INVEST visitor Rense Nieuwenhuis: Understanding how policies can reduce inequalities between families

Rense Nieuwenhuis is Associate Professor of Sociology at the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI) at Stockholm University. His research focuses on social policy, economic inequality and poverty, family diversity, and gender inequalities. During his visit to INVEST, he is looking to develop new research ideas and explore opportunities for future collaboration.

Nieuwenhuis’ research is often comparative, examining how social policies and welfare states shape inequalities across countries and between different types of families. His policy research has focused particularly on family policies and income protection, alongside work on housing and pension policies.

An increasingly important theme in his research is policy interplay: the idea that the effectiveness of individual policies depends on the wider policy context. Rather than addressing complex social problems through single interventions, Nieuwenhuis is interested in how combinations of well-aligned policies can more effectively reduce inequality and support families.

In recent years, Nieuwenhuis has led the Horizon Europe-funded rEUsilience project, which examines family resilience in Europe. The project takes a critical perspective on resilience, highlighting how families differ considerably in both their need and their capacity to adapt to economic and social challenges.

One of the perspectives developed in the project is cumulative inequality. It draws attention to a fundamental challenge in policies that emphasise resilience: families facing the greatest structural disadvantages and therefore the greatest need to be resilient may simultaneously have the fewest resources available to do so.

The rEUsilience project has also contributed to improving the identification of different family types in European surveys and developed a survey module on Adult Care, Work and Well-Being in Europe.

Why INVEST?

Nieuwenhuis sees strong connections between his research and INVEST’s expertise in welfare states, socio-economic inequalities and family dynamics.

“INVEST has so much to offer in terms of expertise on the welfare state, socio-economic inequalities and family dynamics. This makes it a fantastic environment to further develop my own research agenda.”

During his visit, Nieuwenhuis hopes to use INVEST’s research environment to develop ideas for the next phase of his research. Discussions with INVEST researchers and opportunities to exchange perspectives across different areas of expertise will play an important role.

“I hope to be inspired. I’m currently in the process of re-casting my research agenda for the coming years. I hope to learn from colleagues at INVEST and have many discussions about our mutual research interests and ideas.”

The visit may also lay the groundwork for future research collaboration and joint funding opportunities.