Susan is a Professor of Social Policy at the School for Policy Studies. She joined the School in 2018 from the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex, where she was Associate Director for Policy at Understanding Society. She previously worked at the Universities of Bath and Sussex and at the London School of Economics. She holds a PhD in economics from University College London, and a BA in economics from Queens' College, Cambridge University.

Susan’s research examines how income inequality and poverty are shaped by gender and family structure.  Using quantitative methods she focuses on less advantaged groups, including part-time and low-paid workers, and single-mother families. Current research, funded by the Nuffield Foundation (2024-2027), is examining the implications of family change and its implications for social policy. Previously, Susan was a co-investigator of the ESRC-funded research centre on Micro-Social Change (MiSoC), and lead for the labour markets strand of work between 2019 and 2024. She was the lead Principal Investigator on a cross-country comparative project, EQUALLIVES, funded by the NORFACE Dynamics of Inequality program, on how inequalities evolve over the life course together (with colleagues in Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, and Germany).  Other recently funded work includes ESRC-funded research, with colleagues at Essex University, on pay progression and gender equality; research for the Low Pay Commission on the minimum wage and earnings progression; and for the Government Equalities Office on occupational downgrading following childbirth.  The ESRC, the Nuffield Foundation, OECD, and Joseph Rowntree Foundation have funded earlier research.

Susan is a Visiting Professor at the Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion, London School of Economics; a member of the ESRC Grant Assessment Panel C; and a topic champion for Understanding Society (UKHLS).