Dr Rod Hick

Reader

: HickR@cardiff.ac.uk
: +44 29208 74957

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. I am a Co-Editor of the Journal of Poverty and Social Justice and convene a year 2 module on Poverty and Social Security in the UK.

I am currently leading 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 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.

My research has been discussed or mentioned in both houses of Parliament (UK), in select committees at the Welsh Assembly and the Irish parliament, in the Financial Times, Guardian, 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).

Date
Type

2017

Hick, R. and Burchardt, T. 2017. Inequality, advantage and the capability approach. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities (10.1080/19452829.2017.1395396)

2016

Hick, R. 2016. Material poverty and multiple deprivation in Britain: the distinctiveness of multidimensional assessment. Journal of Public Policy 36(2), pp. 277-308. (10.1017/S0143814X14000348)
Hick, R. 2016. The coupling of disadvantages: material poverty and multiple deprivation in Europe before and after the Great Recession. European Journal of Social Security 18(1), pp. 2-29. (10.1177/138826271601800101)
Hick, R. 2016. Between income and material deprivation in the UK: in search of conversion factors. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 17(1), pp. 35-54. (10.1080/19452829.2015.1076772)

2015

Hick, R. 2015. Three perspectives on the mismatch between measures of material poverty. British Journal of Sociology 66, pp. 163-172. (10.1111/1468-4446.12100)

2014

Hick, R. 2014. Poverty as capability deprivation: conceptualising and measuring poverty in contemporary Europe. Archives Europeennes de Sociologie European Journal of Sociology Europaisches Archiv fur Soziologie 55(3), pp. 295-323. (10.1017/S0003975614000150)
Hick, R. 2014. On 'consistent' poverty. Social Indicators Research 118(3), pp. 1087-1102. (10.1007/s11205-013-0456-y)
Hick, R. 2014. From Celtic Tiger to crisis: progress, problems and prospects for social security in Ireland. Social Policy and Administration 48(4), pp. 394-412. (10.1111/spol.12067)

2013

Hick, R. 2013. Poverty, preference or pensioners? Measuring material deprivation in the UK. Fiscal Studies 34(1), pp. 31-54. (10.1111/j.1475-5890.2013.00176.x)

2012

Hick, R. 2012. The capability approach: insights for a new poverty focus. Journal of Social Policy 41(2), pp. 291-308. (10.1017/S0047279411000845)

2009

Gough, O. and Hick, R. 2009. Employee evaluations of occupational pensions. Employee Relations 31(2), pp. 158-167. (10.1108/01425450910925300)
Gough, O. and Hick, R. 2009. Ethnic minorities, retirement planning and Personal Accounts. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 29(9/10), pp. 488-497. (10.1108/01443330910986270)

2008

Arthur, L., Brennan, J., Hick, R. and Kimura, M. 2008. The context of higher education and employment: comparisons between different European countries. Project Report. [Online]. London: Centre for Higher Education Research and Information, Open University. Available at: http://www.open.ac.uk/cheri/documents/reflex_report_2.pdf
Gough, O. and Hick, R. 2008. Retirement planning in the United Kingdom. In: Reddick, C. G. and Cogburn, J. D. eds. Handbook of Employee Benefits and Administration. Public Administration and Public Policy Vol. 144. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, pp. 161-178.

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.

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).

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

Undergraduate

SIO282 - Introduction to Social and Public Policy (Stage 1)

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

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

Postgraduate

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

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
Human Development and Capability Association

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