written Pitch Prize for "Complexities of Anti-Refugee Sentiment: the importance of historical and societal explanations"
Valentina Iemmi was also ‘Highly Commended’ for her poster
"Time to Invest in Global Mental Health: a moral imperative"
Research project- Gypsy and Traveller Experiences of Crime and Justice since the 1960s
Dr Coretta Phillips leads this new mixed methods study, to provide the first systematic, comprehensive and historically grounded account of the crime and criminal justice experiences of Gypsies and Travellers in in two urban and two rural areas of England since the 1960s. Read more here.
LGBT people in China
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt interviewed by BBC news for a wide ranging piece. Read here
The prospect of same-sex marriage in China
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt speaks about the prospect of same-sex marriage in China to NBC news, and how the legislation "could be used strategically to improve China's human rights reputation." Read here.
New Year's Honours
Congratulations to Professor Lucinda Platt who was appointed OBE for her services to the social sciences in the 2020 New Year's Honours. Read more here.
Dr Leonidas Cheliotis wins Mueller Award
The award is conferred annually by the International Section of the American Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences for 'outstanding contributions to the field of comparative/international criminal justice'. Dr. Cheliotis won the award for his widely published work on the political and economic underpinnings of crime and penal and cognate policies in Greece, the UK and the US from both national and international comparative perspectives. .
UK risking fall in national life expectancy as social inequalities increase
A new report, written by Michael Murphy, Marc Luy and Orsola Torrisi shows inequalities in life expectancy between the richest and poorest have widened since 2011. While people in wealthier areas of the UK continue to live longer, for those living in the most deprived areas, life expectancy is stalling, or even reversing.
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Keynote presentations
Professor Anne West gave a keynote presentation on Wednesday 4th December to the Westminster Education Forum policy conference: England’s school system – Improvement and attainment, partnerships and the free schools programme. Anne's presentation was entitled: 'Once country, two school systems and proposals for greater alignment between academies and maintained schools'. Read more here.
Anne West gave a keynote lecture at the 3rd Annual Colloquium of the Society for Educational Studies at Oriel College, Oxford on Friday 27th September 2019.
The Colloquium was entitled ‘Education reform legislation in a changing society’.
Anne’s presentation was entitled ‘Legislative provision for early childhood education in England in the 20th century: From discretionary nursery education to universal early childhood education and care’. In the paper she argues that the ideas underpinning early years education changed during the 20th century alongside the legislative changes. In the early 20th century, state-funded nursery education was provided, at the discretion of local education authorities, in nursery schools/classes for children whose home conditions were deemed unsatisfactory. By the end of the 20th century, 'nursery education' was universally available for four-year-olds and delivered by a 'mixed economy' of providers.
4th World Congress on Probation - Sydney 2019
Michael Spurr, Visiting Professor in Practice in the Department, will be a keynote speaker at the 4th World Congress on Probation, which will be held in Sydney Australia over three days.
In addition to participating in the Congress, Michael will be providing input to the New South Wales Corrections Board to assist them in developing a strategic plan to reduce reoffending in their system. He will also be engaging with colleagues from the University of Sydney including speaking at a public seminar at the Sydney Law School organised by their Institute of Criminology entitled ‘Beyond Punishment ‘looking at the role non custodial sentences can play in rehabilitation.
Professor Stephen Jenkins becomes President-Elect of the Society for the Study of Economic Inequality
Professor Stephen Jenkins has been elected as President-Elect of the Society for the Study of Economic Inequality (ECINEQ)from July 2019 to July 2021. After this period he becomes President for the following two years, 2021-2023, succeeding the economist Professor Thomas Piketty. The election was announced at ECINEQ’s biannual conference in Paris 3-5 July 2019.
Read more here.
Trial of HIV prevention implant hailed as boost in fight against disease
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt who has carried our research on public perception of PrEP welcomes the trial and conveys his views in a related The Guardian article on Medical research.
Read here.
Children of divorced parents more likely to become overweight
Dr Berkay Özcan, Associate Professor from LSE's Department of Social Policy, said: "We show that the family context is crucially important for children’s health and we need policies that support children and families which are undergoing a break-up.
Read more here.
Blog- Health clinic rules in Zambia drive inequities in maternal well-being, by Laura Sochas
Many women in pregnancy receive advice from health workers, communities and public medical institutions. Despite efforts to improve maternal health in Zambia, rules governing the antenatal period for women can have a detrimental impact.
Read more here.
Jessica Ng, PhD candidate, recipient of the SPA Award for Excellence in Doctoral Research
Jessica Ng is the receipient of the 2019 SPA Award for Excellence in Doctoral Research for her 2018 conference paper "Understanding the persistence of 'short-term' health crisis NGOs: The case of Toronto's minority ethnospecific HIV/AIDS organisations".
Read more here.
Early years: children with special needs discouraged from some primary schools
Children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs who attend pre-schools based in primary schools are significantly less likely than their peers to be admitted to the school’s reception class, according to a new LSE report.
Lead author, Dr Kitty Stewart, said: "There are aspects of the way early education policy is currently working that are increasing rather than narrowing inequalities between children." Read more here.
Statement of support for Mr Yiğit Aksakoğlu
The Department of Social Policy wishes to express its support for our former student and LSE alumnus. Read more here.
Professor Anthony Leslie Hall (1947 – 2019)
We are sharing the very sad news that Professor Tony Hall, who retired from the Department in 2017, died on Monday 20 May after a long illness.There is a dedicated webpage to celebrate Tony’s many achievements and to provide the opportunity for you to share your memories. Read more here.
Reducing and preventing homelessness
LSE Housing and Communities receives £75,000 boost by The Mitchell Charitable Trust to tackle social challenge. Located within LSE’s Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, the Housing Plus Academy is a knowledge exchange and research partnership with LSE Housing and Communities. Read more here.
Inequalities in the twenty-first century: the IFS Deaton Review
A new study from The Institute for Fiscal Studies with Professor Lucinda Platt and Professor Tim Besley on the expert panel, will span five years and look at inequalities in areas such as income, wealth, health, social mobility and political participation.
News coverage:
BBC News coverage
The Guardian coverage
Blog- Which groups will suffer most as a consequence of Brexit?
Dr Kitty Stewart reviews the evidence on how Brexit is expected to affect different population groups and asks whether it might, at least, reduce income inequality.
Read here.
Complete University Guide
LSE us ranked top for the study of Social Policy in the latest Complete University Guide. The guide is produced annually and assesses universities by a number of measures, including research quality and graudate prospects. Read more here.
PAA Annual Meeting 2019
Researchers from the Department of Social Policy presented their work at the Meeting of the Population Association of America, which took place in Austin, Texas, from April 10-13, 2019.
Read more here.
Keynote at the European Conference of Social Work
Dr Tania Burchardt gave a keynote speech on How could a 'capability approach' influence social work practice at the European Conference of Social Work Research in Leuven, Belgium.
View slides from keynote here.
Breaking Prison Narratives
This conference, supported by the Department of Sociology and the SPA and hosted by the Department of Social Policy and the Mannheim Centre for Criminology, brought together screenwriters, novelists, documentary-makers, criminologists and others working in the criminal justice system to discuss and challenge media representations of penal issues.
Serious Violence
Dr Mike Shiner have evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on changing patterns in drug use, links between drugs and violent crime, and international and UK drug policy.
Watch the recording of the session here.
Blog- What does it mean to be British? And who defines it?
As part of the LSE Festival 2019, Diane Abbott, Eric Kaufmann, Alita Nandi, Sunder Katwala, and Ilka Gleibs discussed the question of Britishness – what does it mean and who gets to define it. Professor Lucinda Platt provides an overview of the main arguments. Read here.
Research on academies
Professor Anne West's research on academies included in article in The New Statesman about the contiversial reform on Britain's schools. Read here.
Top globally for Social Policy
LSE was ranked first in the world for Social Policy in the QS World University Rankings. Published annually since 2011, QS World University Rankings by subject are based on academic reputation, employer reputation and research impact. The rankings use data from 1,200 universities from 78 countries. Read more.
Effective delivery of public servies likely to decline after Brexit
A new report by Dr Kitty Stewart, Dr Kerris Cooper and Dr Isabel Shutes finds that the economic impact of Brexit will leave less money for these services, and a reduction in immigration means there will be fewer trained workers to work in key areas like health, social care, and housing construction. Read more.
Inequality estimates for the UK
Professor Stephen Jenkins's research with colleagues has led ONS to produce a new experimental series of inequality estimates for the UK, better addressing the under-reporting and under-coverage of the income of the UK’s richest individuals than in existing series.
Read more.
New study of inequality in the UK
The Institute for Fiscal Studies is launching a major new £2.5 million study of inequality in the UK, funded by the Nuffield Foundation and chaired by Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Angus Deaton. Professor Lucinda Platt is on the expert panel. Read more.
BBC Podcast: Does the world need more babies?
As the global population grows, does the world really need more babies? Dr Berkay Ozcan was interviewed at the BBC and helped the producers of this podcast.
Listen here.
Test tube babies: Medically assisted reproduction procedures unlikely to cause harm
Children born through medically assisted reproduction, such as IVF, are at higher risk of being premature and to be born low birth weight, but it’s unlikely to be due to the procedures used, according to a new study led by Dr Alice Goisis. Read more.
Girl power: Fathers of daughters less likely to hold sexist attitudes
Fathers are less likely to hold traditional attitudes towards gender roles if they have a school age girl, new research from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) has found.
