Critical perspectives on lived experience in social security policy research

Project description

Momentum is building to better recognise and appraise the role of lived experience as a form of knowledge and evidence in social policy research, including social security policy.

A workshop was convened to create an inclusive forum to offer critical, productive perspectives on the status of lived experience in social security policy research, and to collectively debate ways to progress. Lived experience data can fall foul of either being used tokenistically, to be 'wheeled out' to provide emotional impact, or to be presented as unarguable evidence without due recognition of its limitations. The workshop was a day-long event welcoming researcher, expert-by-experience, and policymaker participants to get to grips with these thorny issues.

This page documents the day, as well as providing a space for future discussion and collaboration.