Poverty
Research Topic
Language: English
This is a research topic created to provide authors with a place to attach new problem publications.
Research problems linked to this topic
- What more can be done to improve how we identify vulnerable populations and those facing multiple disadvantage? What is the role of data collection and data sharing in this?
- What are the most cost-effective ways to help where children are at risk as victims or perpetrators of crime? Does this vary for different groups of children, such as children with care experience, and by place?
- How effective has government’s cost of living support been?
- • What is the impact of funding and understanding of student finance on decisions to study, course type and mode of study (both for UK and foreign students? How are the debt, cost and value of student finance understood and experienced, by different social groups?
- What works best to identify and intervene early to support vulnerable children and their families before they enter the social care system?
- What is the extent of complex and overlapping needs and disadvantage in the UK?
- Improved knowledge of the harms and impacts of SOC activity, including the economic impact.
- What design-led approaches are most effective in surfacing hidden trade-offs or unintended consequences in policy delivery for low-income families?
- To what extent can increasing parental employment and/or supporting parents to progress in work reduce child poverty and how might this vary across different family configurations?
- What is the (micro and macro) economic impact of local-level preventative interventions that build individual financial resilience?
- How can the benefit system best help low income and vulnerable households with their housing costs? What is the impact of DWP’s expenditure on housing support? What factors impact on evictions, homelessness and rough sleeping? How effective are policies designed to reduce homelessness?
- What are the key factors associated with pensioner poverty and how are these best addressed?
- How do we ensure access to rich and engaging opportunities in and outside of pre-school and school settings, particularly for disadvantaged children? Which are the most cost-effective in helping children to achieve and thrive?
- How can we most effectively implement nature-based solutions, such as tree planting and peatland restoration, to address climate change, support progress to net zero carbon emission, reduce biodiversity loss and prevent poverty?
- Which parenting programmes are most effective, especially in engaging disadvantaged parents and families with a social worker? Are they equally accessible to all families, including those that are hard to reach, and easily scalable?
- What factors are driving the continued need for emergency food parcels and what interventions could help to reduce this need?
- • How can schools best work with parents and carers to help their children to arrive each day ready to learn, to get the most from each school day and support their learning outside school?
- What additional labour market barriers do those from disadvantaged groups (such as ex-offenders, homeless people), face? How can DWP best support those with multiple, complex needs to gain and retain employment?
- What data, evidence and analytical tools (preventative analytics) are required to identify populations at risk of homelessness, such as families facing eviction, victims of domestic abuse, or individuals with precarious work conditions? What are the best means of outreach and engagement with at-risk populations?
- Factors contributing to vulnerability to exploitation, interventions for different groups and individuals, and approaches to targeting these interventions.
- How do housing circumstances—including cost, quality, security, energy efficiency, overcrowding and tenure—affect child poverty and its outcomes?
- How can we better support families and children to keep children safe and, where possible, with their birth families?
- What is the effectiveness (including value for money) of DWP’s expenditure on housing support, including its impacts on wider policies such as health, education, the labour market and energy efficient homes?
- How can the debt recovery system best identify & protect vulnerable households, and consider financial stability & resilience and sustainable repayments?
- What more can be done to best support families with children under the age of 2, to give those children, particularly the most disadvantaged, the best start in life?
- Which early childhood services, or combinations of services, are most effective in improving the (health, cognitive, socio-emotional, and educational) development of disadvantaged children before age 5? How does this vary by children’s age (for example 0-2 and 3-5) and for different domains of learning (such as literacy and maths)?
- • How can we support all children by removing barriers to opportunity, balancing high standards for all with support for those who need it most, including the most disadvantaged children?
- What can we do to reduce barriers to take-up of childcare and to work, particularly for parents from disadvantaged communities?
- How can we identify those who will not achieve a good level of development at age 5, to help target early childhood services before school entry?
- How effective are policies designed to reduce homelessness and the use of temporary accommodation?
- What factors are associated with take-up of Pensioner Benefits among the eligible population? And what are the social/spillover benefits associated with take up of these benefits (e.g. reduced health/care costs)?
- How can public design approaches help government better understand and respond to the lived experiences of families in poverty, especially in relation to service navigation and decision-making?
- What lessons can be taken from early prevention strategies targeted at vulnerable groups (e.g. those at risk from domestic violence, rough sleeping and homelessness)? What implications do they have for effective policy design?
