Social and Public Policy
The new ban on abortion in Alabama takes millions of women across the US a step closer to losing fundamental rights to control their fertility. But we also have an Alabama situation on our own doorstep,: it’s called Northern Ireland. …Read more
Following the publication of The End of Aspiration by Duncan Exley, Alice Harper, a recent graduate, speaks about her experience of expectation, aspiration and finding a job after graduation. Having attained an education to be proud of, I had high expectations of myself as a graduate. It turns out that being able and willing to Read More
The UK, in the post-war decades, saw a remarkable degree of upward social mobility, with large numbers of people getting higher-status jobs than their parents had at the same age. The decline of social mobility since then has prompted some to say that it has ‘ground to a halt’, which isn’t at all true: there Read More
How has the role of evidence in policy and practice changed in the last 20 years? Recent events such as Michael Gove’s claim that we have “had enough of experts” and the prevalence of fake news create a sense that decision makers apparently choose not to take academic research into account. But there is hope. Read More
Discover 7 ways employers can help tackle the class ceiling in this short video, taken from The Class Ceiling by Sam Friedman and Daniel Laurison:
Occasionally a story is reported in the news that provokes a public response, stimulating discussion, particularly on social media, and prompting other similar follow up news stories. One such story emerged recently when it was reported in The Guardian that a housing developer in South London (Henley Homes) had developed segregated play areas at its Read More
An edited excerpt from the epilogue of The Class Ceiling by Sam Friedman and Daniel Laurison.…Read more
I was born in Chelmsford in Essex and grew up in Heybridge, near Maldon, on a council estate with my mum. I remember a girl who went to my school. Her parents were both artists and they talked about her going to university. It was worlds away from my life. I wasn’t told that I could be anything.…Read more
Whether you’re a leaver or a remainer it is difficult to deny Brexit has had dire consequences for race relations in the UK. Roma are no exception. Families identified as Roma have had a treacherous path to UK citizenship, often despite (or even because of) EU accession rules. Regardless of legal migration status, many Roma Read More
This International Women’s Day, Zoe Young, author of Women’s Work: How Mothers Manage Flexible Working in Careers and Family Life, highlights the lengths women go to in managing the complexities of flexible working. This year marks a hundred years since the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 lifted the bar on women entering the professions. It Read More