In 2016-17, I led a study on in-work poverty in the UK, funded by the Nuffield Foundation. The aims of this project were to provide a robust analysis of the nature of in-work poverty in the UK, the events which explain why people enter and exit in-work poverty, and the contribution which policy can and does make to alleviating poverty amongst working households.
Research Questions
The project sought to generate new evidence about in-work poverty in the UK by answering three research questions:
1) What is the extent of in-work poverty, and who experiences it?
2) What is the relationship between social security & tax credits and in-work poverty, and how has this changed over time?
3) How common are entries to and exits from in-work poverty, and what events are associated with such transitions?
Method and Research Design
The project comprised quantitative analysis of the Family Resources Survey/Households Below Average Income and Understanding Society surveys. It sought to introduce innovations in terms of the analysis of in-work poverty by moving beyond an exclusive focus on the 60% median income poverty measure to assess the extent and nature of in-work poverty using a range of poverty measures; by providing a more in-depth assessment of the relationship between social security and tax credits and in-work poverty than appears in existing studies; and by contributing to the sparse literature on in-work poverty transitions.
Final report: released 22 May 2017
This project has now been completed and you can access the final research report here.
A paper, presenting analysis and results from the longitudinal component of the research, has been published by the Journal of Social Policy. An Open Access version of this paper can be found here.
A second paper, examining the relationship between tax credits, social security more broadly, and in-work poverty, has been published by Social Policy & Society. An Open Access version of this paper can be found here.