Welfare

Our goal is to improve people’s lives through understanding how their welfare – their health, happiness and economic prosperity – is affected by different social and economic factors.

Learn more about our interest in Welfare research

We fund research and development projects relating to people’s welfare at all stages of life. Our mission is to advance social well-being; we want people to feel engaged with, and supported by, wider society and to experience a good quality of life, regardless of their background.

Factors such as family, work and income can positively or negatively affect people in different ways. We want to understand how and why that is, and how people are differently affected depending on their class, gender, ethnicity, disability, age, and location.

Where people are disadvantaged, we want to identify what policy changes might address that and how the risks people face can be mitigated.

We also aim to understand the impact of digital technologies on people’s welfare, alongside the work of the Ada Lovelace Institute.

 

Why welfare needs research


  • Inequality is a significant problem in the UK and has been made worse by COVID-19. People from most ethnic minority groups have lower employment rates than their white counterparts, despite most minority groups doing well in education. During the pandemic, workers aged between 16 and 24 accounted for a disproportionate number of those who became unemployed. Our research aims to understand how we can mitigate inequalities such as these.

  • Family icon green

    Family roles in the UK are still mostly distributed along gender norms, despite cultural shifts towards greater equality in the home. Women carry the main burden of domestic work and care, compromising their work and career progression and men still spend less time with their families. Even where the mother was the highest earner in the household, extra childcare needs during the pandemic have disproportionately been met by women. Through our research, we aim to inform policy responses to address these persistent inequalities.

  • Computer mouse

    Over 13 million UK citizens either have limited use of the internet or do not use it at all, with the majority being from lower income households. Research is needed to understand the negative implications this has on life chances, health, and economic well-being.

  • Gains in the transition to net zero are likely to be felt unequally. For example, gas, electricity and other heating costs as a share of spending for low income households is already 5 times that of high income households. This might increase if the costs of transition to low-carbon alternatives are passed on in higher bills. Research is needed to prevent widening inequalities and to manage change fairly.

     

What do we fund in welfare?


Our funding priorities are motivated by how certain individuals and groups are potentially vulnerable to adverse outcomes, and how those risks can be mitigated, or channelled  more positively.  Mitigation will, in turn, involve drawing on resources, broadly defined to include financial and physical assets such as money and housing but also less tangible factors such as practical and emotional support. Support may come from oneself, such as through saving for the future, or from family, work, community and the state. The extent to which vulnerability can be mitigated will vary according to individual and group characteristics including age, gender, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation. Applications are welcome in all of these areas, but we are particularly interested in:

  • How these different sources of support interact with major social, economic and technological forces that are shaping our society. For example, how new technologies can alleviate, exacerbate and shift vulnerability, and affect concepts of trust, evidence, and authority.
  • Research into how family, work, and the intersection of the two will affect individual and societal well-being in the coming years. These topics link strongly to other core domains of Education and Justice and we are also interested in projects which explore the intersections between these domains.
  • What types of economic policies and systems would best enhance individual and societal well-being and challenge existing inequalities, as society adjusts to turbulent and uncertain growth in the economy, earnings and productivity in the post-COVID-19 world?
  • How will the costs and benefits of the transition to a net zero-emissions economy be shared fairly across the population and across generations?
  • How can we better understand the economic determinants of health outcomes and their impact on social well-being, both in the current context and in the face of long-term demographic trends?
  • We also fund research into musculoskeletal conditions through our Oliver Bird Fund.

Our team


  • Catherine Dennison headshot
  • Alex Beer headshot
Our impact in welfare
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01

Research by the Food Foundation was used to underpin the #EndChildFoodPoverty campaign. The campaign promoted a parliamentary petition that gained more than 1.1 million signatures, as well as coordinating shared letters, media and parliamentary engagement. In 2020, the campaign secured an extension of the Holiday Activity and Food Programme to all children receiving Free School Meals in England. It also increased the value of Healthy Start vouchers.

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02

The IFS Green Budget provides a comprehensive assessment of the state of public finances, the key economic questions facing the government, and the options for public policy. It provides independent challenge to the government and informs public conversation about how to respond to the huge economic and social challenges currently facing the UK. Every year, the findings reach a large and influential audience through widespread coverage in national and local media and activities including podcasts, events and meetings with policymakers.

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03

UKMOD is democratising tax benefit modelling. It is currently the only tax and benefit microsimulation model for the UK which is entirely open-source and accessible. UKMOD enables analysis of impact of policy changes on household incomes and government finances. Current users include local and devolved government; parliament and devolved assemblies; other public sector bodies; think tanks and research institutes; and NGOs.

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Welfare projects

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We aim to improve people’s lives by funding research that informs social policy, primarily in Education, Welfare and Justice. We also fund student programmes that give young people skills and confidence in science and research.

We are an open, collaborative and engaged funder that offers more than money. Through connecting the individual projects we fund, we strengthen their collective impact and give voice to an overarching narrative.

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