Economic evaluation has an important role in helping to make decisionsabout the use of scarce resources in an explicit and rational manner, yeteconomic evaluation is not well-developed in many areas of socialwelfare. This paper looks at the reasons for this, focusing on whateconomists could do...

It is increasingly recognised that improving the quality and quantity of children’s services isan essential part of any long-term strategy to tackle poverty and social exclusion amongchildren. As part of its wider programme to address child poverty in England, Save TheChildren commissioned...

This paper examines the distribution of the “social wage” benefits inkind from welfare services, including the National Health Service, stateeducation, social housing, and personal social services. The currentGovernment has put a strong emphasis on improving public servicesand has begun to...