Social policy is the roadmap for social development that ultimately results in the social wellbeing of all members of the population. At CSPS, we conceive of social policy as having four main functions: protection, redistribution, production and reproduction, and social cohesion.
At CSPS, our research examines the politics, processes, implementation and impacts of social policymaking.
Social policy discourse and research often focuses on the sectors of education, health, employment, housing and social protection. We focus on these central areas of social policy and other aspects of human lives that are important for the well-being of individuals, families and communities, with special attention to frequently marginalized groups such as children, women, young people and the poor.
Our multidisciplinary group of researchers apply rigorous quantitative, qualitative and mixed method approaches to a wide range of social policy issues. Our expertise include social protection, poverty and inequality, inclusive development, rural development, sustainable livelihoods, child rights, youth employment, women’s empowerment, gender equality, participatory community development, intergenerational income mobility, taxation of informal workers, philanthropy and volunteerism, civil society advocacy and activism, and the politics of development policymaking.
We have carried out collaborative projects and commissioned research for DFID, the Government of Ghana, Star Ghana, UNECA, UNICEF, World Bank and World Vision, among others.