- In what ways do housing circumstances affect the way people move into, remain in, and progress in work? This includes the role played in labour market outcomes by temporary accommodation, housing affordability, poor quality housing, insecure accommodation and the private and social rented sectors.
- To what extent could increased progression help to move individuals out of poverty? How should in-work progression support be targeted?
- What are the short, medium and long-term costs and impacts of child poverty for children and families in poverty, and for society as a whole? For example, impacts on education, health and future employment outcomes. How does this vary by time spent in poverty?
- How do climate risks interact with socio-economic factors and vulnerabilities? Where do inequalities lie, and how can access to adaptive benefits be maximised for the most socially vulnerable/disadvantaged in society?
- How is climate change affecting vulnerable groups in the UK? What is DWP’s role in supporting these groups?
- What factors and conditions increase/decrease the chance of successful community-led initiatives (including those which seek to strengthen social infrastructure and social capital) in areas of high deprivation. What makes some areas with the same socio-economics and demographics achieve different outcomes?
- What works at a local and/or regional level to support families in crisis, reduce child poverty and build resilience in communities? How can government work most effectively with others to support delivery of this?
- What are the additional costs of having a disability? How do additional costs vary among disabled people?
- How can parental engagement in their children's early education best be enhanced, especially for those parents in disadvantaged households, and how does this vary for mothers and fathers?
- How does investment in the environment bring benefits to society, including through health, wellbeing, and natural capital? Who are the beneficiaries and how do we quantify and communicate those benefits – and costs?
- How do the needs of families with children under 18 vary over the child's life course, following specific life events, or changes of circumstances? How does this relate to the risk of poverty and associated support needs?
- How can we mitigate the factors that put stress on families and enable them to have suitable housing and good quality home environments? • How much information and understanding do education providers across our sectors have about students’ home circumstances, and what adjustments do they make?
- What impact do food insecurity and other disparities have on the consumer and the food system?
- What works to raise attainment, taking account of different starting points and different contexts experienced by children, including the most disadvantaged?
- How do we ensure that all children, particularly those in most need, can access and participate in good quality early learning?
- How might the COVID-19 pandemic affect homelessness and rough sleeping in the longer term?
- How do children’s home lives influence whether they can thrive and achieve throughout their lives? How do both their material and non-material living conditions affect their later outcomes?
- What does the evidence show are the principal causes of deprivation?
- How can we best support children and adults who lack or have lacked family support (such as those who have experienced care) to maximise their opportunities to live a healthy and rewarding life?
- What works to get disadvantaged students onto the pathways that are proven to lead to upwards mobility and to stay on those pathways (including helping those who are not in education, employment, or training - NEET) and raising ambition where needed? At what age are interventions most effective?
- What are the real-world barriers that prevent land-users (for example farmers) taking up low/negative carbon measures, and how can these be overcome? How can we improve the estimation and validation of take up for these practices?
- What family focused solutions work to ensure that children and their parents have the support needed to meet their basic needs for housing security and quality of life?
- What is the interaction between social security, employment, and child poverty? Within this, how can social security most effectively reduce child poverty?
- What policies should be used to tackle the drivers of current and future trends for child poverty?
- Which interventions in early years settings are most effective in supporting child development, for whom, when, where and why?
- What impacts has COVID-19 had on income poverty, material deprivation and the cost of living?
- How can DWP continue to develop its delivery of Universal Credit?
- How does financial insecurity during working life impact in later life and retirement? Within this, we are interested in who experiences financial insecurity over the life-course and who should prioritise short-term income over long-term pension saving.
- How has rising inflation impacted on the living standards for different groups?
- What is the impact of increased trade and investment on poverty reduction in developing countries?
- What is known about drivers and barriers to parental engagement in their children’s education in the home? How can improvements in the home-learning environment mitigate the effect of disadvantage on pupils’ attainment?
- How can we ensure that multi-agency responses are coordinated effectively to reduce, and ideally prevent, young people’s exposure to and experience of harm? • How do we ensure that front line staff have access to all the relevant information from across systems and agencies, to ensure effective decision making in provision of support?
- What is the impact of under-attainment for disadvantaged students on future skills needs and participation in HE?
- How can the benefit system best help low income and vulnerable households with their housing costs?
- How have disabled people been affected by the recent Cost of Living challenges, compared with non-disabled people, and have they sought out extra resources to help them cope?