Project Director: Jonathan Webb
Project Duration: 2024-2025

Millions of UK residents are worrying about multiple issues such as money, housing, health and caring responsibilities. Individual insecurities may build up and combine. Perceived insecurities may have different psychological and behavioural effects to other disadvantages. They may prevent households using their opportunities, including the primary education, adult skills training and work opportunities which policy aims to provide. They may harm well-being, keep people out of the workforce, and limit productivity. As a result, some people may not be able to benefit from polices to support disadvantaged areas, and in turn, these policies may not be able to achieve their full potential.

Many past local growth and regeneration projects have been very successful, but many have not met all their goals. Progress has been more difficult for some so-called 'left behind' areas and so-called 'hard to reach' groups of people. Multiple insecurities may provide a partial explanation, and we know that some key individual insecurities have grown in prevalence over time.

A team of researchers from multiple disciplines have been awarded funding by the ESRC to research this issue. The team includes Abigail McKnight, Laura Lane, and Irene Bucelli from CASE. Jonathan Webb, Sally Pearce and Helen Lomax from Sheffield Hallam University, Irena Grugulis from the University of Leeds, Anita Mangan from the University of Bristol, Stuart Henderson from Ulster University, and Jonathan Payne from De Montfort University, and freelance artist Laura Sorvala.