Family support can be a major buffer against the stresses of modern life. We want to understand how family circumstances and household composition affect people’s economic, social, physical and emotional well-being.
Our research explores how family structures and intergenerational relationships affect the choices people make in education, employment, savings and care. We also fund research into how families are affected by policies relating to tax, benefits and housing.
We want to explore how family is experienced differently according to gender, ethnicity and economic circumstances. We are also interested in how family is impacted by the ageing population.
Our interest in family has links to priorities in our Education and Justice domains. For example, we fund research that explores the relationship between the family and children’s education outcomes. We are also interested in what happens when families experience difficulties and need state support, connecting with the work of the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory.
Our impact in family
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Our research has illuminated how child poverty trends in the UK over the last two decades are largely a story about bigger families. Families subject to the two-child limit and the benefit cap are facing financial and mental health difficulties.
These findings have informed Parliament and the Department for Work and Pensions, as well as receiving extensive coverage in the media.
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COVID Realities investigated how families on a low income navigated the COVID-19 pandemic and tracked the response of the social security system. It has given voice to the experiences of families, engaged with welfare advisers, policymakers and practitioners, and shared learning and support across the research community. Insights from the research have informed the Department for Work and Pensions’ COVID-19 response.
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The Chief Medical Advisor’s advice to government on vaccinating children aged 12-15 against COVID-19 was informed by our research on the impact of school closures during the pandemic. The study found significant increases in emotional and behavioural difficulties in children during the pandemic, with larger increases for children who were affected by longer school closures.
