Professor Morag Treanor

Professor of Social Policy and Inequality. (Urban Studies & Social Policy)

Biography

Morag's research focus is on poverty, socioeconomic inequalities, particularly where they pertain to children, young people and families. She uses longitudinal qualitative and quantitative methods, particularly birth cohort survey data and administrative data, to conduct her research.

She is Co-Director of the Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research, funded by UKRI, and leads on its Children's Lives and Outcomes programme.

Morag was Deputy Chair of the Scottish Government's statutory Poverty and Inequality Commission from 2019 to 2023 and a member of The Promise Oversight Board from 2021 to 2024.

Morag is the Research and Knowledge Exchange Director for the Division of Urban Studies and Social Policy.

Research interests

poverty and socioeconomic inequalities
children, young people and families
longitudinal methods (quantitative and qualitative)
birth cohort survey data and administrative data

Research groups

Social & Urban Policy
Just Cities & Societies

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2018 | 2017

Number of items: 37.

2026

Behrens, Silvia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2719-0169, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893, Russell, Emma, Lee-Shield, Bethany, Williamson, Lee and Macintyre, Cecilia (2026) Longitudinal Analysis of School Absence of Pupils With and Without Additional Support Needs in Scotland. International Population Data Linkage Network Conference, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 13-16 July 2026. (doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v11i5.3528)

Behrens, Silvia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2719-0169, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893, Russell, Emma, Lee-Shield, Bethany, Williamson, Lee and Macintyre, Cecilia (2026) Variation in Additional Support Needs Identification and Support Provision Across Schools and Local Authorities in Scotland. International Population Data Linkage Network Conference, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 13-16 July 2026. (doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v11i5.3489)

Macintyre, Cecilia, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Behrens, Silvia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2719-0169, Russell, Emma, Lee-Shield, Bethany, Williamson, Lee and Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893 (2026) Enhancing Data Quality and Usability – Collaboration Between Data Owners and Researchers. International Populaton Data Linkage Network Conference, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 13-16 July 2026. ISBN 2399-4908 (doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v11i5.3695)

Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Behrens, Silvia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2719-0169, Russell, Emma, Lee-Shield, Bethany, Williamson, Lee and MacIntyre, Cecilia (2026) Pathways of Disadvantage, Attendance and Exclusions into Attainment in Secondary School: a Whole Population Study of Educational Outcomes in Scotland. International Population Data Linkage Network Conference, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 13-16 July 2026. (doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v11i5.3529)

Behrens, Silvia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2719-0169, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893, Lee-Shield, Bethany, Russell, Emma, Williamson, Lee and Macintyre, Cecilia (2026) Data Insight: Understanding factors linked to school absence in Scotland. Project Report. ADR Scotland. (doi: 10.7488/era/7317).

Behrens, Silvia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2719-0169, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893, Lee-Shield, Bethany, Russell, Emma, Williamson, Lee and Macintyre, Cecilia (2026) Predictors of authorised, unauthorised and persistent absence among secondary school pupils in Scotland. British Educational Research Journal, (doi: 10.1002/berj.70162) (Early Online Publication)

2025

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2025) The Gendered Impact of Public Debt. Documentation. Aberlour Children's Charity.

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Behrens, Silvia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2719-0169, Troncoso, Patricio, Williamson, Lee, Lee-Shield, Bethany and MacIntyre, Cecilia (2025) Predictors of Authorised and Unauthorised Absence of Secondary School Pupils in Scotland. ADR UK Conference 2025, Cardiff, Wales, UK, 16-18 September 2025. (doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v10i3.3009)

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Troncoso, Patricio, Lee-Shield, Bethany, Behrens, Silvia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2719-0169, Williamson, Lee and MacIntyre, Cecilia (2025) Attendance and Risk of Exclusion among Scottish Secondary School Pupils with Additional Support Needs. ADR UK Conference 2025, Cardiff, Wales, UK, 16-18 September 2025. (doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v10i3.3011)

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2025) Households with a Disability and Lone Parent Families and the impact of Public Debt and Arrears. Project Report. Aberlour, Glasgow.