Julia Philipp, a PhD candidate in LSE’s Department of Social Policy and the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, said: "Traditional attitudes towards gender roles can be a barrier to achieving gender equality inside and outside the workplace, so our evidence that such attitudes can change over time is very encouraging."
Read more.
Unveiling the Blue Plaque- Sir William Beveridge
On 24 November 2018 the School’s one-time Director and author of the famous 1942 report that laid the foundations for Britain’s post-Second World War welfare state, William Beveridge, was honoured through one of the English Heritage’s famous ‘blue plaques’ being fixed to the wall of the house where he lived a hundred years ago.
Read more.
Helicopter parents
Professor Anne West shares her experiences with others in an article in The Guardian. Read more.
LSE IQ Podcast- Can activism really change the world?
This episode takes a look at protest movements and activism.
The experts featured in this month's episode are Dr Ayça Çubukçu, Associate Professor in Human Rights in LSE’s Department of Sociology, Dr Armine Ishkanian is Associate Professor in LSE’s Department of Social Policy and Dr Chris Rossdale is both a Fellow in the Department of International Relations at LSE.
Listen here.
Grant awarded
Professor David Lewis has been awarded a £24,200 grant under the LSE IGA-Rockefeller Funding Call (Third Round) on Resilience Research to study 'Universities as knowledge brokers in the governance of climate resilience'. The focus is on the ways the Least Developed Countries Universities Consortium on Climate Change (LUCCC) supports private, public and civil society sector actors working to strengthen climate resilience. The project will be a collaboration with universities in three countries across three regions: Europe, East Africa and South
Asia) across the Global North and South.
The research partners are: Independent University of Bangladesh (Dr Saleemul Huq), Makerere University (Uganda, Dr David Mfitumukiza), and TH Köln University of Applied Sciences (Germany, Professor Lars Ribbe).
Professor Stephen Jenkins gives keynote lecture
Professor Stephen Jenkins gave an invited keynote lecture on 'Improving our understanding of inequality and poverty' to the New Zealand Government Economics Network annual conference, in Wellington NZ on 9 November. On 8 November he led a roundtable at the NZ Ministry of Social Development on current issues in poverty measurement.
Annual Meeting of the European Academy of Sociology
Professor Lucinda Platt gave a talk on the subject of "The evolution of boys’ and girls’ occupational aspirations across ethnic groups in the UK" at the Annual Meeting of the European Academy of Sociology (of which she is a fellow) in Paris on Saturday 20th October.
The paper looked at how children’s responses to the question "what do you want to be when you grow up" change across childhood (between the ages of around 7 and around 14), and how the differ by ethnic group. It found that overall choices were highly gendered (i.e. girls wanting to do jobs dominated by women and boys wanting to do jobs dominated by men), though over time they became slightly less so. Differences by ethnic group were smaller; but while occupational aspirations were generally ambitious, minority groups, both boys and girls tended to be more ambitious.
Drug policing drives racial disparity in the criminal justice system
While the use of stop and search has fallen significantly, there has been a shocking increase in racial disparities in the policing and prosecution of drug offences according to a new report by Stopwatch, Release and LSE. Read more here.
Media: Is racial bias in police stop and search getting worse?
Dr Michael Shiner contributes to a Channel 4 News report which explores this issue.
Watch here.
Conference of consensus on social and academic diversity
Professor Anne West contributed – by video - to a ‘conférence de consensus’, which was held in Montréal on 9 and 10 October. Her contribution focused on the different ways in which policy makers in Europe have sought to improve the social and academic mix of schools, for example via admissions arrangements, developing new schools, merging schools. Watch the video by connecting to the webcast here.
Key note presentation at BIEN Annual Conference
Professor Anne West gave a Key Note presentation at the Berlin Interdisciplinary Education Research Network (BIEN) Annual Conference at DIW, Berlin on 17th September 2018.
Her talk was entitled ‘The expansion of "private" schools in England (academies/free schools), Sweden (friskolor) and Eastern Germany (Freie Schulen): Policy goals, ideas and political parties’.
Read more.
Media- No more excuses: the NHS must fund anti-HIV pre-exposure drugs now
Research shows that fears of a public outcry over PrEP are fuelled by negative media coverage, not facts. Dr Timothy Hildebrandt writes Opinion piece for The Guardian. Read more.
Occupational aspirations of children
From an early age, children are asked about what they would like to do when they grow up. Their answers - and the jobs they go on to do - reveal some striking differences. Read more here.
New research: How much you save may be influenced by your grandparents' place of birth
The study, which is the first of its kind to find a link between culture and saving behaviour, used long-term data to explore the saving habits of UK migrants, their children and their grandchildren and found that culture impacts on saving behaviour for up to three generations. Dr Berkay Ozcan is one of the authors of the report. Read more here.
Perspectives on poverty in Europe
Professor Stephen Jenkins gave an invited plenary lecture on "Perspectives on poverty in Europe" to the European Commission’s Community of Practice on Fairness Workshop on ‘Income inequality and its policy determinants – beyond a MS level analysis’, Brussels, 11 September 2018.
Media: Violence, abuse and disappearance in Bangladesh
Professor David Lewis contributes to a hard hitting Channel 4 News report. View here.
Research presentation at Department for Education
On 28th August, Professor Lucinda Platt, with her co-author Sam Parsons from UCL, presented research on children with special educational needs (SEN), their school engagement and experience and their long-term outcomes at a seminar at the Department for Education. The studies showed that teenagers with SEN, while interested in school, have much more negative experiences than their peers. They also face cumulative impacts on social relationships and economic well-being throughout life, though there is some evidence that the situation has improved for more recent cohorts. The research is part of an ESRC- funded programme of research.
LSE Blog: What should be the future of UK-Bangladesh realtions after aid?
Guest bloggers Saleemul Huq, International Centre for Climate Change and Development, and Professor David Lewis, Department of Social Policy at the LSE, suggest a new future for UK-Bangladesh relations once Bangladesh graduates from a Least Developed Country to a Middle Income Country in 2021. Read more.
Boomerang children 'Closer' to parents in challenging economy
The parents of middle-class millennials are providing vital emotional and financial support to their young adult children – as students and graduates – in a challenging employment and housing environment, new research has shown. Read more.
Low expectations are stopping young disabled people going to university
Almost half of all young people in England now go on to higher education. This means that teenagers in the UK are more likely to go to university than ever before.
Official figures reveal that 49% of students in England are expected to enter advanced studies by the age of 30. But new research by Professor Lucinda Platt and Dr Stella Chatzitheochari shows that students with special educational needs and disabilities are far less likely to go to university than those with no known disabilities. Read more.
LSE Blog: Ten lessons from Grenfell
Social landlords and the government have long neglected their existing housing stock in favour of new homes, leading to a deterioration of safety standards and a lack of accountability. In the case of Grenfell Tower, these conditions led to at least 72 deaths. A year on from the fire, and with problems in multi-storey blocks being uncovered all over the country, Professor Anne Power outlines ten key lessons to be learnt from Grenfell. Read more.
Law and order
40 years ago, GF Newman's quartet of plays, Law and Order, explored the role of the Metropolitan Police, the criminal, the solicitor and the prison system around one central story. Four decades later, have we any cause for complacency? Professor Tim Newburn talks to Laurie Taylor as part of Radio 4 series: Thinking Allowed.
Listen here
Dr Armine Ishkanian gives invited lecture and presentation on Armenia
Dr Armine Ishkanian gave an invited lecture at the International Gender Studies Centre at Lady Margarets Hall, University of Oxford on comparative analysis of civil society mobilisation against domestic violence in the UK and Armenia. Read more.
Dr Armine Ishkanian gave a presentation at Chatham House on the revolution in Armenia. Read more.
Diversity: Ethically mixed schools better for social cohesion
Pupils from schools with greater ethnic diversity have more positive feelings towards pupils of different ethnicities, according to a new study of attitudes in English secondary schools from the University of Bristol and LSE. Read more.
David Donnison- Shaper of social policy for the last half century
David Donnison, who has died aged 92, was one of a group of outstanding academics who played an important part in shaping social policy during the 1960s and 70s, and, in his case, well beyond. Read more.
Pupil happiness: Increased access to independently-run schools decreases student wellbeing
The competition created by increased access to autonomous schools, such as academies, faith schools and private schools, raises academic achievement but decreases pupil wellbeing, a new study from the London School of Economics and Political Science published in the Economics of Education Review has found.
Read more.
Media- Royal wedding: The UK's rapidly changing mixed-race population
Meghan Markle's marriage to Prince Harry will see her become the first mixed-race member of the Royal Family. Professor Lucinda Platt writes for the BBC about the mixed heritage population of the UK and how the wedding reflects wider changes in UK society. Read here.
Podcast- Gender Pay Gap Reporting
Dr Berkay Ozcan discusses the root causes of workplace pay gaps and how employers can reduce them, plus generder pay gap reporting and ethnicity pay gap reporting. Listen here
LSE Blog- A revolution of values: Freedom, responsibility, and courage in the Armenian Velvet Revolution
Mass protests in Armenia, which began in April and led to the resignation of Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, have been dubbed a ‘Velvet Revolution’. Dr Armine Ishkanianexplains that this revolution has been rooted in the values of Armenian society and its domestic, socio-economic and political realities, rather than geopolitics or foreign relations. Read here.
Media- Armenia after the revolution
In an article on the Aljazeera website, Dr Armine Ishkanian talks about the opportunities and challenges facing the country after the revolution. Read here.
