The research team for the Poverty in the UK survey of 1968-69 were based at the University of Essex and the London School of Economics. The project was set up by Peter Townsend and Brian Abel-Smith who left part way through the project to become a Senior Advisor at the Department of Health and Social Security.

There were three research officers: Hilary Land, Dennis Marsden and John Veit-Wilson who were joined by Adrian Sinfield. Below you can watch interviews with the three surviving members of this core team:

Hilary Land, currenly Emeritus Professor of Family Policy and Child Welfare, University of Bristol

John Veit-Wilson, currenly Emeritus professor Sociology, Newcastle University

Adrian Sinfield, currently Emeritus Professor of Social Policy, University of Edinburgh.

In addition, there were a number of research assistants who worked on various aspects of the analysis. Watch their interviews with:

Alan Walker, currently Professor of Social Policy and Social Gerontology, University of Sheffield.

John Bond, currently Professor of Social Gerontology and Health Services Research, Newcastle University

These interviews provide a fascinating insight into the process of the study, the academic and political reception of its findings and its impact. Those involved in this research went on to influential careers in related fields, covering, among many areas, poverty research, social policy, disability, the labour market and inequality.

These interviews were conducted by Karen Bell (university of Bristol) for the ‘Poverty in the UK: advancing paradata analysis and open access’  study.