2024

Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Williamson, Lee and Celia, MacIntyre (2024) Understanding Exclusions in Scottish Secondary Schools. Project Report. ADR UK, Edinburgh. (doi: 10.7488/era/4812).

2023

Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Williamson, Lee and Macintyre, Cecilia (2023) Data Explained: Exploring context, factors and approaches to educational exclusions and absences. Technical Report. Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research.

Fitzpatrick, Suzanne, Bramley, Glen, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Blenkinsopp, Janice, McIntyre, Jill, Johnsen, Sarah and McMordie, Lynne (2023) Destitution in the UK 2023. Project Report. Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893 and Williamson, Lee (2023) School and area-level disparities in exclusions in Scottish secondary schools. International Journal of Population Data Science, 8(2), 11. (doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v8i2.2194)

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 and Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893 (2023) The indivisibility of parental and child mental health and why poverty matters. Journal of Adolescent Health, 73(3), pp. 470-477. (doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.04.012)

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2023) How public debt and arrears are experienced by low-income families. Documentation. Aberlour.

Soraghan, Joanna, Raab, Gillian, Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 and Porter, Robert (2023) The Impact of COVID-19 on Children’s Care Journeys in Scotland. Documentation. Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research. (doi: 10.7488/era/3245).

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 and Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893 (2023) Digital exclusion in education: What the online learning technology Scholar tells us about inequality in Scottish secondary schools. Other. Nuffield Foundation.

Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893 and Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2023) Methods for analysing the relationship between poverty, parental work intensity, child emotional symptoms and conduct problems over time. MethodsX, 10, 101940. (doi: 10.1016/j.mex.2022.101940) (PMID:36545544) (PMCID:PMC9761838)

2022

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2022) Universal Credit deductions for households with children by Scottish local authority - A report on Freedom of Information requests. Other. Aberlour.

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 and Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893 (2022) Poverty, parental work intensity and child emotional and conduct problems. Social Science and Medicine, 312, p. 115373. (doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115373) (PMID:36152585)

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 and Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893 (2022) Digitally excluded: inequalities in the access and use of online learning technologies in Scottish secondary schools. International Journal of Population Data Science, 7(3), 48. (doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v7i3.1819) (PMCID:PMC9644675)

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2022) Results of Freedom of Information request on school meal debt processes. Other. Aberlour.

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2022) Public debt literature review. Other. Aberlour.

2021

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Patrick, Ruth and Wenham, Aniela (2021) Qualitative longitudinal research: from monochrome to technicolour. Social Policy and Society, 20(4), pp. 635-651. (doi: 10.1017/S1474746421000270)

Bramley, Glen, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Sosenko, Filip ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0557-173X and Littlewood, Mandy (2021) State of hunger: building the evidence on poverty, destitution, and food insecurity in the UK. Project Report. The Trussell Trust, London.

McKendrick, John, Dickie, John, Hardy, Fiona, O'Hagan, Angela, Sinclair, Stephen and Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (Eds.) (2021) Poverty in Scotland 2021: Towards a 2030 Without Poverty. CPAG. ISBN 9781910715703

2020

Lewer, Dan, King, Emma, Bramley, Glen, Fitzpatrick, Suzanne, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Maguire, Nick, Bullock, Miriam, Hayward, Andrew and Story, Al (2020) The ACE Index: mapping childhood adversity in England. Journal of Public Health, 42(4), e487-e495. (doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdz158)

Fitzpatrick, Suzanne, Bramley, Glen, Blenkinsopp, Janice, Wood, Jenny, Sosenko, Filip ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0557-173X, Littlewood, Mandy, Johnsen, Sarah, Watts, Beth, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 and McIntyre, Jill (2020) Destitution in the UK 2020. Project Report. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York.

