We pursue an economic approach to analysing poverty. This requires a focus onthe variables that individuals can influence, such as forming or dissolving aunion or having children. We argue that this indirect approach to modellingpoverty is the right way to bring economic tools to bear on the...

Considerable cross-sectional evidence has highlighted the lower employmentrates and earnings amongst disabled people in Britain. But very little is knownabout the progression of disabled people in employment. This study uses datafrom the Labour Force Survey (LFS) to examine the labour market...

In this paper we provide evidence on how the UK government’s welfarereforms since 1998 have affected the material well-being of children in lowincomefamilies. We examine changes in expenditure patterns and ownership ofdurable goods for low- and higher-income families between the...

Since April 2002 Jobcentre Plus has started to operate nationwide in the UKproviding fully integrated benefit claiming and work placement/job-seekingactivities for people of working age. This new organisation put an explicitwork-focus in the delivery of the benefit system. Along with...

Families with disabled children are susceptible to poverty because low incomeis compounded by high costs. Combing caring with employment is extremelydifficult, so families are heavily reliant upon benefits. But do disability benefitsprovide financial security for families who are susceptible to...

This paper analyses the work of the Nobel Prize winning economist ProfessorAmartya Sen from the perspective of human rights. It assesses the ways inwhich Sen’s research agenda has deepened and expanded human rightsdiscourse in the disciplines of ethics and economics, and examines how hiswork...

Despite prolonged economic growth, poverty has become a more notable andnoted feature of Chinese society. The paper examines three phases ofdevelopment since the foundation of the People’s Republic: the central planningera (1949 –1978); the pro-urban growth model (1978 – 1999); and more...

In July 2000, the Taipei City Government launched an anti-poverty program,Taipei Family Development Accounts, which drew heavily on Sherraden’sasset-based welfare theory, and was to provide matched savings accounts forlow-income families in the City. This paper presents the “income to...

This paper argues that our understanding of income and poverty dynamicsbenefits from taking a life cycle perspective. A person’s age and familycircumstances – the factors that shape their life cycle – affect the likelihood ofexperiencing key life events, such as partnership formation,...

Both educational attainment and school quality are typically lower indisadvantaged areas than others and much recent policy attention has beenfocused on each. This paper looks at the quality problem, exploring therelationships between disadvantaged contexts, what schools do, and the qualityof...