Professor Kenneth Nelson

Kenneth nelson is wearing glasses and a blue shirt looking directly at the camera.

Barnett Professor of Social Policy
Head of Department
+441865270335
kenneth.nelson@spi.ox.ac.uk

Professor Kenneth Nelson holds the Barnett Professorship in Social Policy at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI) at the University of Oxford. He joined DSPI and St Cross College in April 2023. Nelson is also Professor of Sociology at Stockholm University.

Prof Nelson conducts research on the drivers and consequences of welfare states and social policy, often using comparative research methods. He has written extensively on various topics related to social policy, including partisan politics, poverty, social inequality, health, intergenerational justice, and employment.

Nelson is the director of the internationally renowned Social Policy Indicators Database (SPIN). He is also co-chair of the European Social Policy Analysis network (ESPAnet), which is the largest international research community on social policy in Europe, if not the world. He is board member of the Foundation for International Studies of Social Security (FISS), and active as an expert in the European Social Policy Analysis Network (ESPAN) funded by the European Commission (formerly ESPN).

Prof Nelson is currently also directing and participating in several externally financed research projects on the eco-social welfare state, sustainable development, in-work tax credits, the dualization of social rights, educational finance, and many more. Prof Nelson is also one of the co-editors of the Journal of European Social Policy (JESP).

Research
Current projects
  • Political and distributive consequences of the de-carbonized welfare state, SEK 5,992,000, Swedish Research Council, 2021-2024.
  • WELRISCC: Welfare state responses to social risks in times of climate change, 2025-2027, €1,493,731, Economic and Social Research Council (UKRI) for the UK participation.
  • Research infrastructure for democracy, environment, migration, social policy, conflict, and representation, phase 2 (DEMSCORE), SEK 58,000,000, 2025-2028, the Swedish Research Council.
  • The dualization of social rights in Sweden and beyond: How the design of social policies perpetuates income inequality, 2024-2026, the Swedish Research Council, SEK 3,600,000.
  • Can social policy change behavior? A comparative historical examination of parenting leave provisions and gender-equal care, 2024-2026, the Swedish Research Council, SEK 4,600,000.
  • Sustainable synergies: A comparative perspective on Swedish social policy to develop inclusive programmes for an extended working life, 2023-2029, SEK 22,900,000, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE).
  • Student funding, welfare, and participation in higher education, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE), 2023-2025, SEK 4,900,000.
  • A Decarbonized Politics For All: The Welfare State and Public Support of Climate Policy, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE), 2023-2025, SEK 4,995,000.
  • Towards a sustainable wellbeing economy: integrated policies and transformative indicators (ToBe), €3,000,000, 2023 – 2025, Horizon Europe.
Completed projects
  • Research Infrastructure for democracy, environment, migration, social policy, conflict, and representation (DEMSCORE), SEK 51,195,000, 2022-2024, Swedish Research Council.
  • Reducing poverty and increasing employment through the tax system – a comparative perspective on earned income tax credits, SEK 4,930,000, 2022-2024. Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE).
  • Encouraging Fathers’ Care: Causes and Consequences of Fathers’ Parental Leave Provisions in Cross-National Comparative Perspective, SEK 4,100,000, 2020-2023, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE).
  • InGRID-2, European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 730998, EUR 9,345,420 EUR, 2017-2020.
  • Health and mortality in older Europeans- a matter of cash and care? SEK 3,800,000, Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation, 2018-2020.
  • Towards Resilient Societies? Welfare State Institutions and Individual Capabilities in a Changing Europe, SEK 12,000,000 SEK, 2013-2018, Swedish Research Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS).
  • Global economic crisis, institutional change, and inequality in comparative perspective, SEK 11,550,000 SEK, 2013-2017, Swedish Research Council.
  • Inclusive Growth Research Infrastructure Diffusion (InGRID), EUR 5,000,000, 2013-2016, EU FP7 Research Infrastructures Integrating Activities.
  • Generational welfare contracts in transition: Just institutions and outcomes in Sweden and other countries, SEK 3,900,000, 2011-2013, Swedish Research Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS).
  • The Social Policy Indicator Database (SPIN), SEK 5,000,000, 2011-2013, Riksbankens jubileumsfond.
  • Vietnamese social policy in comparative perspective: towards social policy reform, SEK 1,500,000, 2011-2012, Swedish Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)/Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing Countries (SAREC).
  • Changing institutions and outcomes: Welfare states in a comparative perspective, SEK 4,050,000, 2006-2008, Swedish Research Council for Working Life and Social Research (FAS).
  • Sustainable taxes in a global context: The political economy of risk-insurance and intergenerational redistribution, SEK 9,000,000 SEK, 2008-2010, Riksbankens jubileumsfond (RJ).
  • Redistributive mechanisms in the welfare state, SEK 1,075,000 SEK, 2000-2001, Riksförsäkringsverket.
Publications

View a full list of Professor Nelson's publications.

Supervision
Current students
Find out more

https://www.su.se/social-policy-indicators-database/

News