In this paper the author argues that social scientists need to do more toprovide policy-relevant research. Rapid technological and economicchange raise new issues about how policy should adjust that are notadequately addressed by older and narrower approaches. The authorsuggests two ways in...

A review of research evidence suggests that low levels of educationalattainment are crucial in generating and sustaining social exclusion. Testscores at school are the most effective predictor of many adult outcomes.School attendance and soft skills are also important. Reviewing the...

Childhood poverty and early parenthood are both high on the politicalagenda. The key new issue addressed in this research is the relativeimportance of childhood poverty and of early motherhood as correlatesof outcomes later in life. How far are the ‘effects’ of early motherhood onlater...

This paper represents the results of a small-scale qualitative study, exploringpublic perceptions of the redistributive effects of taxation and public spendingin the UK. Redistribution is not at the top of people’s minds when they considerthese issues and it is a complex subject on which they...

Renewed interest in disadvantaged neighbourhoods is generating increasingresearch activity. Current work includes qualitative community studies andquantitative investigations of area effects on individual outcomes. This papercriticises the contribution of area effects research to date....

The aim of this paper is to compare academic interpretations of the termsocial exclusion with the understanding of people with direct experienceof the phenomenon. A pre-selected group of residents of deprivedneighbourhoods were asked about various aspects of the concept andtheir responses...