Dr Samuel Mohun Himmelweit
MA Hon, MSc, PhD
Expertise
A comparative social policy researcher specialising in examining family and labour market policies in high income countries. Particularly interested in how welfare states adapt and change in response to changing conditions.
Current positions
Lecturer in Social Policy
School for Policy Studies
Contact
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Biography
His ESRC-funded PhD thesis, completed in 2021 at the London School of Economics (LSE), compared work-family policy reforms in Germany and the UK and examined the drivers of change in the two countries. Through documentary analysis and interviews with policymakers, he focused in particular on the role of ideas in the processes of policy change and the ways in which this affected the respective trajectories of change.
Before joining the School for Policy Studies in 2023, Sam worked in the Department of Social Policy at the LSE. He has previously held a visiting position at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. He holds an MSc in European Social Policy from the LSE and an undergraduate degree in History from the University of Edinburgh. Sam has considerable experience of policy work outside academia, having worked for think tanks, policy consultancies (in London and Berlin) and in policy-related social research.
Research interests
Sam Mohun Himmelweit's research interests are in the field of comparative social policy, with a particular focus on analysing the causes of policy continuity and change across time and across countries. His interests are not bounded by a particularly disciplinary focus but draw on perspectives from social and public policy, political science and sociology.
Thematically, Sam's research focuses on the intersection between families, labour markets and social policy and the ways in which broad social and demographic trends have affected all three areas. This has involved a primary focus on family policies in comparative perspective, but also research into wider ‘social investment’ policy areas, such as post-school skill formation systems. His current interests focus on the impact that increasing labour market inequalities has on families with children and the support provided by governments for reconciling employment and care responsibilities.
Theoretically Sam has a particular interest in the role that ideas play in processes of change, especially through their influence on the formation of cross-class coalitions that drive change, and the historical, institutional and political conditions under which this is more or less likely to occur. Geographically his research has focused on OECD countries both in Europe and East Asia.
His work in these areas has been published in Government and Opposition, the Journal of Family Studies, Economy and Society and Social Policy & Administration.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Family change, wellbeing and social policy
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
This project will explore how family living arrangements have changed over recent decades, how this affects adults’ and children’s access to resources, and the implications for policy.
Children have increasingly complex…Managing organisational unit
School for Policy StudiesDates
07/10/2024 to 08/10/2027
Publications
Selected publications
01/01/2024Ideas, Coalition Magnets and Policy Change
Government and Opposition
Shifting worlds of father politics? Comparing path-departing change in paternity and parental leave policy in Germany and the UK
Journal of Family Studies
Labour market dualization, permanent insecurity and fertility
Economy and Society
The Politics of Ideas in Family Policy
The Oxford Handbook of Family Policy Over The Life Course Get access Arrow
Dualisation, education and the knowledge economy
Social policy and administration
Recent publications
01/01/2024Ideas, Coalition Magnets and Policy Change
Government and Opposition
Research handbook on leave policy
Social Policy & Administration
The Politics of Ideas in Family Policy
The Oxford Handbook of Family Policy Over The Life Course Get access Arrow
Dualisation, education and the knowledge economy
Social policy and administration
Labour market dualization, permanent insecurity and fertility
Economy and Society
Teaching
In his teaching, Sam aims to foster active learning through creating the space for students to contribute to classes and to express themselves through a range of activities. He is committed to helping students draw connections between course content and the wider world and to explore the wider relevance of the skills and knowledge the are developing in their education. He aims to ensure that all students feel comfortable in his classes and are able to participate in ways that work best for them and their learning style.
Sam also supervises undergraduate and MPP dissertation students.