Dr Graham Stark

Senior Research Fellow

Department: Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing

I am Senior Research Fellow in Public Policy working as part of a team in SWECW examining the health case for basic income and a broader programme of policy development aimed at creating a new settlement of the same scale and sustainability as that of the Beveridge-inspired reforms of 1945.

My particular focus lies in exploring the economic and health economic impacts of public policies. I have led development of our unique TriplePC (Public Policy Preference Calculator), which enables users to explore the economic, health and public opinion impacts of different welfare schemes.

My work at Northumbria reflects career-long research interests. As founder of Virtual Worlds, I am a leading specialist in microsimulation modelling of tax-benefit systems, programming software, databases and interfaces. Most significantly, I am the creator of TAXBEN, the Institute for Fiscal Studies’ tax and benefit microsimulation model (https://ifs.org.uk/publications/572). This is regarded by the UK Government as the leading model for public policy purposes and continues to shape analysis of tax-benefit reform.

Having started my career in Economics at Lancaster University, I spent 18 years as Senior Research Officer at the IFS, before starting my own consultancy, Virtual Worlds. During my time at the IFS, I produced a body peer-reviewed journal articles (below) and was responsible for a large number of reports that achieved impact with policy makers and Government departments, such as the DSS/DWP and provided rapid response assessment of Budgets for media outlets.

Throughout my career, I have published peer-reviewed research in leading periodicals using cutting edge analysis of big data, particularly on distributional impacts of tax reforms and on the cost of welfare and social care. That focus extends throughout the UK, to the US, parts of Africa and Europe, granting capacity for comparative analysis of societies with different income levels. Since beginning consultancy, I have received over £500,000 in funding from public and third sector bodies (Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly, United Nations, etc.), on top of regular grant acquisition while at the IFS (Nuffield, etc.).

I am currently completing a PhD by Publication which relates to academic research conducted as Senior Research Officer at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the Open University and as Director of Virtual Worlds.

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Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

My published research falls into four broad themes:

Means testing

Dilnot Andrew, Graham Stark, and Steven Webb. 1987. ‘The Targeting of Benefits: Two Approaches’. Fiscal Studies 8 (1): 83–93. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.1987.tb00434.x.

Fry, Vanessa, and Graham Stark. 1987. ‘The Take-Up of Supplementary Benefit: Gaps in the “Safety Net”?’ Fiscal Studies 8 (4): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.1987.tb00302.x.

Fry, Vanessa, and Graham Stark. 1992. The Takeup of Means-Tested Benefits in the UK: The Transition to Income Support and Family Credit. Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Fry, Vanessa, and Graham Stark. 1993. ‘The Take-up of Means-Tested Benefits, 1984-90’. 1 January 1993. https://doi.org/10.1920/re.ifs.1993.0041.

Buck, Alexy, and Graham Stark. 2001. Means Assessment: Options for Change. LSRC Research Paper No.8. Legal Services Commission.

Buck, Alexy, and Graham Stark. 2003. Simplicity versus Fairness in Means Testing: The Case of Civil Legal Aid. Fiscal Studies 24 (4): 427–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.2003.tb00090.x.

Impacts of tax-welfare reforms

Dilnot, Andrew, and Graham Stark. 1986a. The Poverty Trap, Tax Cuts, and the Reform of Social Security. Fiscal Studies 7 (1): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.1986.tb00410.x.

Dilnot, Andrew, and Stark, Graham. 1986b. The Distributional Consequences of Mrs Thatcher. Fiscal Studies 7 (2): 48–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.1986.tb00421.x.

Dilnot, Andrew, Graham Stark, Ian Walker, and Steven Webb. 1987. ‘The 1987 Budget in Perspective’. Fiscal Studies 8 (2): 48–57. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.1987.tb00535.x.

Robinson, Bill, and Graham Stark. 1988. ‘The Tax Treatment of Marriage: What Has the Chancellor Really Achieved?’ Fiscal Studies 9 (2): 48–56.

Stark, Graham. 1988. ‘Partially Transferable Allowances’. Fiscal Studies 9 (1): 29–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.1988.tb00310.x.

Johnson, Paul, and Graham Stark. 1989. ‘Ten Years of Mrs Thatcher: The Distributional Consequences’. Fiscal Studies 10 (2): 29–37.

Johnson, Paul, and Graham Stark. 1991. ‘The Effects of a Minimum Wage on Family Incomes’. Fiscal Studies 12 (3): 88–93. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.1991.tb00164.x.

Understanding of microsimulation methods

Johnson, Paul, Steven Webb, and Graham Stark. 1990. ‘TAXBEN2: The New IFS Tax and Benefit Model’. IFS Working Paper W90/5. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.1989.tb00107.x.

