The concerning trend of precarious work is increasingly the focus of policymakers and researchers. Here, Kristian Fuzi and Professor Debora Price advocate for greater attention to the multiplicity of sectors and the widening age range of the workforce now affected by these working conditions. Precarious work trends have serious consequences for the financial security of workers […]
Don’t worry about the future, what about the ‘now of work’?
Amongst all the competing predictions about what the future of work might hold, the challenges of achieving decent work in the foundational economy have been largely overlooked. Here, Dr Mat Johnson and Dr Eva Herman argue that the focus should be on making tangible improvements to the working lives of those in the frontline roles that keep […]
Extending working lives – healthy ageing in the workplace
One in three workers in the UK are aged over 50 – with this figure set to rise in coming decades. Current government employment policy is to encourage over 50s to either to remain or return to work. However, the lasting impacts of COVID-19, along with caring, health, and work issues facing older workers, are […]
‘I am terribly hard up’: How looking at historical experiences of women’s offending can help to address current problems of benefit fraud.
Women are disproportionately represented in convictions for benefit fraud: in 2019, females made up 55% of the 98 summary convictions and 58% of the 1160 convictions for indictable benefit fraud offences. Since women’s convictions and custodial sentences are acknowledged to cause significant harm to them and their children, it is important to look at strategies that […]
Workplace violence and aggression – employees on the frontline
Workplace violence and aggression (WVA) is a serious social issue with profound negative consequences for individuals, teams, organisations, and society. The risk of WVA from the public (third parties) is a growing concern, with evidence indicating that incidents increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even ‘after’ COVID (after pandemic restrictions have ended), increased rates of WVA […]
Accelerating the electric vehicle transition in the UK
Following the publication of the industrial strategy in 2017, in which Theresa May attempted to envisage a post-Brexit future, electric vehicles (EVs) were identified as an important opportunity for the UK political economy. Yet, despite the almost annual publications that reiterated the need for EVs to become a significant feature of the UK, attempts to […]
Running on empty: How charities are running on empty in the cost-of-living crisis – and what we can do about it.
The voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector works alongside local and national governments to provide support for residents. But alongside facing their own struggles as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, charities and community organisations are also being relied on more and more by people and local organisations. In this article, from our Power […]
Targeting the ‘(professional) enablers’ of economic crime
The UK government has published its second Economic Crime Plan (ECP2), which aims to reinforce the government’s priorities in relation to economic crime in (or affecting) the UK. ECP2 arrives at a time of considerable political attention on economic crime, with the global focus on kleptocracy and increased use of financial sanctions following Russia’s invasion […]
Levelling up or widening the gap?
There are deep-rooted regional inequalities in health and wealth across England. ‘Levelling Up’ is the UK Government’s flagship policy to redress these inequalities through additional investment, with the Community Renewal Fund (CRF) one strand of this funding. In this article, Christine Camacho and Dr Luke Munford examine the allocation of the first round of the […]
Graphene as a regional-global innovation model
A new national policy report has identified the graphene innovation ecosystem at Manchester as a regional hub for international partnership and investment. In this article, James Baker explores how this success demonstrates that research and development (R&D) investment into specialist regional clusters like Graphene@Manchester provides national government with an excellent return on investment as they […]