Social policy
Focusing on major global challenges, our Social Policy research is committed to addressing social inequalities and delivering positive change.
We are an internationally leading research team recognised as harnessing evidence based research to deepen our understanding of the intersection between policy and practice. We are ranked 39th in the QS world for Social Policy and Administration. Our Social Policy and Social Work research ranked 11th in the UK - according to the Times Higher Education’s ranking of the latest REF results (2021).
We work in partnership with government, policy makers, practitioners and people with lived experience, to ensure our research improves people’s lives. Our research has transformed policy and practice at local, national and global levels.
We are home to the Social Policy Research Unit - a leading UK centre that conducts high impact policy and practice research across the lifecourse.
Our School is also home to many internationally renowned research centres, including the ESRC Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre and the NIHR School for Social Care Research (SSCR).
The Cost of Living Research Group
Our Social Policy research team is affiliated to the University of York’s Cost of Living Research Group.
Key publications
Research in the community
We are connected to our local community through a range of partnerships that seek to meaningfully bridge research and policy to improve people’s lives. Examples of how our research connects to our local community in York and the surrounding areas include:
- Experiences of Pregnancy and Parenthood: Co-production with Teenage Parents in Scarborough - Briefing Paper.
- Qualitative Evaluation of “York Hungry Minds” Universal Free School Meals Pilot.
- The Curiosity Partnership: a regional capacity building network to facilitate greater understanding, use and production of research in adult social care.
- Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Workforce Mapping 2025
Our research strengths
Funded Research Projects
- Changing Realities - Professor Ruth Patrick
- Family Finances: What Difference Does Cash Support for Children Make? Professor Ruth Patrick
- Needs And Entitlements: How Welfare Reform In The UK Affects Larger Families - Professor Ruth Patrick
- Social Security UK: Devolution, Families, And Alternative Futures - Professor Ruth Patrick
- The Roadmap to End Homelessness among Veterans in the United Kingdom - Dr Lisa O’Malley
- Understanding criminality in the private rented sector and co-producing solutions - Dr Julie Rugg
- Understanding Mental Health In The UK Welfare System: Representations Of Distress Among Benefit Claimants And Implications For Assessment And Support - Dr Annie Irvine
- Youth Geographies of Inequality: Young People and Place: Emotional resources and relationships - Dr Aniela Wenham and Dr Antonios Roumpakis
Group leadership
- Professor Antonios Roumpakis - Head of Group
- Dr Aniela Wenham - Deputy Head of Group
- Dr Lisa O’Malley - Social Policy Research Seminar Coordinator