Social Policy and Economics MA (Hons)

This popular joint degree programme provides a grounding in both social policy and economics, two subjects which complement and enrich each other. <br/><br/>**Social policy**<br/><br/>Social policy at the University of Edinburgh will enable you to engage with confidence in many of the political debates of our time. <br/><br/>We deal with a wide array of policy areas, for example: <br/><br/><br/>* health <br/><br/><br/>* welfare <br/><br/><br/>* labour markets <br/><br/><br/>* education <br/><br/><br/>* family and childhood <br/><br/><br/>We discuss how policies affect our civic culture through studying political engagement and citizen participation. <br/><br/>Our programme will equip you with the knowledge to understand how policies affect society and the economy. It will also enable you to critically assess how policies are made and what actors and processes influence the policy-making process. <br/><br/>**Economics**<br/><br/>In economics, you will examine the incentives that shape and reconcile the important decisions made by:<br/><br/><br/>* individuals <br/><br/><br/>* businesses <br/><br/><br/>* governments <br/><br/><br/>* societies <br/><br/><br/>You will also explore the macroeconomic outcomes that may arise from those decisions, such as: <br/><br/><br/>* economic fluctuations <br/><br/><br/>* growth <br/><br/><br/>* unemployment <br/><br/><br/>* crises <br/><br/><br/>**Who is the programme for?**<br/><br/>Our degrees are for students who are interested in how political actions affect the real lives of people.<br/><br/>Our programmes are designed to foster critical thinking about policy to ensure our graduates are able to look beyond news headlines and understand in detail why certain political decisions are taken and what their impact may be. <br/><br/>**Why Edinburgh?**<br/><br/>You will be taught by staff members who are passionate about conducting research that has strong applications to the world outside of academia. <br/><br/>We work closely with: <br/><br/><br/>* governments <br/><br/><br/>* non-governmental organisations (NGOs) <br/><br/><br/>* third sector and interest representation groups <br/><br/><br/>* international organisations <br/><br/><br/>* other external actors <br/><br/><br/>International comparative analyses are one of our main strengths. We place a strong emphasis on providing you with empirical research skills, so that you can become a critical researcher yourself. <br/><br/>Take a social policy degree at the University of Edinburgh and you will be challenged to re-evaluate how you look at politics, society and the economy with the ability to improve others understanding as well.