Professor Stephen Jenkins gives keynote lecture at LIS User Conference
Professor Stephen Jenkins highlights Tony Atkinson's contribution to inequality research in Europe and the world at a Keynote lecture at LIS User Conference 3-4 May 2018. The keynote lecture was entitled "European Poverty". Read more
LSE Blog- Assessing the impact of the Rohingya crisis on Bangladesh
Whilst the people and the government of Bangladesh have set a shining example for the world in terms of offering sanctuary to the Rohingya, Professor David Lewis assesses the potential repercussions on the immediate area and beyond for this act of generosity. Read here.
LSE IQ- Are we seeing a new gender equality revolution?
Gender politics has dominated the news over the past year with issues like the UK gender pay gap and the global #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. Helping explore this new wave of feminism and whether or not it will bring about lasting change for women. are: Professor Beverley Skeggs, Director of the Atlantic Fellows programme at LSE's International Inequalities Institute, Professor Jennifer Brown, Co-director of LSE's Mannheim Centre for Criminology, and Winnie Li, award-winning author, activist and PhD researcher in LSE's Department of Media and Communications. Access podcast here.
Parents' lives made more miserable by boomerang generation
Adult children who return to live with their parents, the so-called 'boomerang generation', cause a significant decline in parents' quality of life and well-being, according to new research from the ALPHA research unit. Read more.
LSE Blog- What protests in Athens, Cairo and London tell us about opposition to neoliberalism
Drawing on a new study based on interviews with activists in Athens, Cairo and London, Dr Armine Ishkanian highlights that activists often view the current economic system as being fundamentally incompatible with their conception of democracy, but that the term ‘anti-neoliberal’ fails to capture the full extent of their political positions and policies. Read here.
LSE Blog- Monitoring Global Poverty- Tony Atkinson and the World Bank
At the Beveridge 2.0 LSE Festival event Five LSE Giants’ Perspectives on Poverty, Professor Stephen Jenkins explained how the World Bank is changing its methodological approach as a result of the Monitoring Global Poverty report written by an "LSE Giant", Professor Sir Anthony (Tony) B Atkinson (1944-2017), formerly Tooke Professor of Economic Science and Statistics, 1980–1992, and Centennial Professor, 2010–17. Read here.
Outstanding recent contributions to the National Child Development Study
Congratulations to Dr Alice Goisis, Dr Berkay Ozcan and Professor Mikko Myrskyla who received an award for outstanding recent contributions to the science of National Child Development Study for their paper "Decline in the negative association between low birth weight and cognitive ability" at the Centre for Longitudinal Studies recent celebration of the National Child Development study at 60. Read the paper here.
The transgender arguments dividing society
In an article on the BBCs website, Dr Timothy Hildebrandt discussed some of the difficulties that face the government in addressing issues related to transgender people in Britain.
QS World subject rankings
LSE ranked top university in Europe for social sciences and LSE Social Policy ranked 3rd in the world in the latest QS World University rankings. Read more here. View the latest QS World University rankings here.
LSE Festival Research Competition
Congratulations to Diego Alburez Gutiérrez, winner of the LSE PhD Academy Prize, for his image How to Survive a Genocide: Lessons from the Guatemalan Civil War.
The PhD Academy prize was selected from shortlisted photograph, poster and research abstract submissions from PhD students. .
Media- Beveridge 2.0 / Gearty Grillings / Anne West on ignorance/education
In 1942 former LSE Director William Beveridge launched his blueprint for a British universal care system, ‘from the cradle to the grave’. Some 75 years on, LSE offered a week-long festival of public events, exploring today’s "Five Giants": the challenges of poverty; health and social care; education and skills; housing and urbanisation; and the future of work.
In this episode, Professor Anne West discusses ignorance / education.
Media- Beveridge 2.0 / Gearty Grillings / Lucinda Platt on Poverty/Want
In 1942 former LSE Director William Beveridge launched his blueprint for a British universal care system, ‘from the cradle to the grave’. Some 75 years on, LSE offered a week-long festival of public events, exploring today’s "Five Giants": the challenges of poverty; health and social care; education and skills; housing and urbanisation; and the future of work.
In this episode, Professor Lucinda Platt discusses poverty / want.
LSE Blog- Oxfam crisis: we need a more informed debate
Few would say that the alleged behaviour of aid workers in the Oxfam sexual exploitation scandal is acceptable. But the nature of the criticism that has followed these revelations, including government threats to cut Oxfam’s funding, is driven more by politics than genuine understanding of the sector, explains Professor David Lewis.
Academic Abroad
Professor Eileen Munro presented a talk at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, in which she shared her thoughts on the role of social work in child protection and how social workers can develop their skills in the field. During her talk Munro discussed child abuse and neglect, how child protection services fit into wider cultural relationships between children, parents, community and the State, and on how to develop expertise in social work. Read more.
Research programme
A major new £1million research programme will analyse the progress of social policy in addressing social inequalities.
Social policies and distributional outcomes in a changing Britain (SPDO) will be undertaken by a team of inequalities and social policy experts at LSE’s Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE), in partnership with University of Manchester, Heriot Watt University and UCL Institute for Education.
Read more.
Married with children: Can social policy improve the lives of China's LGB people?
In 1978, China’s Communist government implemented arguably the boldest social policy in world history: couples were to be restricted to a single child per family, in what became commonly known as the ‘one-child’ policy. Although the ban was repealed in 2015, new research finds the policy continues to make life difficult for many people in China, acutely so for its lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) community.
Dr Hildebrandt shows how the one-child policy has intensified family pressure for gay men and lesbian women. Read more.
The rise of precarious employment in Germany
Germany is often portrayed as the economic model to which other countries should aspire. According to some commentators, Britain would be better off if it rebalanced its economy away from low-skilled service sector jobs and rebuilt its manufacturing industry, while others argue that by deregulating its labour market, France would cultivate entrepreneurship.
In a recent paper, Dr Thomas Biegert of the Department of Social Policy and his research partner David Brady see much to admire in the German economy, but find the reality is more complex than its favourable reputation suggests. Read more.
LSE IQ Podcast
Why is social mobility declining?
Helping to answer the question are: Professor Mike Savage, co-director of LSE’s International Inequalities Institute, Dr Abigail McKnight, associate director of LSE’s Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion and Dr Sam Friedman of LSE’s Department of Sociology.
Higher inequality in the UK linked to higher poverty
Both inequality and poverty are now on the rise again and predicted to increase further in the next 5 to 15 years, but it has never been established if the two are directly linked. Researchers from LSE’s Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) explored the different types of inequality including income inequality and concentration of wealth, over the period 1961 to 2016. Read more.
LSE IQ Podcast
Helping to answer the question are: Dr Simon Bastow, LSE Fellow, Department of Management; Professor Nicola Lacey, School Professor of Law, Gender and Social Policy at LSE; and Dr Sharon Shalev, a fellow of the Mannheim Centre for the Study of Criminology and Criminal Science at LSE and founder of SolitaryConfinement.org
Professor Eileen Munro in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Professor Eileen Munro was invited to give evidence to the Ministerial Panel on Child Intervention and to provide consultancy to the Minister of Children’s Services and the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate on improving the child protection system.
Professor Munro also gave a lecture at the University of Calgary on ‘Improving social work expertise’.
Professor Lucinda Platt elected a Fellow of the European Academy of Sociology (EAS)
Congratulations to Professor Lucinda Platt, Professor of Social Policy and Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science for being elected a Fellow of the European Academy of Sociology.
The European Academy of Sociology is a fellowship of respected scholars with expertise in many different areas of sociology, united around the common concern to promote rigorous standards in sociology. Read more.
The relationship between welfare and penal policies
Dr Leonidas Cheliotis gave an invited talk at the Department of Political Science and Public Management of the University of Southern Denmark in the context of an international interdisciplinary workshop on the relationship between welfare and penal policies. Dr Cheliotis’ talk drew on his joint work with Dr. Sappho Xenakis (Birkbeck, University of London), and was entitled ‘Whither Neoliberal Penality? The Past, Present and Future of Imprisonment in the US’.
Do generous welfare states mean more unemployment?
In new research, Dr Thomas Biegert explores the effects of benefits on job seekers in 20 European countries and the US. Read more on the LSE US Centre’s blog.
Ethnicity, identity and culture
Professor Lucinda Platt gave the opening seminar in the University of Luxembourg's 2017/18 SEMILUX series, talking about Ethnicity and identity: individual and contextual influences on identity expression across ethnic groups. Read more.
Lucinda also gave a talk at the Royal College of Defence Studies on The Politics of Ethnicity and Culture. Read more.
The detrimental social impact of the mining industry in Armenia
Dr Armine Ishkanian was interviewed for an article published in the Neues Deutschland newspaper about the mining industry in Armenia. Her research was quoted in the article where she draws attention to the negative social impacts of mining in Armenia. Read full article.
Female EU citizens face disadvantage in claiming permanent residency in the UK
The finding was made as part of an LSE research project examining female EU citizens' experiences of trying to claim access to residence rights and social benefits.
The researchers, Dr Isabel Shutes of LSE’s Social Policy Department, and Sarah Walker of the Sociology Department at Goldsmiths, University of London, call on the government to address the gender implications of the conditions for acquiring legal residence and social rights. Read more.
Professor Emily Grundy elected a Fellow of the British Academy
Congratulations to Professor Emily Grundy, Professor of Demography at the London School of Economics and Political Science for being elected a Fellow of the British Academy.
Fellows of the British Academy represent the very best of humanities and social sciences research, in the UK and globally. This year’s new Fellows are experts in subjects ranging from feminist theory to the economic development of Africa; medieval history to Indian philosophy and face perception. Read more.
