David Young

Dr David Young is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Research on Inclusive Society within the School of Health & Society at the University of Salford. His research focuses on social security policy, income insecurity, and the temporal dynamics of welfare systems, with particular expertise in veterans' experiences of benefits systems.

His research interests center on:

• Social security policy design and implementation
• Temporal dimensions of income insecurity
• Veterans' navigation of welfare systems
• Trauma-informed social security approaches
• Qualitative longitudinal methodologies
• Crisis impacts on welfare systems (e.g., pandemic)

His work combines financial diary methods, qualitative longitudinal analysis, and participatory research to examine how policy changes affect vulnerable populations over time.

His recent publications reveal strong thematic concentration in:

• Veterans' welfare system experiences (6 articles)
• Benefits conditionality and claimant perceptions (5 articles)
• Temporal aspects of social security (3 articles)
• Trauma-informed service design (2 articles)

Methodologically, his work consistently employs qualitative approaches to capture lived experiences of policy changes.

Award:

• British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship for 'Caring about time and money' project

His research portfolio includes significant projects:

• Sanctions, Support & Service Leavers project (2017-2024) tracking veterans' benefit experiences
• Welfare at a Social Distance Project examining pandemic-era welfare
• Changing Realities project with low-income families
• Safety Nets project on devolved social security

He co-founded the Money, Security and Social Policy early career research network and is active in the Social Policy Association.

Based at the Centre for Research on Inclusive Society, his work bridges academic research with policy impact through collaborations with the Department for Work and Pensions and veterans' organizations.