This report from UK think tank Carnegie UK measures wellbeing in England in 2026. This is the latest edition of our annual Life in the UK - England index, now with four years’ worth of data trends, enabling us to take a slightly longer-term view of how people across England are living. Disappointingly, for the...

This report from UK think tank the David Hume Institute states that Scotland needs to ensure that curriculum flexibility translates into meaningful opportunities for learners. National Progression Awards (NPAs) are becoming an increasingly important part of Scotland's senior phase curriculum. However, recorded school-centre provision varies considerably, and learners may face uncertainty about how NPAs are...

This report from UK think tank the Sutton Trust offers recommendations to improve apprenticeship completion for young people. Apprenticeships are having their moment. While our major political parties are divided on several aspects of education policy, they share a belief that apprenticeships hold great potential for young people. But this potential is not currently being...

This report from UK think tank Carnegie UK measures collective wellbeing across Scotland in 2026. This is the latest edition of our annual Life in the UK - Scotland index, now with four years’ worth of data trends, enabling us to take a slightly longer-term view of how people across Scotland are living. Encouragingly, Scotland’s...

This report from UK think tank Re:State discusses the findings from their new Alternative People survey. Re:State’s new Alternative People Survey, run with Civil Service World and Public First, asked 1,747 civil servants how Whitehall is really working. The new Government has moved quickly to reorganise the centre, but the Survey suggests that structural change...

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities focuses on good growth across the country. As the barriers to good growth vary across the country, local government – mayors and strategic authorities in particular – is best positioned to tailor interventions to local needs. Because of this, the devolution of powers and responsibilities that...

This report from UK think take the Institute for Policy Research examines public attitudes towards parental leave reform through a survey of more than 2,500 people. The UK’s parental leave system offers relatively long maternity leave but much of it is poorly paid, while fathers and partners have very little well-paid leave of their own....

This report from UK think tank the Institute for Policy Research discusses what a redesigned parental leave system might look like. The report discusses what a redesigned parental leave system might look like. Rather than focusing on individual elements of the system in isolation, the report argues that the government should look at maternity, paternity...

This report from UK think tank Re:State calls for the Government to scrap Jobcentre Plus and create a new model for employment support and benefits administration. Britain’s employment support system is failing the people who need it most. Its backbone – Jobcentre Plus – remains a highly centralised, one-size-fits-all institution, despite the importance of local...

This report from UK think tank the Policy Institute explores women's experiences of returning to employment later in life and rebuilding retirement security. Policies to extend working lives increasingly seek to support people over 50 to return to employment. Yet we know relatively little about the role of pensions in this return, especially for women...

This report from UK think tank Re:State provides a series of ready to implement productsthat can be used to rewire Whitehall. Re:State’s A New Civil Service Performance Management Policy argues that Whitehall’s approach to managing performance is too weak at dealing with persistent underperformance. Drawing on departmental policies obtained through FOI requests and Re:State’s 2025...

This report from UK think tank City-REDI examines the geographic inequalities in young people who are not in employment, education or training across the UK. This report argues that the UK's rising NEET rate is not just a youth skills or health issue, but a geographical and economic one, with large differences between local areas...

This report from UK think tank Centre for Cities explores how other G7 countries address geography in minimum wage policy. The UK has one of the highest minimum wages in the OECD. The National Living Wage is now £12.71 an hour, meeting the Government’s target of two-thirds of median national earnings. In previous research we...

This report from UK think tank the Fabian Society explores why employment status is essential to making work pay. Employment status is high stakes. An individual’s employment status determines their rights and protections at work, as well as the requirements employers and engagers can make of their time. Yet identifying whether someone is an employee,...

This report from UK think tank Bright Blue proposes a new deal for the self-employed. The UK is currently home to 4.57 million self-employed: a number which has grown consistently over the past four decades. Yet, despite their growing numbers, the self-employed have access to a much poorer safety net than employees. This is even...

Government must do more to tackle insecure work in the UK By Rebecca Florisson (The Work Foundation) The recent Queen’s speech indicated that the much-anticipated Employment Bill has again been delayed. This Bill could have played an important role in addressing severely insecure work. Proposals to improve job quality and security as set out in...

The coronavirus crisis means we are facing huge changes and disruption in the labour market but what are these likely to be and who will be most affected by them? Covid-19 has accelerated change for workers already facing disruption By Josh Abey (Fabian Society) Covid-19 has pulled the rug from underneath millions of workers and...