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2020) Evaluation of Aberlour Urgent Assistance Fund. Other. Aberlour Children’s Charity.

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2020) How COVID-19 crisis measures reveal the conflation between poverty and adversity. Scottish Affairs, 29(4), pp. 475-492. (doi: 10.3366/scot.2020.0338)

Byrne, Delma and Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2020) Income, Poverty and Deprivation among Children - A Statistical Baseline Analysis. Other. Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2020) Child Poverty: Aspiring to Survive. Policy Press: United Kingdom. ISBN 9781447334668

2018

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2018) Falling through the cracks: the cost of the school day for families living in in-work and out-of-work poverty. Scottish Affairs, 27(4), pp. 486-511. (doi: 10.3366/scot.2018.0259)

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2018) Income poverty, material deprivation and lone parenthood. In: Nieuwenhuis, Rense and Maldonado, Laurie C. (eds.) The Triple Bind of Single-parent Families: Resources, Employment and Policies to Improve Wellbeing. Bristol University Press; Policy Press, pp. 81-100. ISBN 9781447333647

2017

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Macht, Alexandra, Morton, Sarah and Seditas, Karen (2017) Tackling child poverty: Actions to prevent and mitigate child poverty at the local level. Other. What Works Scotland.

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2017) Actions to prevent and mitigate child poverty in South Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership. Other. What Works Scotland.

This list was generated on Sat Jul 25 12:20:52 2026 BST.

Number of items: 37.

Articles

Behrens, Silvia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2719-0169, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893, Lee-Shield, Bethany, Russell, Emma, Williamson, Lee and Macintyre, Cecilia (2026) Predictors of authorised, unauthorised and persistent absence among secondary school pupils in Scotland. British Educational Research Journal, (doi: 10.1002/berj.70162) (Early Online Publication)

Books

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2020) Child Poverty: Aspiring to Survive. Policy Press: United Kingdom. ISBN 9781447334668

Book Sections

Edited Books

Research Reports or Papers

Behrens, Silvia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2719-0169, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893, Lee-Shield, Bethany, Russell, Emma, Williamson, Lee and Macintyre, Cecilia (2026) Data Insight: Understanding factors linked to school absence in Scotland. Project Report. ADR Scotland. (doi: 10.7488/era/7317).

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2025) The Gendered Impact of Public Debt. Documentation. Aberlour Children's Charity.

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2025) Households with a Disability and Lone Parent Families and the impact of Public Debt and Arrears. Project Report. Aberlour, Glasgow.

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2023) How public debt and arrears are experienced by low-income families. Documentation. Aberlour.

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2022) Results of Freedom of Information request on school meal debt processes. Other. Aberlour.

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2022) Public debt literature review. Other. Aberlour.

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2020) Evaluation of Aberlour Urgent Assistance Fund. Other. Aberlour Children’s Charity.

Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092 (2017) Actions to prevent and mitigate child poverty in South Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership. Other. What Works Scotland.

Conference or Workshop Item

Behrens, Silvia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2719-0169, Treanor, Morag ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4377-4092, Troncoso, Patricio ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2204-1893, Russell, Emma, Lee-Shield, Bethany, Williamson, Lee and Macintyre, Cecilia (2026) Variation in Additional Support Needs Identification and Support Provision Across Schools and Local Authorities in Scotland. International Population Data Linkage Network Conference, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 13-16 July 2026. (doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v11i5.3489)

This list was generated on Sat Jul 25 12:20:52 2026 BST.

Prior publications

Report

Morag Treanor (2023) The Impact of COVID-19 on Children’s Care Journeys in Scotland Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research Morag Treanor.

Morag Treanor et al. (2023) Digital Equality in Education: lessons from Scholar Nuffield Foundation Morag Treanor.

Jenny Duncan, Morag Treanor (2017) Challenges of Poverty: Parents’ Voices Heriot-Watt University.

Morag Treanor (2009) Below the Breadline Barnardo's Morag Treanor.

