Research mission
The core mission of the Centre for Social Policy is to contribute to social justice through excellence in multidisciplinary research. Our work is characterized by a strong sense of responsibility, commitment and concern for the least well-off. It thrives on a vibrant and caring work environment that allows researchers to flourish individually and in team.
We aim at:
- Developing quantitative and qualitative high-quality indicators of well-being, poverty and the welfare state;
- Developing new methods to study poverty, inequality and the impact of policies;
- Advancing the conceptual and theoretical foundations of the comparative welfare state literature;
- Actively participating in policy debates.
CSB has a comprehensive but coherent research programme with a focus on the study of socio-economic inequalities in developed and emerging welfare states, especially when these inequalities affect the most vulnerable populations. The research consists of: 1) addressing the question “equality of what?” and developing corresponding tools to measure poverty and inequalities; 2) developing indicators of the welfare state to observe policy efforts and changes; 3) analysing the relationship between policies and socio-economic outcomes and reflecting upon the adequacy of social policy paradigms and discourses; and 4) studying alternative avenues to improve the situation of the least well-off.
Our approach is multi-disciplinary (social and economic sciences) and predominantly empirical and quantitative. We employ a wide range of techniques and methods and play an active role in collecting new data and developing innovative tools of analysis.