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Rod Hick

Professor Rod Hick

Professor

School of Social Sciences

Users
Available for postgraduate supervision

Overview

My research interests are situated in the field of Social and Public Policy, with a particular focus on poverty and deprivation, social security, work and housing. Between 2019 and 2022, I led an ESRC-funded study on the association between housing and poverty in a comparative European context, working with Dr Marco Pomati (Cardiff) and Prof. Mark Stephens (Glasgow).

I am currently working on three reseach projects. The first, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, is a comparative and longitudinal study of the relatonship between low-quality work, poverty and subjective well-being in the UK and Switzerland. The second, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, examines the growing reliance on devolution and discretion in the UK security system and what this means for social rights and the lived experiences of social security claimants. In the third, funded by the Welsh Government, I contribute to the evaluation of the Welsh Basic Income pilot for care leavers.

I am also conducting a major study of the evolution of poverty and living standards in Europe and the contribution of labour markets, demographics, housing systems and social security schemes to these changes and am presenting work from this study at conferences in 2024.

I convene a Year 2 module on Poverty and Social Security in the UK and am the Social Policy teaching lead.

I hold a PhD from the London School of Economics and in 2015 I was awarded the Best Paper Prize at the Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS) conference in Hong Kong, China. Between 2017 and 2021, I co-edited the Journal of Poverty and Social Justice.

My research has been discussed or mentioned in both houses of Parliament (UK), in select committees at the Welsh and Irish parliaments, in the Financial Times, the Economist, the Guardian, the Independent, Huffington Post, Boston Globe, and in numerous local and regional newspapers.

For further information about my research, please visit my personal website.

Supervision

I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of:

  • Poverty and inequality
  • Social security
  • Comparative welfare state change

If you are interested in undertaking a PhD with me in these areas, feel free to get in touch (preferably with a 1 or 2 page proposal outlining your ideas).

Publication

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2009

2008

Articles

Book sections

Monographs

Websites

Research

Most of my work falls under two over-arching themes. First, I am interested in how social problems are conceptualised, measured and understood, and in the role that social scientists can play in these processes. Like Richard Titmuss, I believe that social policies must be understood in terms of both their economic and non-economic consequences, and this leads to concerns with value (especially in relation to human need), multidimensionality, complexity (and the possibility of reduction), measurement and monitoring and, ultimately, politics. These concerns inform my work on the conceptualisation and measurement of poverty and writings on the capability approach.

Second, I am interested in processes of welfare state change and, in particular, social security reform and what these mean for poverty and deprivation. This entails attention to the economic, demographic and political drivers of social problems, to debates about the nature and extent of policy change (e.g. do we observe retrenchment, recalibration or resilience?), and to the limits of what Stein Ringen called the ‘possibility of politics’ to achieve positive change. This opens up interests in comparative welfare state change, with processes of devolution and welfare state rescaling, and with social security reform.

Ongoing Projects

Co-Investigator, 'The dynamics of low-quality work, in-work poverty and subjective well-being: a longitudinal study of Switzerland and the UK', Swiss National Science Foundation, CHF 421,437 (~£375,000, PI: Prof. Eric Crettaz, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, 2024-2025).

Co-investigator, 'Social security in a devolved UK: realities, risks and opportunities for families', Nuffield Foundation, (£1,130,359; PI Prof. Ruth Patrick, University of York, 2024-2026).

Co-Applicant, Evaluation of the Welsh Basic Income Pilot, Welsh Government, £799,000 (PIs: David Westlake and Prof. Sally Holland, Cardiff University, 2022-2027).

Completed Projects

Principal Investigator, ‘Housing matters: A comparative study of the relationship between housing and poverty in Europe’, Economic and Social Research Council (£200,439, with Dr Marco Pomati and Prof. Mark Stephens, 2019-2021).

Co-Investigator, ‘Understanding the impact of Universal Credit on the Council Tax Reduction Scheme and Rent Arrears in Wales’, Welsh Government (£117,814, Lead partner: Policy in Practice, 2019-20).

Co-Investigator, ‘In-work poverty in New Zealand’, New Zealand Human Rights Commission, NZ$107,000 (~£55,500, PI: Prof Gail Pacheco, Auckland University of Technology).

Co-Applicant, ‘Transnational transformations in social protection - concepts, instruments and contexts’, GW4 Alliance, £71,708 (PI: Dr Rana Jawad, University of Bath, 2016-2017).

Principal Investigator, ‘‘The best route out of poverty? A study on in-work poverty and policy in the UK’, Nuffield Foundation, £47,459 (2016-2017).

Principal Investigator, ‘Getting the measure of poverty in the Philippines and Vietnam’, ESRC Impact Acceleration Account – Global Challenges Fund, £5,905 (2016).

Co-Applicant, ‘New Paradigms of Social Protection’, GW4 Alliance, £7,525 (2016).

Principal Investigator, ‘Retrenching Social Security in Ireland: The role of the IMF as a policy actor, 2010-2013’, British Academy Small Grants Scheme, £2,373 (2014-15).

Team Leader and Principal Investigator, Independent Review on the Commissioning and Provision of Social Services to Older People in the City & County of Swansea, City & County of Swansea, £25,629 (2014).

Principal Investigator, ‘The politics of UK Government welfare reform’, Cardiff Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (CUROP) [internal Cardiff University competition for funding for research assistance], £1,360 (2014).

Teaching

I teach Social Policy at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. At present, I make contributions to:

Undergraduate

SI0304 - Poverty and Social Security in the UK (Stage 2, Convenor)

SI0297 - Social Research Methods (Stage 2, Quants section)

SI0609 - International and Comparative Social and Public Policy (Stage 3)

Postgraduate

SIO912 - International and Comparative Social and Public Policy (M Level)

Biography

Honours and awards

Winner - Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS) / Intersentia Best Paper Prize 2015. Paper Title: The Coupling of Disadvantages: Material Poverty and Multiple Deprivation in Europe before and after the Crisis. [Prize was awarded for the best paper presented at the 2015 FISS conference in Hong Kong, China].

Professional memberships

  • Social Policy Association
  • Housing Studies Association
  • Human Development and Capability Association

Supervisions

Current supervision

Tom Dunne

Tom Dunne

Research student

Elaine Speyer

Elaine Speyer

Research student

Contact Details

Email HickR@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone +44 29208 74957
Cardiff University professor contributes to the development of the Welsh Government’s Child Poverty Strategy

Cardiff University professor contributes to the development of the Welsh Government’s Child Poverty Strategy

10 July 2024

Funding granted for international public policy project aiming to understand the relationship between poverty and wellbeing

Funding granted for international public policy project aiming to understand the relationship between poverty and wellbeing

11 July 2023

Conservative-led councils in England more likely to slash financial support for people on low incomes, study shows

Conservative-led councils in England more likely to slash financial support for people on low incomes, study shows

17 March 2021

External profiles