Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the country has become more aware and appreciative of the workers now called ‘key workers’. However, organisational change and deregulation over recent years has led to high levels of job degradation in key work sectors. In this blog, Gail Hebson and Miguel Martínez Lucio introduce and present research from a range […]
The voluntary and community sector and COVID-19: Going to war without ammunition?
COVID-19 has forced us all to rethink how to maintain social connections in the neighbourhoods where we live and work. For the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE), this has meant a rapid rethink in how to provide services whilst observing social distancing guidelines. In this blog, Sophie Yarker and Kirsty Bagnall, along with Tine Buffel, Patty […]
Building back a gender balanced better – devolution, growth and equalities
As the initial period of lockdown is slowly relaxed, the policy agenda in all parts of the UK is turning to examine recovery from the economic devastation caused by the pandemic. Policymakers in our major city regions are considering how to start up and stimulate economic activity where safe to do so; help firms and […]
Locked down by inequality: Why place matters for older people during COVID-19
Older people have borne the brunt of deaths from COVID-19, whether in hospital or in care homes. At the same time, the coronavirus emergency sits alongside a crisis in many of the communities in which older people live. In this blog, Chris Phillipson, Camilla Lewis, Tine Buffel, Patty Doran and Sophie Yarker examine how the […]
Examining the impact of social distancing on older adults
Social distancing has transformed the lives of everyone in society. However, some groups have been affected more than others, such as those already socially isolated, people in poor health, or those living in low-income communities. In this blog, Tine Buffel, Patty Doran, Camilla Lewis, Chris Phillipson and Sophie Yarker, from the Manchester Urban Ageing Research […]
What COVID-19 tells us about the value of human labour
In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, a radical reassessment of what is considered ‘key work’ has taken place. For many key workers, however, this status is not reflected in their salary, employment rights, or social perception. Here, Abbie Winton and Professor Debra Howcroft, from the Work and Equalities Institute, discuss the disproportionate risk/reward equation […]
Can we ‘level up’ transport infrastructure across the UK?
Professor Diane Coyle and Dr Marianne Sensier have recently conducted research comparing transport infrastructure projects that have used HM Treasury’s Green Book. In this blog they argue that this methodology, alongside political prioritisation of projects in and around London, has reinforced existing success in wealthy, already highly productive parts of the UK. Future infrastructure investment […]
Lesbian and gay foster care and adoption: what’s changed over the last 20 years?
For LGBT+ Adoption and Fostering Week 2019, Dr Stephen Hicks, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, discusses the changes in policy over the last 20 years and the impact they have had on LGBTQ+ adopters and foster carers. Only 18 years ago, same-sex couples were not legally able jointly to adopt, and Section 28 of the […]
Empire and the World War One Centenary: Remembrance as racialisation?
Dr Meghan Tinsley, a Presidential Fellow in Ethnicity and Inequalities, reflects on the four years of the First World War centenary, asking to what extent collective memory of the war remains white and Eurocentric. She argues that in pursuit of a more global narrative of past and present, history curricula should emphasise three themes: the […]
Where next for SPL: reflections on the Women and Equalities Committee’s ‘Fathers and the Workplace’ inquiry recommendations
Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee today released its report from the Fathers and the Workplace inquiry which highlights the difficulties dads have in balancing their careers and childcare responsibilities. Dr Emma Banister from Alliance Manchester Business School and Dr Ben Kerrane from Lancaster University Management School give us their thoughts on the report’s recommendations. It […]