Dr Tim Hildebrandt talks about recent censorship around homosexuality in China
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt was interviewed by the BBC for its coverage of a recent new media regulation in China that, among other restrictions, bans all depictions of homosexuality in online videos. Dr Hildebrandt drew upon his extensive and ongoing research into LGBT-related policies in China and elsewhere. Read article here. Listen to audio version here.
Professor Lucinda Platt at the Understanding Society International conference
Professor Lucinda Platt gave a plenary at the Understanding Society international conference. The topic was: Ethnicity and identity: new perspectives.
Held at the University of Essex, the Understanding Society Scientific Conference provides an international forum for the exchange of research based on longitudinal household panel studies.
The three-day conference attracted 240 delegates from multiple countries (Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Australia, US, Korea) as well as UK, and from government departments and funding organisations, research organisations as well as universities. Read more.
Income directly affects children's outcomes
Poorer children have worse cognitive, social-behavioural and health outcomes because they are poor, and not just because poverty is correlated with other household and parental characteristics, according to a new report from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Kerris Cooper and Kitty Stewart of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion(CASE) and the Department of Social Policy found the strong evidence of the causal effect between household income and children’s outcomes after reviewing 61 studies from OECD countries including the US, UK, Australia, and Germany. Read more
Low cost housing schemes have little impact on social mobility
Flagship Government schemes to help more people get on the UK housing ladder have little impact on improving social mobility as better-off buyers are most likely to benefit from the support.
A new LSE report for the Social Mobility Commission into the impact of low-cost homeownership schemes has found that those benefitting from schemes - such as Help to Buy – earn more than one and half times the national working age median income. Read more.
The state of British prisons
Dr Leonidas Cheliotis was interviewed by the German Press Agency about the state of British prisons. Quoted in an article published by Deutsche Welle, Dr Cheliotis drew attention to the politicisation of penal policy in Britain and the concomitant lack of state commitment to alternatives to imprisonment. Read full article.
Professor Anthony Hall awarded a Newton Fund
Professor Anthony Hall has been awarded a Newton Fund Institutional Links grant to be carried out in partnership with the University of Amazonas in Brazil. This joint research will look into the nature of participatory management and how communities influence decision-making that affects key aspects of their lives such as livelihood diversity, production systems for non-timber forest products (NTFPs), use of traditional knowledge, participatory learning and local technology.
Only children more likely to support parents in old age than children with siblings
A new study found that only children are more likely than children with siblings to share a household with or live at close distance from ageing parents, particularly when parents suffer from poor health. Read more.
A matter of life and death
Valentina Iemmi analysed the relationship between poverty and suicide in low and middle income countries, and discusses how her work could help inform efforts to address this global health crisis. Read more.
Professor Stephen Jenkins in Berlin
Professor Stephen Jenkins gave an invited plenary lecture at the 50th Anniversary Conference of the German Institute for Research on the Labour Market and Professions (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, IAB) in Berlin, 5-6 April 2017. His topic was 'Monitoring poverty in Europe: assessing progress since the early-1990s'.
Dr Armine Ishkanian shares her views on the Armenian parliamentary elections
Parliamentary elections were held in Armenia on 2nd April 2017. They were the first parliamentary election of its kind since the signing of a 2015 referendum. Dr Armine Ishkanian talks to CivilNet before the election.
Following the results which saw the ruling Republican Party of Armenia win the largest share of the vote, Armine Ishkanian shares her views on the LSE Blog, 'Armenia’s election: The status quo wins at the expense of democracy.'
Parents with young children are 'substantially' less productive than their colleagues, due to a lack of sleep
In the first study of its kind, Dr Joan Costa-i-Font and Sarah Flèche, of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics and Political Science, have found that baby-induced fatigue is significantly undermining economic performance. Read more.
Dramatic turn-around in cognitive abilities of children born to older mothers
In contrast to 40 years ago, children born to older mothers today are more likely to perform better in cognitive ability tests than those born to younger mothers, reveals new research from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR). Read more.
Can the disadvantages that often accompany becoming a young parent be minimised?
Professor Emily Grundy studied the effects of early parenthood over the course of people’s lives in two different types of society, finding differences between Eastern and Western European countries in life chances and health in later life. Read more.
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt talks at the University of Oxford China Centre
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt gave a talk on 'The end of the one-child policy and its effect on LGBT Chinese' at the University of Oxford China Centre on Thursday 26th January. presenting a social policy explanation for family pressure- alongside the better known and more commonly discussed sociocultural ones.
Professor Sir Tony Atkinson (1944-2017)
It is with great sadness that the Department notes the death of Tony Atkinson on New Year’s Day. A great man has left us all too soon.
Tony had long-standing connections with the Department, and had just been reappointed as a Centennial Professor (jointly with the Department of Economics). He was the School’s Tooke Professor of Economic Science and Statistics, 1980–1992, and Director of the Suntory-Toyota Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines, within which our department’s Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy is housed. Tony was one of CASE’s greatest supporters throughout its history, and he also made many contributions to the new International Inequalities Institute. Read more.
Modern, globalised lifestyles fuelling obesity epidemic
A new LSE study suggests that our 21st century, globalised lifestyles are fuelling the rise of obesity. Read more.
Cognitive abilities of low birth weight children show dramatic improvement
The gap between the cognitive abilities of children born with a low birth weight and those born with a normal weight has decreased by 50 per cent over the last 40 years or more, according to new research from LSE and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. Read more.
Professor Mossialos joins expert advisory board to support the Global AMR Innovation Fund
Professor Elias Mossialos, Brian Abel-Smith Professor of Health Policy within the Department of Social Policy and Director of LSE Health, has been appointed to an expert advisory board to support the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Innovation Fund (GAMRIF).
Professor Mossialos will join 11 other board members and will advise how the UK can best spend an additional £50 million over the next five years to work with global partners to fund innovative initiatives that tackle drug resistant infections, which includes resistance to antibiotics.
Prize Winners 2015/16 Announced!
Prizes are awarded to students for merit or achievement based on nominations received by academics in the Department. In addition, an annual prize is awarded for the best PhD thesis written by a student in the Department.
Congratulations to all of the winners of these prestigious prizes for the 2015/16 academic year. Read more.
LSE Health awarded major European grant for big data project
LSE Health has been awarded its first major European big data grant. From January 2017 it will coordinate 36 organisations in a public-private consortium with a total budget of 7.2 million Euros. Read more.
Mental health interventions in pregnant women and new mothers have benefits
There are clear economic and societal arguments for investing in mental health interventions for women during pregnancy and immediately after birth, a new report by the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) at the London School of Economics and Political Science suggests. Read more.
Social Policy Alumni win this year's Geneva Challenge
Two of our former MSc in Social Policy and Development (2015-2016) students, Arianna Espinosa-Oliver and Abraham Hidalgo-Mendoza, were part of the winning team that won this year’s Geneva Challenge with the MINGA Collective Waste Management project.
This is an annual competition hosted by the Graduate Institute in Geneva - The Advancing Development Goals International Contest for Graduate Students. This year the students were asked to come up with a project on 'The Challenges of Urbanisation'.
Dr Ernestina Coast invited to speak at International Conferences
Dr Coast was an invited Panellist at the 13th Inter-Ministerial Conference on Population and Development in Dakar (28th-29th November). The event focused on Priority Population and Development Challenges in the context of the SDGs, and Dr Coast presented on Gender and Adolescence: Global Evidence (GAGE).
Dr Coast was also an invited participant at the decennial Africa Regional Conference on Abortion where she presented two research papers and gave an Expert Interview on the role of young people in research.
Key note presentation given by Professor Anne West
Professor Anne West gave the key note presentation at the Reclaiming Education Conference held on Saturday 12 November 2016 in London.
The talk was entitled the ‘History of Comprehensive Education in England’.
Academic Abroad- Dr Armine Ishkanian delivers keynote lectures
Dr Armine Ishkanian delivered keynote lectures on 'Armenia's Current Political and Social Situation in Global Context' at the University of California, Irvine on 2 November as part of the Vahe and Armine Meghrouni Lecture series in Armenian studies, and at the University of California, Los Angeles on the 3 November at the invitation of the Centre for Near Eastern Studies.
PhD student Kerris Cooper wins the 3 minute PhD competition at the LSE Research Festival
The PhD Academy hosted their first 3 Minute Thesis® (3MT) competition as part of the LSE Research Festival. PhD students competed to communicate effectively about their doctoral research, in language accessible to a non-specialist audience, in just 3 minutes. Read more.
Increased retirement age puts pressure on 'sandwich generation'
A new study from LSE, published in 'Research on Ageing', has found that raising the retirement age is likely to put pressure on middle-aged people with caring responsibilities. Read more.
Leveson press restrictions a 'threat to democracy and accuracy'
The breakdown of metropolitan police and media relations in the wake of the Leveson Inquiry has led to a proliferation of inaccurate and prejudicial news reports in recent years, according to a new study by a leading criminologist, Dr Marianne Colbran. Read more.
Childhood bullying places 'long term strain' on UK mental health services
Lead researcher Dr Sara Evans-Lacko, an Associate Professorial Research Fellow from LSE’s Personal Social Services Research Unit, said: "The impact of childhood bullying on mental health services is most notable at an early age, but the association remains significant at 50. Read more.
Dr Leonidas Cheliotis at CINETS
Dr Leonidas Cheliotis, Assistant Professor in Criminology at the Department of Social Policy, was a keynote speaker at the 3rd CINETS (Crimmigration Control International Network of Studies) conference, which took place at the University of Maryland in College Park on 6-7 October 2016. Dr. Cheliotis' lecture was entitled 'Europe on Trial: Making Sense of State Violence against Irregular Migrants and Refugees', and drew on his ongoing research on the political economy of immigration in Southern Europe.
