Work and Social Policy
Social policy research examines the various means by which people seek to achieve security and well being and the ways government and other agencies promote these aims.
Traditionally the study of social policy has concentrated on the state provision of welfare in promoting people's security of income and housing, their health, education and employment. Recently researchers have looked at the wider range of organisations involved in delivering welfare, commercial as well as public, and to examine the wider causes of social exclusion from welfare.
The Social Policy Group at the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) has a strong reputation for high quality independent research. The Department for Work and Pensions (formerly the Department of Social Security) has funded a continuous programme of research since 1990. The group conducts a programme of large-scale surveys of low-income households that provide a basis both for policy-making in government and for public debate.
