The prerequisite course on Social Issues and the Welfare State is designed to familiarise students with some of the core concepts, terminology and literature underlying the Masters Degree Programme in Inequalities, Interventions and New Welfare State.

The course introduces core readings from various fields and sub disciplines of the social sciences (e.g. sociology, social stratification, causal inference, demography and social policy) with the aim of developing an understanding of contemporary social issues and the role of the modern welfare state plays in mitigating their influence over people’s lives and their children’s lives. The course also aims to introduce the role of statistics, causal analyses and empirical research in sociological thinking.