Is intergenerational living the secret to good mental health in old age?
Intergenerational cohabitation (parents and adult children living in the same household) may have contributed to curbing high rates of depressive symptoms among older people during the Great Recession, according to new research from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and King’s College London.
Read more.
Government reforms could put the sustainability and quality of early years provision at risk
New research from LSE suggests that government proposals to introduce a new national early years funding formula could put the sustainability of early years education and care providers at risk, and also put at risk the quality of provision available for children. Read more.
High incomes study shows women are less than a quarter of top one per cent
A new study by LSE’s International Inequalities Institute shows that women make up a smaller and smaller fraction of those with high incomes, the closer you get to the top. Women have been increasing their representation in the top 10 per cent, but progress has been much less at the very top 0.1 per cent. Read more.
Dr Leonidas Cheliotis to co-organise a British Academy conference
Dr Leonidas Cheliotis, Assistant Professor in Criminology at the Department of Social Policy, along with LSE School Professors Nicola Lacey (Law) and David Soskice (Government), as well as Dr. Sappho Xenakis (Birkbeck Law School), have been successful in their joint application to the British Academy for a two-day international interdisciplinary conference on 'Tracing the relationship between inequality, crime and punishment: Space, time and politics'.
The conference will be fully funded by the Academy and will be held on 7-8 December 2017 at its premises at Carlton House Terrace.
Prize for Sam Lattof, PhD student
Sam Lattof, a PhD student in the Department of Social Policy, was awarded the joint top prize for her poster "Mothers on the move" at the 2016 British Society for Population Studies Annual Conference, which was held 12-14 September, at the University of Winchester.
Government housing benefit cuts directly linked to rise in depression in low income households
Cuts to housing benefit by the UK coalition government have led to a 10 per cent increase in people from low income households reporting poor mental health and helped propel an additional 26,000 people into depression researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), University of Oxford and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine have found. Read more.
The Olympics made us happy, but was it worth it?
The 2012 Olympic Games caused a marked increase in happiness among Londoners, according to new LSE research which shows for the first time that there are significant intangible effects to hosting the event. Read more.
Dementia toolkit to help patients, carers and healthcare workers
A comprehensive web tool bringing together scientific evidence on dementia care and treatment has been developed by researchers at LSE's Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU). Read more.
Dr Armine Ishkanian comments on political developments in Armenia
Following her published piece in openDemocracy on the July 2016 protests in Armenia, Dr Armine Ishkanian has been commenting for #StreamUpdate on the recent street protests and how they relate to wider social and political developments in Armenia.
North-South economic and social divide still growing
Economic and social divergence between London and the North of England continues to grow, according to new CASE and University of Manchester research. Read more.
Fifa Kara Newton wins Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Award
Fifi Kara Newton, a 3rd year Social Policy student along with another LSE student has won the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Award for their tech start up, Yonder. The app shows you the cheapest flight destinations on the days you want to get away.
LSE Health outlines reforms for China's pharmaceutical system
China’s pharmaceutical system will struggle to cope with the twin challenges of a rapidly aging population and increases in non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and heart and lung disease. Read more.
Dr Leonidas Cheliotis wins Adam Podgòrecki Prize
Dr Leonidas Cheliotis, has won the prestigious Adam Podgòrecki Prize for his published work in the sociology of crime and punishment.
The prize is awarded biannually by the International Sociological Association (Sociology of Law Section) 'for outstanding achievements in socio-legal research within ten years following completion of a doctorate degree'.
LSE Health publish study on antibiotic innovation
LSE Health has published a study, commissioned by the Dutch government, outlining a range of policy recommendations for improving the global research and development agendas for antibiotics. Read more.
Professor Anne West and Dr Sonia Exley at KOSMOS International Workshop (University of Humboldt, Berlin)
The Kosmos Workshop on Privatisation and Marketization in Compulsory Education took place on 17th and 18th June in Berlin. Dr Sonia Exley’s presentation focused on England and Professor Anne West’s contribution on Sweden. The proceedings are to be published in an edited volume next year and further collaboration is expected.
Migration does not slow rate of ageing population
Different levels of migration have not led to different rates of population ageing within the UK population, new research from the London School of Economics and Political Science has found. Read more.
Leaving the EU poses 'critical threat' to NHS
Britain’s withdrawal from the EU would negatively impact the NHS in a number of ways, a new briefing report by academics from LSE and the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London has warned.
Read more.
LSE partners with University of Chicago to create global health programme
LSE and the University of Chicago have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aiming to create the world’s first transatlantic partnership in global health policy and economics.
Read more.
Best Paper Award in VOLUNTAS for 2015
The article, "Surreptitious Symbiosis: Engagement Between Activists and NGOs," by Professor Marlies Glasius (University of Amsterdam) and Dr Armine Ishkanian (LSE) has been selected for the Best Paper Award in VOLUNTAS for 2015.
Nature versus nurture in obesity: New evidence from adoptee data
Obesity, particularly in children, is a major health concern in many developed economies, where it presents a costly risk to health services. Dr Joan Costa-i-Font, Professor Mireia Jofre-Bonet and Professor Julian Le Grand examined the intergenerational transmission of overweight and obesity using a unique sample of English adoptees. Read more.
LSE to launch 20-year programme funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies to support leaders tackling inequalities
An ambitious programme designed to build a global community of leaders dedicated to changing policy, practice and public dialogue around inequalities has been announced by LSE and The Atlantic Philanthropies. Read more.
Department of Social Policy ranked number 1 in the UK
The Guardian's latest University League Tables rank the LSE's Department of Social Policy as number 1 in the UK
New brain-training tool to help people cut drinking
Professor Paul Dolan, internationally-renowned LSE expert on happiness and behaviour has launched a free online tool to help people who want to cut down on alcohol. Read more.
New LSE book on the transformation of post-industrial European cities
Professor Anne Power’s new book, Cities for a Small Continent, collects compelling evidence from seven archetypal industrial cities across Europe that were the power-houses of the industrial revolution. She argues that far from being "clapped out", "jobless, poor and dirty" they are stuffed with assets that can be recycled and reused. Read more.
LSE research shows significant social return on investment for London regeneration project
Home Group, one of the UK’s largest providers of high quality social housing and supported housing services and products, has published the results of a report carried out by LSE to assess the impact of a £140m regeneration programme at Rayners Lane, a former council owned estate in the London Borough of Harrow. Read more.
Control over admissions should be removed from schools, new study by Professor Anne West recommends
A new report on secondary school admissions in London by Professor Anne West and Audrey Hind provides an up-to-date analysis of London secondary schools’ admissions criteria and practices between 2001 and 2015. Read more.
Academic Abroad
Dr Tiziana Leone has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Florence for 6 weeks. During that time she has given guest lectures as well as presented her ongoing work on ageing of mid-life women in low income countries at Bocconi University on 9 May.
Huge investment in cancer drugs leads to £14 billion net benefit for UK patients
The UK has more than doubled its spending on cancer drugs over the past decade, leading to a £14 billion (2014 GBP) net economic benefit in terms of increased life outcomes for cancer patients, according to new research published by LSE Health. Read more.
Can Mediation take the pain out of divorce?
Of the estimated 130,000 divorces each year in the UK, around 70 per cent now use mediators to resolve their concerns outside of the court system. New research by LSE sheds light on the impact parental conflict can have on children during the divorce process, and points the way towards how mediation could help. Read more.
Examining the relationship between political systems and state punitiveness
Democratic states are not necessarily less punitive than their non-democratic counterparts, according to a new LSE study. Read more.
LSE's Department of Social Policy ranked 2nd in the world
The latest QS World University Rankings by Subject show eight subjects at LSE are ranked in the world’s top five, and 13 are ranked in the top 10.
Among these, Social Policy rated 2nd in the world ! Read more.
Gains in life expectancy hide premature deaths among white High School Graduates
Modest gains in life expectancy among white high school-educated Americans obscure the fact that, in contrast to their more highly educated peers, significant numbers are increasingly dying young, reveals research. Read more.
Germany, gender and job satisfaction
Germany may be the economic powerhouse of Europe, but cultural differences between East and West reveal some deeply ingrained views relating to gender, parenthood and job satisfaction. Read more.
Professor Anne West at the Sutton Trust
Professor Anne West gave a presentation at The Sutton Trust’s international ‘Best in Class Summit: Social mobility through schools’ on 9th March.
She talked about school admissions, the problems faced by disadvantaged families navigating the system and concerns that schools were choosing pupils rather than parents choosing schools.
Research Funding News
Professor Emily Grundy, has been awarded European Commission Horizon2020 funding for the MINDMAP project. The project aims to identify opportunities offered by the urban environment for the promotion of mental wellbeing and cognitive function of older individuals in Europe and is coordinated by the Institut National De La Sante Et De La Recherche Medicale (INSERM).
" I went upstairs to get my chequebook": doorstep fraud and the exploitation of the elderly
Research by Dr Coretta Phillips shows that elderly adults can be vulnerable to doorstep fraud, criminal activity which may go under-reported because of its complex nature.
Read more.
Academic Abroad
Professor Stephen Jenkins visited the OECD in Paris on Friday 19th February, presenting his research on "Better accounting for top incomes in the measurement of inequality levels and trends" at the Second Meeting of Providers of OECD Income Distribution Data. He also gave a seminar at the OECD Economics Department on "Employment instability".
