Publications Painting the towns blue Demography, economy and living standards in the political geographies emerging from the 2019 General Election 12 February 2020 by Charlie McCurdy and Laura Gardiner and Maja Gustafsson and Karl Handscomb This report provides an audit of the demography, economy and living standards of what we term the ‘Blue Wall’: the 50 seats that were gained by the Conservatives from Labour… Continue Reading
Publications The long and winding road The introduction and impact of Universal Credit in Liverpool City Region and the UK 21 January 2020 by Laura Gardiner and David Finch Universal Credit (UC) – the fundamental re-design of Britain’s welfare system involving merging six benefits into one – is an enormous undertaking. This report reviews both the national UC picture… Continue Reading
Comment Election 2019: how Britain’s North-South divide is changing Closing the divide once and for all is a challenge all political parties say they want to embrace 6 December 2019 by Charlie McCurdy The North-South divide is a theme often used by – and against – politicians to highlight inequality in the UK, and election time is no exception. But this divide has… Continue Reading
Events Ageing fast, ageing slow When Britain’s geography and demography collide Monday 28 October 2019 Britain is getting older. Life expectancy is rising and, with Britain’s large post-war baby boomer generation now moving into retirement, a growing proportion of our population are pensioners. But not… Continue Reading
Publications Mapping gaps Geographic inequality in productivity and living standards 11 July 2019 by Stephen Clarke Regional inequality is a hot topic, particularly since the EU referendum exposed huge voting divides between London, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the rest of the UK. This report examines… Continue Reading
Comment (Almost) every part of the country is celebrating Britain’s latest jobs surge 19 March 2019 by Charlie McCurdy We’re now a decade on from the Great Recession where the UK’s labour market took a turn for the worse. Back in 2009, we were panicking that unemployment could hit… Continue Reading
Publications Low pay in Greater Manchester: A report for the Greater Manchester Independent Prosperity Review 5 March 2019 by Conor D’Arcy and Laura Gardiner and Fahmida Rahman In this report, we provide an in-depth look at low pay in Greater Manchester. We explore who is in the low-paid workforce, the jobs they work in, their routes out… Continue Reading
Comment Why city regions should be leading the charge on tackling low pay 3 March 2019 by Fahmida Rahman Low pay in Britain is an issue of national importance. With around one-in-five employees classed as low paid, the share of Brits who fall into this category remains well above… Continue Reading
