Welfare recipients are often framed by the media and politicians as undeserving. This interdisciplinary online conference will ask how welfare recipients are stigmatised and why they are often perceived as undeserving by the public. We will bring together political scientists, sociologists, and policy scholars from around the world to explore the reasons behind the stigmatisation of welfare users and how public perceptions of deservingness differ across countries and over time. Speakers will address a range of policy-relevant issues, from the stigmatisation of foodbank users and disability benefit claimants to the implications for the welfare state of high immigration and income stagnation. Poverty is in the spotlight in the UK due to economic fallout from the covid-19 pandemic, rises in the cost of living, and the legacy of a decade of controversial welfare reforms. This conference is essential for understanding the factors provoking opposition to the welfare state and how policies could be designed in future to avoid the stigmatisation of their users.

Conference Convenors:
Dr Tom O’Grady, University College London
Dr Daniel McArthur, Oxford University

Speakers:

Day 1, Thursday 31 March 2022
Professor Charlotte Cavaille, University of Michigan
Tijs Laenen, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Dr Tom O’Grady, University College London
Dr Femke Roosma, Tilburg University

Day 2, Friday 1 April 2022
Dr Kayleigh Garthwaite, University of Birmingham
Ben Baumberg Geiger, University of Kent
Dr Gerda Hooijer, University College London
Dr Daniel McArthur, Oxford University
Dr Hanna Schwander, Humboldt University Berlin
Professor Tim Vlandas, Oxford University
Dr Robert de Vries, University of Kent

Please book for each day separately. A full conference programme will be included online.

A recording of this event will be added to our YouTube channel after the event has taken place. Booking a place at a British Academy event constitutes your acceptance of our terms and conditions. For any enquiries about this conference please email events@thebritishacademy.ac.uk.

Funded by Wellcome Trust

Image: Getty Images

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