Ruth Bryan, Morag Treanor, Malcolm HIll (2007) Evaluation of Pilots to Improve Primary to Secondary School Transitions Heriot-Watt University. ISBN 9780755964208

Article

(2018) FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS: THE COST OF THE SCHOOL DAY FOR FAMILIES LIVING IN IN-WORK AND OUT-OF-WORK POVERTY Scottish Affairs Morag Treanor.

Morag Treanor (2016) Social assets, low income and child social, emotional and behavioural wellbeing Families, Relationships and Society Heriot-Watt University. (doi: 10.1332/204674315X14281323517164)

John Frank, Catherine Bromley, Larry Doi, Michelle Estrade, Ruth Jepson, John McAteer, Tony Robertson, Morag Treanor, Andrew Williams (2015) Seven Key Investments for Health Equity across the Lifecourse: Scotland versus the rest of the UK Social Science & Medicine Crossref Metadata Search. (doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.07.007)

(2015) Social assets, low income and child social, emotional and behavioural wellbeing Families, Relationships and Societies Morag Treanor.

(2015) The Effects of Financial Vulnerability and Mothers’ Emotional Distress on Child Social, Emotional and Behavioural Well-Being: A Structural Equation Model Sociology Morag Treanor. (doi: 10.1177/0038038515570144)

Skafida V, Treanor MC (2014) Do changes in objective and subjective family income predict change in children's diets over time? Unique insights using a longitudinal cohort study and fixed effects analysis. Europe PubMed Central. (doi: 10.1136/jech-2013-203308)

(2014) Routes out of poverty: education and social mobility Morag Treanor.

Morag C. Treanor (2013) Deprived or not deprived? Comparing the measured extent of material deprivation using the UK government’s and the Poverty and Social Exclusion surveys’ method of calculating material deprivation Qual Quant Crossref Metadata Search. ISSN 0033-5177 (doi: 10.1007/s11135-013-9838-0)

Other

(2014) Free education for poor mums may help alleviate child poverty The Conversation Morag Treanor.

(2012) The impacts of poverty on children’s outcomes Scottish Child Care and Protection Network (SCCPN) Morag Treanor.

(2007) Evaluation of Pilots to Improve Primary to Secondary School Transitions Scottish Executive Social Research Morag Treanor.

Book Review

Morag Christine Treanor (2014) Gerry Mooney and Gill Scott, eds., Social Justice and Social Policy in Scotland. Bristol: The Policy Press, 2012 International Review of Scottish Studies Heriot-Watt University.

Grants

Aberlour Children’s Charity – PI on research to utilise Citizens Advice Data to explore public debt in Scotland.
Scottish Centre for Administrative Data Research (part of ADRC-UK) –Co-Investigator on ESRC grant for the administrative data research centre in Scotland. I am the Lead on the Children’s Lives and Outcomes Strategic Impact Programme.
Destitution in the UK (2022-23) – Co-I on grant funded by JRF to track trends in destitution in the UK.
Aberlour Children’s Charity – PI on research on the impact of public debt on low income families, 1/10/2021 – 16/4/2023.
Nuffield Foundation – PI on project to explore Digital Equality in Education 1/2/2021 – 31/7/2023.
ESRC – Co-Investigator on grant to conduct research linking education data to health and census data to explore patterns of school exclusions across Scotland, with a focus on socio-economic and other inequalities, 5/1/2021 – 30/6/2022.
Trussell Trust – PI on ‘State of Hunger’ research to map food insecurity and food bank need in the UK, 2019 - 2021.
Aberlour Children’s Charity – evaluation of Urgent Assistance Fund during Covid-19 pandemic, 2020.

Supervision

Sarim, Mohd
Analytical strategies for improving Third Sector employability services in the post COVID-19 recovery
Strang, Elizabeth (Lizzy)
Working title: Intersectional Challenges for Young People with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASCs) in Transitioning to Positive Destinations

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