Social Policy and Economics

Social policy and economics is a combination that brings together the analytical tools of economic science with the normative and practical concerns of social policy. Economics provides frameworks for understanding how resources are allocated, how markets behave, how incentives shape decision-making, and how to model complex social and economic systems quantitatively. Social policy examines how societies distribute resources and develop services to meet individual and collective needs, and addresses central questions about poverty, inequality of income, race, age and gender, social justice, housing, education, health and criminal justice.

Studying them together allows you to bring rigour and evidence to the analysis of social challenges that purely descriptive approaches can miss.

At the University of Strathclyde you will study social policy and economics over four years of full-time study, on a programme that develops quantitative economic reasoning alongside deep engagement with the social policy dimensions of contemporary governance. A year abroad is built into the programme, broadening your perspective on how other societies and welfare states manage the tensions between economic efficiency and social equity. You will engage with the theory and empirical evidence on how social policy interventions work, what their costs and effects are, and how they can be better designed and evaluated.

The typical tariff of 200 reflects the combined analytical demands of two disciplines that together require both mathematical confidence and critical social analysis.

Graduates work in the civil service, government economic services, local authorities, research organisations, think tanks, international bodies such as the OECD and World Bank, the NHS, housing organisations, social work and the voluntary sector. The ability to combine economic analysis with social policy knowledge is particularly valued in roles involving programme evaluation, policy development and evidence-based advocacy. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in social policy, economics, public policy or related fields, and the degree provides a strong foundation for research degrees or professional qualifications in economics and related disciplines.