Financial hardship research
Since 2019 the Mayor has commissioned, funded, or co-funded a variety of independent research projects and analyses to help better understand:
- the nature and experience of poverty and destitution in London and the key levers to reduce it
- the effects of central and local Government policies on poverty in London
- the state and effectiveness of services, networks, and interventions that support Londoners in financial difficulty
- the additional steps the Mayor and partners can take to tackle poverty and improve London’s financial safety net.
These research projects cover a wide range of topics and have helped, or continue to help, inform the Mayor and the GLA’s approach to supporting Londoners who are struggling to make ends meet.
Poverty in London and how to tackle it
- Approaches to Income Maximisation in Devolved Administrations (2024, Cordis Bright, commissioned by the GLA)
- Lessons from London’s Winter Provision (2023, Social Life, co-commissioned by the Mayor of London and London Councils)
- Flying Against Gravity – the Lived reality of Poverty in London (2021, Clearview Research, co-commissioned by the GLA and 4in10)
- Destitution in London 2020 (2020, I-SPHERE Herriot-Watt University, co-commissioned by the GLA and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation)
National Welfare Policy
- Social Cost Benefit Analysis of the no recourse to public funds (NRPF) policy in London (2022, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion LSE, commissioned by the Mayor of London)
- Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) 2021 – London’s experience and recommendations for government (2021, Mayor’s Fund for London, co-funded by the Mayor of London)
- COVID-19 and financial hardship in London (2021, University of Essex’s Centre for Microsimulation and Policy Analysis, commissioned by the Mayor of London)
- The impact of removing the £20 per week uplift to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits on poverty rates - interim findings (2021, University of Essex’s Centre for Microsimulation and Policy Analysis, commissioned by the Mayor of London)
- The impact of the COVID-19 Hardship Fund on low-income Londoners (2020, Policy in Practice, commissioned by the Mayor of London)
- The interaction of COVID-19 measures and the Benefit Cap on low-income Londoners (2020, Policy in Practice, commissioned by the Mayor of London)
- Cumulative Impact Assessment of Welfare Reform in London (2019, Landman Economics, commissioned by the Mayor of London)
Local welfare and debt connection
- Evaluation of Local Welfare Assistance (2023, Policy in Practice, co-funded by the Mayor of London and London Councils)
- Developing an Evaluation Proposition for Local Welfare Assistance Schemes in London (2021, The Financial Inclusion Centre, co-commissioned by the Mayor of London and London Councils)
- Council Tax debt collection and low-income Londoners (2020, Policy in Practice, commissioned by the Mayor of London)
Social welfare rights, entitlements, and advice
- High Risk No Reward: Resolving Employment Rights Problems in London (2022, Clearview Research, commissioned by the Mayor of London)
- Advising Londoners – An evaluation of the provision of social welfare advice across London (2020, Advice Services Alliance, commissioned by the Mayor of London)
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