Research Student

Sarah Hadfield
ESRC Grand Union PhD Researcher
Social Policy and Criminology
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
The Open University

• @EmpResearcher

Sarah has worked as a Researcher and Evaluator for the NHS and as a Research Assistant at the University of Leicester. She has an MRes in Labour Market Studies (University of Leicester) and a BA in International Relations (University of Leicester). 

Research Interests

Sarah is researching childfree young women’s experiences of temporary employment and how this intersects with financial autonomy to shape their lives. This is a mixed method study, making use of secondary data, a survey and in-depth interviews. This research is particularly relevant in the context of youth transitions were early labour market experiences can shape and scar futures. Employment is the gateway to many citizens rights and the welfare state has been built on the idea of a male workforce that has consistent labour market attachment. The research is funded by the ESRC Grand Union Partnership between  Brunel University London, the Open University and the University of Oxford. She is supervised by Professor Nicola Yeates  (Social Policy and Criminology), Dr Ross Fergusson (Social Policy and Criminology) and Dr Alison Green (Economics)

Publications:

Book:

• Furlong, A. Goodwin, J. O’Connor, H. Hadfield, S. Hall, S. Lowden, K. Plugor, R (2018). Young People in the Labour Market: Past, Present, Future. Routledge. (research funded by the ESRC)

Journal articles:

• Khalifa, N., Hadfield, S., Thomson, L., Talbot, E., Bird, Y., Schneider, J., Attfield, J., Völlm, B., Bates, P. and Walker, D.-M. (2019) ‘Barriers and facilitators to the implementation of individual placement and support (IPS) for patients with offending histories in the community: The United Kingdom experience’, British Journal of Occupational Therapy, [Online]. DOI: 10.1177/0308022619879334

Conference papers & Seminars:

• Hadfield, S. The Lost Generation in political discourse around youth unemployment, 2015, Journal for Youth Studies Conference, 30th march – 1st April 2015 Copenhagen
• Hadfield, S. Unemployed young adult’s experiences of welfare agencies, the Journal for Youth Studies Conference, 30th march – 1st April 2015 Copenhagen
• Hadfield, S. (2014). Youth unemployment experiences of welfare agencies, BSA Annual Conference, 23-25 April, Leeds
• Hadfield, S.,  and Plugor R., (2014) Researching precarious work and youth labour markets: Practical and Methodological Issues in Secondary Analysis of Historical data. Making the ‘Precariat’: Unemployment, Insecurity and Work-Poor Young Adults in Harsh Economic Conditions. College Court, University of Leicester
• Goodwin, J. O’Connor, H. Hadfield, S. and Furlong, A. (2013) ‘The making of the ‘precariat’, New Agenda on youth and Young Adults’, Youth Studies Conference, 8-10th April 2013, Glasgow

Blog and Policy Briefs:  

• Young Women & COVID-19: We are not all in this together (The Social Policy Association April 2020)
• Will COVID-19 increase Secondary Data Analysis? (The Open University April 2020)

Professional and Academic Affiliations

• Member of the UK Social Policy Association