Academic Abroad
Dr Armine Ishkanian was an invited speaker at the "Combatting Environmental Crime: Priorities and Opportunities for further EU Action" which was held at the European Economic and Social Committee, in Brussels on 17th-18th February. Drawing on her research on mining in Armenia, she presented on the role of NGOs and civil society in combatting environmental crime.
Youth mental health neglect a 'moral scandal and enormous economic mistake', says LSE report
More than half of teenagers and young people with mental health problems do not receive any clinical treatment, amounting to a ‘’moral scandal and enormous economic mistake,’’ according to a new LSE study. Read more.
Seminar to launch the major research report
The Value and effects of Judicial Review
By Varda Bondy, Professor Lucinda Platt, and Professor Maurice Sunkin which draws on research funded by the Nuffield Foundation and undertaken by the Public Law Project, the University of Essex and London School of Economics (LSE). This is the first comprehensive independent study to consider the effects of judicial review principally from the perspective of claimants and their advisers.
Measles and migrants
In the past two years, Europe has recorded more than 22,000 cases of measles: a sharp reversal of the 96% decline of the last 20 years. Why is it happening and who is at risk? Read more.
First born children of women in their thirties perform best in tests of mental development and psychological well-being
The firstborn children of mothers in their thirties score more highly on measures of mental development and psychological well-being than children born to other first time mothers reveals new research. Read more.
Women on the beat
2015 marks 100 years since Edith Smith became the first female police officer in Britain with powers of arrest. Today, women make up 28 per cent of the force but the struggle for acceptance is far from over. Read more.
Cost is the biggest barrier to young people's participation in sport because a third live in poverty
Schools should open up their facilities at evenings and weekends to enable more young people to take part in sport. This is just one of a series of recommendations from an LSE study. Read more.
Academic Abroad
Dr Leonidas Cheliotis, Department of Social Policy, gave a plenary lecture on 'Political Systems and Punishment: The Challenges of Democratisation' at the 2nd Latin American Congress on Crime and Society, in Argentina from 10-12 December.
Global Girls Research Initiative Launched
Dr Ernestina Coast and Professor Lucinda Platt from the Department of Social Policy are two of a number of LSE academics involved in an exciting new ‘Global Girls Research Initiative’ (GGRI) funded by DfID for nine years and led by the Overseas Development Institute.
Academic Abroad
Anne West, Professor of Education Policy, holds the 2015 Fritz Karsen Chair at Humboldt University in Berlin. Earlier this month she visited Berlin, meeting with professors, researchers and graduate students, and working on two articles with Professor Rita Nikolai. Two proposals for international conferences in Berlin and in Hannover were submitted, one of which also involves Dr Sonia Exley. Further collaborative research is planned.
Child poverty measurement
Dr Kitty Stewart contributes to LSE British Politics and Policy Blog on child poverty measurement. Read more.
Academic Abroad
Professor Lucinda Platt was invited to give the opening lecture at an International Seminar on Design, Collection and Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Mexico, held at CIDE, Aguascalientes, Mexico from the 19-20 November.
New flat rate state pension will lead to benefit cuts for some groups
A new report involving LSE academics has found that low earning renters stand to lose the most from planned reforms to state pensions and long-term care if they are not protected. Read more.
New LSE Housing Academy for social landlords launched
The Academy will help housing associations remain viable social businesses by supporting the communities where they work in a period of austerity. It will be hands-on and action-oriented locally while driving home policy messages among decision-makers. Read more.
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt in the South China Morning Post on the end of China's one-child policy
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt says that with the end of China’s one-child policy, family expectations to produce an offspring will eventually ease on the only child who happens to be gay or lesbian. Read more.
Government regulation and industry practices stalling drug development finds new report
The majority of new medicines entering the market offer few clinical advantages over existing alternatives according to a new analysis article published in the British Medical Journal. Read more.
Research Funding News
The LSE is delighted to have been awarded £565,000 by theJoseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) for a three-year programme to investigate the links between poverty and inequalities. Read more.
Working to the death
Should we accept George Osborne’s claim that the UK’s state pension scheme faces collapse unless we increase the retirement age? In a new book released this month, LSE Visiting Professor John Macnicol challenges this view. Read more.
Academic Abroad
Dr Armine Ishkanian was an invited speaker at the Vienna Policy Conference (29-30 October) which was organised by the Open Society Foundation in Europe and the ERSTE Stiftung.
Research Funding News
Dr Kitty Stewart has received Nuffield Foundation funding to undertake research on segregation in early years settings.
Research Funding News
Professor Anne Power has received funding from Trafford Hall to gather new evidence on the impact of the new government’s austerity programme on social landlords and tenants.
Dr Jeroen Luyten awarded McKinsey Company Award
Dr Jeroen Luyten (LSE Health Fellow) was recently awarded the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) and McKinsey & Company annual scientific prize for his excellent PhD research, and for demonstrating the social and economic relevance of his work.
Heavy drinkers and drugs users underestimate their levels of consumption compared to others
Heavy drinkers and users of illegal drugs downplay their relative levels of consumption, when comparing themselves to others, reveals research by LSE and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Read more.
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt at Chatham House
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt appeared at Chatham House where he spoke in response to the premiere of a Channel 4 documentary on gay conversion therapy in China.
Listen here
Research Funding News
Dr Timo Fleckenstein has been awarded funding under the British Academy's International Partnership and Mobility Scheme. The project will critically assess the opportunities but also the limits of social investment policies, developing a long-term strategy for social investment policies in the re-design of welfare states.
Research Funding News
Dr Polly Vizard, from CASE, has been awarded funding by the Nuffield Foundation to extend knowledge and understanding of multidimensional poverty and disadvantage experienced by children and young people in Britain.
Poor children in London get better grades than those outside due to improvement in the capital's schools
New work, published by researchers associated with the Centre for Social Exclusion (CASE) at LSE and the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), concludes that the improved performance largely reflects gradual improvements in school quality over time. Read more.
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt on the gay marriage proposal on the Beijing subway
Dr Timothy Hildebrandt was quoted by the BBC in its coverage of a gay marriage proposal on the Beijing subway that has gone viral on social networking sites in the last week. Read more.
PhD candidate working on Brazil's first community protocol at the International Institute for Environment and Development
Roberta Peixoto Ramos, a PhD candidate at the Social Policy Department, is working on a project to develop the first community protocol in Brazil, which is being implemented at a traditional community in the Brazilian Amazon Forest. Read more.
Academic Abroad
Lucinda Platt gave a plenrary lecture on "What can the sociological anaysis of social mobility bring to the immigration debate? Examples and Reflections" at the European Sociological Association's conference in Prague, 25-28 August. Read more.
Dr Ernestina Coast elected to Guttmacher Institute Board
Dr Coast has been elected to the Board of the Guttmacher Institute. The Institute's overarching goal is to ensure the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health for all people worldwide.
Internet is both harming and helping older people in social interactions
The report, co-authored by Dr Jacqueline Damant and Professor Martin Knapp, found that digital technology has the potential to both harm and help social networking. Read more.
Attending church is the key to good mental health among older Europeans
A study of depression among older Europeans has found that joining a religious organisation is more beneficial than charity work, sport or education in improving their mental health.
Read more.
Drug possession should be removed from police performance indicators
Drug possession should be removed from police performance indicators to encourage officers to spend more time solving serious crime rather than targeting low level possession of cannabis, according to a new LSE study by Dr Michael Shiner. Read more.
Research Impact Case Study-
Helping reform police 'stop and search' powers
LSE research into the 2011 riots in England leads to a review of police powers.Tim Newburn, Professor of Criminology and Social Policy, collaborated with the Guardian in a groundbreaking investigation of the causes of the 2011 riots in England.
Academic Abroad
Professor Stephen Jenkins gave a plenary lecture on "To what extent has income inequality increased?" at the biennial conference of the Society for the Analysis of Economic Inequality (ECINEQ), in Luxembourg, 13-15 July.
Single currency has led to increase in generosity, decrease in national pride
New research from LSE economists Dr Joan Costa Font and Professor Frank Cowell (Department of Economics) shows that countries who have adopted the Euro single currency in the past decade have experienced a decline in national pride. Read more.
Older hospital patients face "widespread and systematic" pattern of poor care
One million older people are affected by poor or inconsistent care in hospitals, according to new research by Dr Polly Vizard and Dr Tania Burchardt from CASE. Read more.
LSE report shows dementia costs Wales £1.4 billion a year
A new LSE report commissioned by the Alzheimer’s Society, and led by Professor Martin Knapp from PSSRU, reveals the hidden cost of dementia in Wales is estimated at £1.4 billion, an average cost of £31,300 per person each year. Read more.
Research Funding News
Professor Martin Knapp, from PSSRU, has received funding from Mind to undertake an economic analysis of their peer support programme and to model the health economic impact of each programme component.
Research Funding News
Professor Elias Mossialos, from LSE Health and Social Care, has been awarded funding from LSE’s Kuwait Programme to examine the causes of some of the most prevalent chronic diseases and to study the main determinants of access to, utilisation of, and satisfaction with the healthcare system in Kuwait.
Paying people incentives to make healthy choices only works in the long term if they are paid to NOT do something
Monetary incentives to encourage people to live healthier lifestyles only work in the longer term when they are designed to stop negative behaviour, rather than promote positive choices, suggests new research undertaken by Dr Matteo M Galizzi and Professor Paul Dolan. Read more.
Being a parent – before and after a split
Dads who are actively involved in bringing up their young children are more likely, in the event of a split from their partner, to keep in regular contact with their child, according to new research by Professor Lucinda Platt.
