General information
Since its establishment in 1972 the principal objective of the Centre for Social Policy has been to study the adequacy of social policies. Its research is mainly based on large-scale socio-economic surveys of households in Belgium and Flanders.
Research programme
On the basis of these surveys the CSP has monitored trends in the extent and distribution of income, welfare and poverty in Flanders and Belgium since 1976; in this field the CSP figures have in fact become the main reference point within Belgium. The Centre seeks to link developments in this field to broader socio-demographic and economic trends, and to explain the actual and possible role government policies can play in this regard. For this purpose a micro-simulation model (MISIM) was developed at the Centre.
International networks and collaboration
In the international context, the CSP was responsible for coordinating a research project on poverty and social security in several countries of the EC in the late eighties, called EUROPASS, which was partly financed by the European Commission. In later years, the Centre has continued to study poverty and the impact of social protection policies from an international comparative perspective, using the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) data, ECHP data and other sources. The CSP is since 2001 a recognised Marie Curie doctoral training site in social policy and poverty research. The Centre is involved in various international networks, including the European Low Wage Research Network (LoWER) and the Thematic Network on Transitional Labour Markets.