What is the Poverty & Policy Working Group?

The Poverty & Policy Working Group (PPWG) unites researchers across different institutions to discuss work related to poverty, public policy, and similar topics. The PPWG meets monthly via Zoom to present and receive feedback on research, to test out new ideas that are currently in development, and engage on topics related to poverty and social policy. 

The PPWG is particularly interested in discussing research related to the measurement, causes, and consequences of poverty. Studies of particular interest to the PPWG, for example, might cover the strengths and weaknesses of the at-risk-of-poverty measure in defining the most vulnerable populations; the role of public policy versus demographic change in shaping trends in poverty; the consequences of external shocks, such as a pandemic or labour market collapse, for poverty and hardship outcomes; the consequences of exposure to poverty over the life course; or other topics with a broadly similar focus.

While the PPWG tends to cover issues of poverty and policy in high-income countries, and in Europe especially, the group invites contributors performing research related to any geographic region and contributors from peer disciplines, such as development economics or similar. Papers to be presented within the PPWG are not restricted to a particular methodology (e.g. quantitative vs. qualitative research) or geographic focus, so long as they align with the PPWG’s general research focus. The PPWG is interdisciplinary and includes economists, political scientists, sociologists, social policy scholars, and researchers from other disciplines at different career stages.