Coulter, Fiona, Graham Stark, and Stephen Smith. 1995. ‘Micro-Simulation Modelling of Personal Taxation and Social Security Benefits in the Czech Republic’. IFS Working Paper Series W95/58.

Duncan, Alan, and Graham Stark. 2000. ‘A Recursive Algorithm to Generate Piecewise Linear Budget Contraints’. 2 May 2000. https://doi.org/10.1920/wp.ifs.2000.0011.

Reed, Howard, and Graham Stark. 2011. Modelling the Costs for Individuals and Public Authorities in Wales of Alternative Funding Systems for the Long-Term Care of Adults: Stage 1 Report: Building a Forecasting Model for Long-Term Care in Wales. Welsh Assembly Government.

Austerity-era poverty interventions

Since beginning consultancy, I have received over £500,000 in funding from public and third sector bodies (Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly, United Nations, etc.), on top of regular grant acquisition while at the IFS (Nuffield, etc.). This has led to cutting edge research on the impact of austerity-era poverty interventions:

Reed, Howard, and Graham Stark. 2011. Modelling the Costs for Individuals and Public Authorities in Wales of Alternative Funding Systems for the Long-Term Care of Adults. Welsh Assembly Government.

Reed, Howard, and Graham Stark. 2013. Costing the “When I Am Ready” Scheme. Action for Children Wales/Gweithredu dros Blant.

Reed, Howard, and Graham Stark. 2018. Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan: Forecasting Child Poverty in Scotland. Scottish Government. http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2018/03/2911/0.

Reed, Howard, and Graham Stark. 2020. Giving Care Leavers the Chance to Stay: Staying Put Six Years on: Technical Report. Action for Children England. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.1988.tb00319.x.

Reed, Howard, and Graham Stark. 2009a. Assessing the Ability to Pay for the Fees Charged by Charities: Phase 1 & 2. February, 36. Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator (OSCR). http://www.oscr.org.uk/publications-and-guidance/affordability-reportphase-2/.

Stark, Graham. 2021. Staying Put Six Years on: 2021 Update. Action for Children England.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Anxiety, insecurity and redistribution in the UK ‘red wall’: have policy preferences changed since the COVID-19 pandemic?, Stark, G., Johnson, E., Ahmed, Z., Kamalakannan, S., Reed, H., Flinders, M., Nettle, D., Johnson, M., Degerman, D. 1 May 2025, In: International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society
Basic Income for Greater Manchester: Plans for a feasible, affordable and popular pilot, Hawdale, A., Strappazzon, L., Douglas, J., Johnson, E., Duffy, S., Mermelstein, D., Stark, G., Reed, H., Nettle, D., Johnson, M. 10 Feb 2025
Climate change mitigation and workers’ interests: why framing a Green New Deal as redistributive and security-enhancing is key to popularity, Ardron, K., Stark, G., Meller, S., Reed, H., Johnson, M., Johnson, E. 7 Apr 2025, In: F1000Research
Count the Costs: A Common Sense Update for the 2025 Spring Statement, Reed, H., Thew, A., Stark, G., Nettle, D., Johnson, M., Johnson, E. 27 Mar 2025
Examining the relationship between income and both mental and physical health among adults in the UK: Analysis of 12 waves (2009-2022) of Understanding Society, Reed, H., Nettle, D., Parra Mujica, F., Stark, G., Wilkinson, R., Johnson, M., Johnson, E. 6 Mar 2025, In: PLoS One
Make Politics Work for Us: A Common Sense pathway to democracy that delivers, Johnson, E., Neal, C., Stark, G., Duffy, S., Robson, I., Reed, H., Meehan, P., Warnock, C., Atkinson, J., Nettle, D., Johnson, M. 16 Jan 2025
Act Now: A vision for a better future and a new social contract, Johnson, M., Dorling, D., Driscoll, J., Hardill, I., Hobbs, C., Johnson, E., Lawson, N., Nadel, J., Nettle, D., Pickett, K., Polanski, Z., Pollock, A., Reed, H., Robson, I., Stark, G., Taylor-Robinson, D., Wilkinson, R. 1 Jul 2024
Common Sense Policy Group Reports, Johnson, M., Johnson, E., Nettle, D., Reed, H., Stark, G. 31 Oct 2024
Delivering Regional Renewal: Public support for bold change in North East transport policy, Thew, A., Littlefair, D., Stark, G., Robson, I., Atkinson, J., Reed, H., Johnson, E., Nettle, D., Johnson, M. 14 Nov 2024
Estimating the effects of Basic Income schemes on mental and physical health among adults aged 18 and above in the UK: A microsimulation study, Reed, H., Johnson, E., Stark, G., Nettle, D., Pickett, K., Johnson, M. 18 Dec 2024, In: PLoS Mental Health