Dr Iva Tasseva

This course is available on the BSc in Economic History and Geography, BSc in Environment and Development, BSc in Environment and Sustainable Development, BSc in International Social and Public Policy, BSc in International Social and Public Policy and Economics and BSc in International Social and Public Policy with Politics. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course is available with permission to General Course students.

This course is capped.

This course aims to introduce students to the ways that social policy scholars understand and measure poverty and inequality between groups and across an individual’s life course. The course covers poverty and inequality measurement, and examines the role of the state and other institutions (markets and families) in reducing them. It analyses factors that influence poverty and inequality such as gender, age, disability, citizenship and climate change, and related policy responses, including taxation, social security, early childhood education, education, labour market policies, pensions and social care. The course takes a national and global perspective, drawing on examples from a range of country settings – high-, middle- and low-income countries.

All teaching will be in accordance with the LSE Academic Code (https://info.lse.ac.uk/current-students/lse-academic-code) which specifies a "minimum of two hours taught contact time per week when the course is running in the Autumn Term (AT) and/or Winter Term (WT)". Social Policy courses are predominantly taught through a combination of in-person lectures and in-person classes/seminars. Further information will be provided by the Course Convenor in the first lecture of the course.

Students will be expected to complete one formative essay during the course of the year. Class activities will also provide valuable opportunities for students to test and advance their learning.

A detailed list will be provided at the start of the course.

Atkinson, A. B. (2015) Inequality: What Can Be Done? Harvard University Press

Dean, H. & L. Platt (2016) Social Advantage and Disadvantage Oxford University Press

Hills, J. (2014) Good Times, Bad Times: The Welfare Myth of Them and Us Policy Press

Jenkins, S. P. (2011) Changing Fortunes: Income Mobility and Poverty Dynamics in Britain Oxford University Press

Ruane, S., M. L. Collins & A. Sinfield (2020) State of the Art. The Centrality of Taxation to Social Policy Social Policy & Society 19(3), 437–453

Shafik, M. (2021) What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract for a Better Society Princeton University Press

Quiz (30%) in the WT.
Online assessment (70%) in the ST.

The online assessment in ST is a ‘take-home' exam. Students will be asked to answer two essay questions, each 1,200 words.