Who We Are

The Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (CASE) was established in October 1997 at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

We are a multi-disciplinary research centre exploring social disadvantage and the role of social and public policies in preventing, mitigating or exacerbating it. Social disadvantage is taken to be multidimensional, and often best understood in a dynamic or lifecourse perspective, and with individual, family, local, national and international aspects.

The work programme of the Centre includes monitoring social spending, policies and outcomes in the UK and analysis of welfare states more generally; research on multidimensional poverty, inequality and capabilities from both a national and international perspective, including analysing patterns of wealth inequality, between groups and over time, applications of the capability approach, including the development of a multidimensional inequality framework; social mobility and intergenerational transfers; as well as studies focused on particular groups and policy areas such as vulnerable children and early years education. CASE also incorporates the research and consultancy group LSE Housing and Communities, which investigates the impact of policies on social housing and other tenures with a particular focus on residents in disadvantaged areas.

CASE is associated with the Department of Social Policy and a number of postgraduate students are members of the Centre. We are always interested in working with high quality PhD students and post-doctoral fellows exploring areas of research of central relevance to our work. CASE also hosts visitors from the UK and overseas, and members of LSE teaching staff on sabbatical or research leave.

Regular seminars on significant contemporary empirical and theoretical issues are held in the Centre, including the Social Exclusion Seminar Series and the Welfare Policy and Analysis seminar series, which is supported by the Department for Work and Pensions.

We publish a series of CASEpapers and CASEbriefs, discussing and summarising our research. Longer research reports and reports on special events can be found in our occasional CASEreports series. All of our publications, including our Annual Reports, can be downloaded from our website, where you can also find links to the data underlying many of the charts and diagrams in our publications.

CASE is part of the Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD). CASE was originally funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and now receives funding from a range of organisations including charitable foundations (for example, Nuffield Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Trust for London), research councils (for example, ESRC, British Academy), UK government departments, the European Union, a range of Registered Social Landlords, and a number of other charities and organisations in the UK and abroad.

Abigail McKnight

Director, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion