Social Policy

Much of the recent policy debate surrounding poverty in Britain focuses on income as a measure of living standards. In this report we consider one alternative to income for measuring poverty that has been largely overlooked in the mainstream poverty debate in the UK: namely household expenditure. Free PDF version available at www.jrf.org.uk

The recent focus on reducing child poverty stems mainly from worries about the future consequences of poverty on children's later achievement. This report explores the link between childhood poverty and poverty later in life, and asks whether this link has grown stronger or weaker in recent decades. Free PDF available at www.jrf.org.uk

This study examines the relationship between poverty and informal work. Exploring the experiences of people in low-paid informal work, it contends that unless government seeks to include the informal economy in its strategies, it will never be able to reach its employment or anti-poverty targets.

Free pdf version available at www.jrf.org.uk

"Social Policy Review" provides students, academics and all those interested in welfare issues with detailed analyses of progress and change in areas of major interest during the past year.

This book presents the outcome of a project coordinated by the European Trade Union Institute in which experts from different countries and social scientific disciplines (sociology, political science and economics) were invited to reflect on both the meaning and political status of the concept of the European Social Model (ESM).

This book is the first comprehensive exploration of an issue of growing importance to policy makers, academics, practitioners and students. It brings together contributions from prominent scholars to provide a range of theoretical perspectives, analysis and research about the role of housing and urban governance in addressing anti-social behaviour.

Two strategies that governments have to help people on low incomes - providing them with financial support directly, and encouraging them to earn more - generally conflict. This report provides new evidence on the trade-off between redistributing income and improving work incentives.

FREE PDF version available online at www.jrf.org.uk

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the EU Social Inclusion Process and explores the challenges ahead at local, regional, national and EU levels.

Welfare reform is a central part of the modernisation programme adopted by the Labour Government since 1997. This book examines the role of Parliament in the formulation and scrutiny of welfare policy, focusing in particular on how MPs and Peers view their influence on policy.

Making a committed argument for a participative, inclusive understanding of the term, Paul Spicker examines views about what poverty is and what should be done about it.

This book addresses the development of increasingly individualised public social services in the EU. It focuses particularly on activation services that have become crucial in the 'modernisation' of welfare states, comparing their introduction in the UK, Germany, Italy, Finland and the Czech Republic.

The welfare of ethnic minority individuals in Britain depends critically on how they fare in the labour market. This report provides a detailed empirical analysis of labour market outcomes and explores how ethnically diverse these outcomes are and how they have changed over time.

A free pdf version is available at www.jrf.org.uk