Read more.
Can't help falling in love? Why divorce and separation might not be that bad for your health
Middle-aged men and women who have experienced the upheaval of separation, divorce and remarriage are almost as healthy as couples in stable marriages, according to a new study involving Professor Emily Grundy.
Read more.
Primary health care should play bigger role in treating chronic kidney disease
Healthy eating, regular exercise and blood pressure and cholesterol control are among the most effective ways of managing the early stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Read more.
Professor Anne West at the International Comparisons Conference in Paris on 4th and 5th June
Professor Anne West gave two plenary presentations at the International Comparisons Conference in Paris on 4th and 5th June. The Conference focused on social and ethnic mixing in schools and included contributions by academics from a wide
range of countries including Canada, the US, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and England.
Zambia urged to tackle the stigma of abortion and unwanted pregnancies
Despite safe abortions being legal in a very wide number of circumstances since 1972, women in Zambia continue to take unnecessary risks to end unwanted pregnancies. Read more.
Research Funding News
Dr Ernestina Coast and Dr Emily Freeman have been awarded £30,000 by the LSE RIIF to study unsafe abortion in rural Zambia and practices of conscientious objection by medical practitioners.
This successful funding bid develops out of an on-going research project into unsafe abortion in Zambia funded by ESRC-DFID.
LSE Student Led Teaching Excellence Awards 2015
Dr Arjan Gjonca has been highly commended for the Award for Excellent Welfare and Pastoral Support.
LSE Class Teacher Awards 2015
Diana Quirmbach, Dr Bert Provan and Liz Bailey have received Class Teacher Awards. These awards are nominated by academic departments in regognition of the special contribution made by graduate teaching assistants, teaching fellows and guests teachers to their work.
Professor Stephen Jenkins and Professor Lucinda Platt at the Trento Festival of Economics
On Monday 1 June Professor Stephen Jenkins and Professor Lucinda Platt gave lectures at the Trento Festival of Economics, which this year had Social Mobility as its theme.
LSE Research News- Professor Stephen Jenkins awarded funding
Professor Stephen Jenkins was awarded funding of £59,082 through the University of Essex’s ESRC-funded Research Centre for Micro-Social Change (MiSoC). The research aims to point to ways in which our society can navigate the post-war transition from solidarity built on a sense of common purpose to the integration of people with diverse backgrounds, preferences and abilities in an era of new pressures.
LSE Research News- Professor Anne Power awarded funding
Professor Anne Power, LSE Housing, was awarded funding of £30,817 from Street Games UK Ltd to undertake a study to uncover how poverty impacts on young people, how this interacts with access to sport and how these barriers can be overcome.
Professor David Lewis speaks at Wilson Center
To Avoid Reinforcing Status Quo, Focus on Understanding Livelihood Systems
Leonidas Cheliotis has won the 2014 Best Public Intellectual Special Issue Award
Dr Cheliotis won the award for his guest-edited special issue of the prestigious centenarian journal South Atlantic Quarterly (published by Duke University Press) on 'Prison Realities: Views from Around the World'. Dr Cheliotis’ own contribution to the collection discusses the uses and abuses of temporary release in a Greek male prison.
New Year Honours at LSE
Professor Julian Le Grand has been awarded a knighthood for services to social science and public service.
Julian Le Grand has been the Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science since 1993. Read more.
LSE's Department of Social Policy excels in the REF again
LSE's Department of Social Policy has excelled once again in the REF, the UK's most recent nationwide assessment of research quality, impact and environment, which is undertaken every six to seven years. The results published last week show that LSE Social Policy is the UK's number one department for world leading and internationally excellent research.
The REF assessment takes place according to a quality scale from 1* to 4*, with 4* representing world leading research quality. In REF 2014 LSE's Department of Social Policy had the highest percentage (94%) of world leading 4* and internationally excellent 3* publications of any UK institution. It also had the highest possible scores (100%) for research impact and environment.
In the overall ranking, aggregating scores for research outputs, impact of research on policy, and academic environment LSE Social Policy was placed second in the country league table. When adjusted to take account of the percentage of staff submitted to REF, LSE Social Policy is by some distance the number one UK Social Policy Department for overall quality research.
Congratulations to everyone in the Department of Social Policy for an outstanding set of results.
More generous state unemployment benefits may protect the health of unemployed men
Men who lose their job in US states that provide generous unemployment benefits are at lower risk of poor health, according to new research. Read more.
LSE study shows sharp rise in teenage childbearing during Iraq War
A new study by Valeria Cetorelli, an LSE PhD candidate in demography in the Department of Social Policy, shows that teenage fertility in Iraq rose by more than 30 per cent between 2003 and 2010 due to increased early marriage among less-educated girls. Read more.
Professor Anne Power in LSE Connect, LSE's alumni magazine: Hunger pains: rise of the food bank
Anne Power, Professor of Social Policy and Head of LSE Housing and Communities, argues that due to falling incomes, harsh government cuts and the continuing rise in the cost of basic living, an increasing number of families across the UK are caught in a new poverty trap and the growing need for food banks is just the tip of the iceberg. Read more.
Professor David Lewis a speaker at the Wilson Center's panel event
Professor David Lewis, Head of the Department of Social Policy, was a speaker at the Wilson Center's panel event on 'Living Through Extremes: Building Livelihood Resilience Across Sectors and Countries'.
Millennium Cohort Study: Initial findings from the Age 11 study published
The Millennium Cohort Study, edited by Professor Lucinda Platt was published on Friday 28th November. Lucinda Platt was PI of the Millennium Cohort Study before joining the LSE and oversaw the data collection and data release for the age 11 survey, as well as editing this volume of initial findings across six topic areas. Read more here.
Professor Eileen Munro awarded the President's Medal of the Operational Research Society
On Wednesday 26th November, Professor Eileen Munro of the Department of Social Policy, received the President's Medal of the Operational Research Society.
The honour, which was shared with Professor David Lane, Henley Business School, and Elke Husemann, was for their use of a range of systems thinking approaches in the Munro Review of Child Protection - a high-profile review of state-managed child protection activities in England, conducted for the Department for Education.
Professor Tony Barnett is leading a United Nations Study on the Socio-Economics Impact of Ebola Outbreak in West Africa
Professor Tony Barnett, now at the LSHTM but still engaged with the LSE, is leading a United Nations Study on the Socio-Economic Impact of Ebola outbreak in West Africa. He is also a recipient of a grant from the BBSRC/DFID/ESRC to research- together with Professor Dirk Pfeiffer and Dr Guillaume Fournier from the Royal Veterinary College- the relationship between avian influenza transmission, risk of zoonotic transfer, and the structure of live bird markets in Bangladesh.
Stand tall if you are living in a democracy
Men growing up in a democracy are likely to be taller than those who spend the first 20 years of their lives in a communist regime.
The link between democracy and stature is related to good nutrition, high disposable income and a life free of social and political constraints, according to new findings. Read more.
Poor lose, and rich gain from direct tax and benefit changes since May 2010- without cutting the deficit
New analysis from LSE and the University of Essex shows that the poorest groups lost the biggest share of their incomes on average, and those in the bottom half of incomes lost overall, following benefit and direct tax changes since the 2010 election. Read more.
Ethical Dilemmas of vaccination
How relevant are gender and age when making policies about vaccination and does this leave governments open to claims of discrimination?Read more.
Dr Leonidas Cheliotis launches report at the Southbank Centre
The report is a long-term multi-method evaluation study he led on the process and effectiveness of an arts-based mentoring scheme for former prisoners, run by the Koestler Trust with funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. The study found that arts mentoring can make indirect but significant contributions to desistance from crime, but also that arts-based programme provision needs to be extended as well as combined with cognate and complementary services to this end.
To view the report click here (PDF)
To view the accompanying film click here
Does having children make us any happier?
The birth of a first and a second child briefly increases the level of their parents’ happiness, but a third does not, according to new research from LSE and Western University, Canada. Read more.
Dr Armine Ishkanian an invited expert and speaker at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
She presented a paper titled "Where is Armenia heading?" at the high-level forum where forward-looking strategic discussions about Armenia's future development took place in a private, invitation-only environment.
School can worsen disabled children's behavioural problems, researchers say
A study from LSE and the Institute of Education, University of London, has found that the behavioural problems of many disabled children worsen between the ages of 3 and 7. They encounter increasing difficulties in terms of hyperactivity, emotional problems and getting on with other children. Read more.
Sex and fertility versus health in AIDS stricken Africa
How do you reconcile the basic sexual and fertility needs of 25 million Africans with the stark reality of HIV/AIDS? The impact is devastating and extends way beyond a health crisis, with far reaching effects on the African workforce, family, education system and the economy in general. Read more.
New Research Unit Launch: ALPHA- Ageing, Lifecourse and Population Health Analysis
The LSE ALPHA research unit undertakes and promotes quantitative research on lifecourse, socio-economic and intergenerational influences on individual and population health using a range of large scale, predominantly longitudinal datasets.
Dr Leonidas Cheliotis gives a lecture on the Political Economy of Punishment at the University of A Coruña.
Dr Leonidas Cheliotis's lecture focused on the relationship between globalisation, neoliberal capitalism and border control at an international two-day conference on 'The Political Economy of Punishment Today: Visions, Debates and Challenges', organised in A Coruña, Spain, by the Law School, University of A Coruña.
Dementia costs the UK £26 billion a year
A new report which has been co-authored with The Alzheimer's Society, LSE and the King's College London has found that dementia costs the UK £26 billion a year - enough to pay the energy bills of every household in the country. Read more.
