Ben Baumberg Geiger
Research into disability, work and benefits
I am currently Professor of Social Health and Policy at King’s College London. My research focuses on disability, benefits & the nature of social science; you can find more about each strand in the separate tabs, and you can see my full publication list here.
My main roles currently are leading the international WelfareExperiences project, co-leading the programme on work, welfare and mental health in the ESRC Centre for Society & Mental Health, and supporting the WISHES project that is doing an RCT of job carving to improve outcomes for UK workers with health conditions & disabilities.
I previously worked at the University of Kent (2011–2022). Whilst there, I was also involved in the the University of Kent’s Q-Step centre which I helped found and co-directed until September 2016.
In 2016, my surname changed from Baumberg to Geiger (Baumberg is still my middle name!).
Getting in touch
I’m always happy to hear from potential collaborators / research students, or from people who are interested in my research. You can email me, or get in touch via Inequalities
Blogging and other non-academic writing
Since 2024 I have again been doing more regular blogging on the Inequalities blog. I also sometimes post elsewhere - a full list is available on the publications tab.
One of the posts that got the most comments was Let's all be open about what we earn on the Guardian's Comment is Free blog. In this, I argued that one of the reasons that people are relatively relaxed about inequality is that we don't tell each other what we earn. In the interests of disclosure and not being a complete hypocrite, I'm now on about 75k (for 85% FTE), with wealth of about 300k. Also, for anyone wondering about the role of political ideologies in research, my views are covered here.
Comments and critiques are always welcome - this is what blogging is for!
Other roles and activities
In addition to my academic positions, I have held other advisory and editorial roles:
In 2025 I was a paid Research Associate at the Resolution Foundation (for a small number of days, alongside my main role at King's).
For a time in 2015–16 I was on secondment as a Policy Advisor at the Department of Work and Pensions.
From 2012–2015 I was on the Executive of the Social Policy Association. I also do various bits of advising different groups - I've given evidence to various parliamentary committees; I've given advice to the OBR, DWP, IFS, Resolution Foundation, National Audit Office and others; I've supported various disabled-people led organisations and initatives (including giving evidence to the Commission on Social Security led by Experts by Experience, and I was on on the England national advisory group of DRILL), and I previously sat on the Wellcome Trust Society & Ethics Early Career Expert Review Group.
And like other academics, I support the peer review process - I have previously been on the editorial board of the Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, and an associate editor for the journal Addiction, and I’ve peer-reviewed for the MRC, ESRC, Leverhulme Trust, and numerous journals; and I’ve acted as a (nominally) paid reviewer for the UK Department of Work and Pensions, the Department of Health, and the Alcohol Education & Research Council (AERC).
A more detailed CV — including positions, qualifications, a list of grants, skills / experience (teaching, research and other), and references — is available on request.
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