Tagged / DWP

DWP In-House Research Unit – Academic Secondment

Impact, policy, Uncategorized

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is inviting applications from mid-career to senior researchers to join its newly formed In-House Research Unit on an academic secondment for 18 months.

This is a unique opportunity for academics to work in a government research service. The In-House Research Unit provides a full service model, designing and carrying out qualitative research across a range of populations. Successful candidates will collaborate with a range of internal customers and use the latest technical, methodological and analytical approaches to provide robust evidence to support decision-making in policy and operational development. They welcome applications from experts across a broad range of fields, who have expertise in qualitative research methods. They will be recruiting for up to 5 positions. For more information contact the BU policy team (policy@bournemouth.ac.uk) who have the candidate and application packs or email research.inhouse@dwp.gov

The deadline for application is 18 June. 

Child poverty – call for evidence

policy, Uncategorized

 The Work and Pensions Committee has launched a new inquiry to examine what steps the Government could take to reduce the numbers of children who grow up in poverty in the UK.

The initial focus of the Committee will be on the best way to measure child poverty and how the Dept of  Work and Pensions works with other Government departments and local authorities to reduce the number of young people living in poverty.

The inquiry is then expected to examine how well the social security system is working for children, the experiences of families with no recourse to public funds, and support for working parents and separated families.

The Committee have launched a call for written submissions to the inquiry, which they would like to focus on the following questions:

Measurement and targets

  • How should child poverty be measured and defined?
  • The measures of child poverty changed in 2016. What has the impact of those changes been?
  • What were the advantages and disadvantages of having a set of targets for reducing child poverty?
  • What has been the effect of removing from law the targets in place between 2010 and 2016?
  • What is the impact of child poverty and how can it best be measured?
  • What links can be established for children between financial hardship, educational under-achievement, family breakdown and worklessness?

Joint working

  • How effectively does the Department for Work and Pensions work with other Government departments, particularly the Department for Education and the Treasury, to reduce child poverty?
  • How effectively does the Department for Work and Pensions work with local authorities and with support organisations to reduce the numbers of children living in poverty and to mitigate the impact of poverty on children?
  • What would be the merits of having a cross-government child poverty strategy? How well has this worked in the past?

You can view the call for evidence here: https://bit.ly/3ifuSds

You can also read the full press release here: https://bit.ly/2KhL4yx

Please contact Sarah or Jane in the BU policy team before responding to this inquiry. Email us on policy@bournemouth.ac.uk