British Society for Population Studies Annual Conference 2014
The BSPS Annual Conference 2014 was held at the University of Winchester from 08 -10 September. Presentations were made by staff and students from the Social Policy Department: Dr Coast, Dr Gjonca, Dr Goisis, Dr Leone, Prof Murphy, Dr Oczan, Prof Platt, and Ben Wilson.
Professor Martin Knapp awarded Fellowship at King's College London
Professor Martin Knapp has been awarded a fellowship as an Honorary Professor of Health Economics at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London.
Social Policy Association launches new website
The Social Policy Association used the Sheffield 2014 conference to launch a brand new website, along with three short videos aimed at prospective students which consider, amongst other questions, "What is Social Policy"
Rising prices, falling wages and welfare cuts- a recipe for debt in Newham
Households in one of the poorest boroughs in London face crippling debt and financial pressures despite a widespread desire to work and an aversion to high cost lenders, according to a new report from LSE. Read more.
Twins and short spaced births are linked to premature death among parents
The findings, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, suggest that the accumulated physical, emotional and financial stresses of raising children close in age could have long-term health implications.
Read more.
Dr Adam Oliver discusses the policy battle to reduce the nation's expanding girth.
With obesity levels in the UK now the third highest in Western Europe, political leaders are struggling to find a solution to the nation’s expanding girth. Are nudge policies the way to go?
Dr Ernestina Coast presented findings of a systematic review on maternal and newborn health to the WHO in Geneva
Dr Ernestina Coast, a member of the Guideline Development Group for the World Health Organization's Technical Consultation on health promotion interventions for maternal and newborn health, presented in Geneva 15-17th July 2014 the findings of a systematic review, led by herself and involving a team from the LSE including Eleri Jones and Sam Lattof.
Dr Armine Ishkanian at International conference - 'United we stand? Alliances and conflicts between social democratic parties, trade unions, and social movements'
Dr Armine Ishkanian was the keynote speaker at an international conference titled "United we stand? Alliances and conflicts between social democratic parties, trade unions, and social movements" hosted by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Berlin on 7 July. She presented findings from a Robert Bosch Stiftung funded research project titled Interpreting the Movements of 2011 – 2012.
Autism costs the UK £32 billion a year
Research led by Professor Martin Knapp has highlighted that autism costs the UK £32 billion a year; more than any other medical condition, and greater than cost of cancer, stroke and heart disease combined. Affecting more than 1% of the population, care for those affected can last for 60-70 years. Read more.
Savings on Sanity
It is increasingly recognised across the world that intervening early in mental illness not only spares millions from untold misery but can save millions in finances. Professor Martin Knapp provides an overview of a field of study that could transform this century and in which LSE leads the way in the Summer 2014 edition of LSE Alumni's Connect magazine. Read more.
Dr Ernestina Coast at an International workshop in Kenya on 'Decision-making regarding abortion'
Dr Ernestina Coast was an invited participant at an international workshop in Kenya on 'Decision-making regarding abortion' from 3 - 5 June. She presented findings from an ESRC/DFID-funded research project 'Pregnancy termination trajectories in Zambia: the social and economic consequences for women'. This presentation was the first output of a new ESRC-funded grant for Impact Maximisation from ESRC/DFID’s Poverty Alleviation Research programme.
Professor Stephen Jenkins, new Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Economic Inequality
Stephen Jenkins, Professor of Economic and Social Policy, is the new Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Economic Inequality. He has also been appointed an Honorary Professorial Fellow of the Institute for Applied Economic and Social Research at the University of Melbourne.
Dr Coretta Phillips nominated for BBC Radio 4/British Sociological Association award
Dr Coretta Phillips was nominated to the shortlist of the inaugural BBC Radio 4 Thinking Allowed/ British Sociological Association Award for Ethnography for her book The Multicultural Prison: Ethnicity, Masculinity and Social Relations Among Prisoners. The shortlist was discussed on a special programme on Radio 4 on 23 April 2014 (link).
New LSE research project: South Asia's urbanisation-migration nexus
An innovative DFID-funded research project investigates the economic, political and spatial relationships that result from the urbanisation-migration nexus in five South Asian countries- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. The £279.000 project is led by Dr Sunil Kumar (Principle Investigator, Department of Social Policy).
Professor Paul Dolan on BBC Horizon
Professor Paul Dolan discusses how intuition and logic interact and help us make the numerous decisions that we are faced with every day on BBC Horizon.
CNESCO: Conseil National d'Évaluation du Système Scolaire.
(National Council for the Evaluation of the School System).
Professor Anne West has been nominated as a member of the le Conseil national d'évaluation du système scolaire (Cnesco) an independent body recently set up by the French Government to evaluate the organisation and outcomes of the French school system. Read more.
Research funding: women's health in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Dr Coast, Dr Leone, Prof Lewis have been awarded funding by the Middle East Centre for a research project with the Institute of Community and Public Health at Birzeit University. The research project will generate new data and analyses to better understand women's health over the lifecourse, with a particular focus on those women currently under-served or neglected by the health system.
Social Policy Academics listed in new LSE's 'Influential Academics' project
Five academics, past and present, from the Department of Social Policy have been named in LSE's 'Influential Academics' project. The project, hosted by British Government at LSE, is intended to show how a number of the School's personalities contributed directly to political thought and policy. Read more.
Centennial Professorship Announcement
The Department is delighted to announce that LSE has appointed Anton Hemerijck, Professor of Institutional Policy Analysis at VU University Amsterdam, to the position of Centennial Professor in the Department of Social Policy. Professor Hemerijck has been nominated to the Centennial Chair on account of his outstanding contribution to the comparative study of social policy with particular reference to his important contributions to theorising changing (European) welfare states in times of intrusive social and economic restructuring. He joined the Department in January 2014 and will stay until December 2016.
Obituary- Sally Sainsbury
It is with the greatness sadness we mark the death of Sally Sainsbury with this tribute by Professor David Piachaud. Read more.
Symposium at the 2013 Annual Conference of the Social Policy Association to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Richard Titmuss's death.
Symposium at the 2013 Annual Conference of the Social Policy Association to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Richard Titmuss's death.The year 2013 marks the fortieth anniversary of Richard Titmuss's death. Rightly acknowledged as the principal founder of the discipline of social administration/social policy, Titmuss's period as the first Professor of Social Administration in the UK (1950-73), held at the London School of Economics, more or less coincided with the period of the 'classic' welfare state, which functioned in the socio-economic context of full employment, intact families and steady economic growth. Significantly, Titmuss's death (in April 1973) occurred some six months before the OPEC-led oil price rise which was to send shock waves through industrialised economies and usher in a long period of self-doubt and welfare state retrenchment. From his death onwards, the social policy agenda changed markedly.
The symposium offered contrasting perspectives on Titmuss's achievements, not only examining them in the context of 1950-73, but also assessing the relevance of Titmuss's ideas for the very different social and economic circumstances of today.
Chaired by John Macnicol (Visiting Professor in the Department of Social Policy), the main presenters were Ann Oakley (Professor at the Institute of Education on 'Time Remembered: the Legend and the Legacy of Richard Titmuss'; Adrian Sinfield (Emeritus Professor at the University of Edinburgh) on 'Why Do We Need to Keep Reading Titmuss?'; and Robyn Rowe (PhD student at LSE) on 'Titmuss and the Dilemmas of Benefits for Women'
Professor John Hills has been knighted for his services to Social Policy
Professor John Hills, one of LSE's leading academics has had his expertise and service rewarded in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, and has been knighted for his services to social policy.
Professor Anne Power writes below to mark the occasion:
John has been at LSE since 1986 when he joined the Welfare State Programme with Julian Le Grand. Julian commented to me that John was rather 'into the detail' of housing. This was music to my ears as John is a real housing expert. More that that, he understands the way public finances, tax systems, welfare and the many varieties of public spending and support within the British and other welfare systems work. It is this detailed knowledge and ability to apply it to major policy problems that led the government to ask him to be part of the Pensions Commission; to carry out a review of social housing; to do an assessment of equality and inequality for the last Labour government; and to unravel the mystery of why the scale of fuel poverty raced up and down by several millions in only a year or two. These studies carried out with teams of government analysts have changed the way that not just government policy, but also academic thinking, has progressed. It gives social Policy a form and original foundation for the more purely theoretical, or purely applied, evidence would have a great less meaning. This contribution shapes many current social policy debates.
Dr Coretta Phillips has been jointly awarded the Criminology Book Prize for 2013
Dr Coretta Phillips has been jointly awarded (with Dr Deborah Drake, The Open University, for Prisons, Punishment and the Pursuit of Security) the Criminology Book Prize 2013 for her book The Multicultural Prison: ethnicity, masculinity and social relations among prisoners.
LSE Health awarded research grant
LSE Health together with 12 other institutional partners have been awarded a € 3 million research grant by the European Commission under DG Research's 7th Framework Programme for their project entitled ADVANCE-HTA, commencing in January 2013 for 3 years. LSE Health will act as the principal investigator and coordinator, led by Panos Kanavos, reader in International Health Policy, bringing together a team of high-level experts with extensive experience in the area of health policy, health economics, health and research methodologies, access to medicines, pharmaceutical policies, medical devices and health technology Assessment (HTA).
PSSRU at LSE and Kent partnership
PSSRU at LSE and Kent are delighted to be part of a partnership that has been awarded by the NICE Collaborating Centre for Social Care (NCCSC). The partnership is led by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), and also involves Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Coordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre), Research in Practice (RIP) and Research in Practice for Adults (RIPfA).