Civitas

Civitas: Institute for the Study of Civil Society is a cross-party think tank which strives to benefit public debate through independent research, reasoned argument, and open discussion – standing apart from party politics and transitory intellectual fashions.

Civitas’ output has covered issues ranging from education & skills, to crime and defence as well as answering the fundamental questions on how to improve economic growth, social cohesion and civil society. In recent years, strong focuses of work have been on family and schools, reforms to governance through to trade and industrial policy. Ongoing projects currently include improving small business access to skills and affordable energy, developing new ideas for childcare funding and improving food security.

Uniquely among think tanks, Civitas has always played an active, practical part in rebuilding civil society by running schools on Saturdays and after-school hours so that children who are falling behind at school can achieve their full potential.


Latest reports

Marriage and the stable society

This report from UK think tank Civitas looks at the continued importance of marriage. Marriage has undergone a remarkable decline in the UK. The marriage rate has fallen two thirds in 50 years; and in 2021, for the first time, more than half of babies were born to unmarried parents. We also see a growing...

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Restoring the value of parishes

This report from UK think tank Civitas diagnoses what has gone wrong with the Church of England in recent years, and makes the case for returning to what works. The parish church has been a foundational part of cultural life in England for hundreds of years. England’s 12,500 parish churches are ‘treasure houses’ of national...

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Living with the Dragon

This report from UK think tank Civitas examines what a coherent UK policy towards China would look like. China is becoming the most serious challenge to UK and the West, due to its economic growth, military strength, and fast-developing foreign policy in relation to its territorial claims and record on human rights. These developments are...

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SME manufacturers: Meeting the challenges of affordable energy and a skilled workforce

This report from UK think tank Civitas looks at the challenges and obstacles facing SME manufacturers. In this report, Civitas researchers surveyed a selection of small-to-medium-sized enterprise (SME) UK manufacturing companies to find out what their greatest challenges and obstacles are. The survey found that the two issues that most concern SME manufacturers are high...

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Teachers or parents: Who is responsible for raising the next generation?

This report from UK think tank Civitas explores the changing roles of teachers and parents in raising children. Earlier this year, Labour leader Keir Starmer announced plans for primary teachers to supervise pupils brushing their teeth during the school day, to address rising rates of dental problems in young children. Meanwhile, teachers complain that increasing...

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A whole new ball game:

This report from UK think tank Civitas analyses the priorities for new regulation in football. The governance of the men’s football industry in England has been the subject of extensive debate and speculation since the publication of the Fan-Led Review into football in 2021. The majority of the 47 recommendations made in the initial review...

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Boosting Britain’s food exports

This report from UK think tank Civitas analyses our food exports prospects and what can we learn from Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Norway. This report analyses prospects for food exports, especially Asia and North America. It analyses long-term trends in the UK’s trade in food. It identifies the products in which we have...

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Back to basics: what is childcare policy for?

This report from UK think tank Civitas suggests reforms that would re-orient childcare policy towards the objective of supporting parents. Childcare is a larger political priority in the UK than it ever has been before, and the target of unprecedented, and growing, levels of public spending. Despite this, there is little clarity on what the...

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Sovereign Wealth funds: what’s the big idea… and what could it mean for Britain?

This report from UK think tank Civitas sets out a definition and understanding of sovereign wealth funds. Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are often discussed as government-owned investment funds with their benefits returning to the government and citizens – and which invests its assets according to the interests of the national sovereign sponsor. They play an...

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Independent schools: what does the public think?

This report from UK think tank Civitas looks at public support for the right of independent schools to exist. Civitas's Commission on the Future for Independent Schools is currently undertaking a major programme of research on independent schools and their role in England today. We are hoping to contribute to the public discussion by providing...

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Universal childcare: is it good for children?

This report from UK think tank Civitas investigates whether universal childcare is good for children. All of the UK’s major political parties have recently declared their intentions to significantly expand state subsidies for childcare outside the home, including for babies from the age of nine months. It’s frequently said that universal “early childhood education” is...

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‘Islamophobia’ revisited

This report from UK think tank Civitas looks at how Islamophobia is defined by local authorities. Islamophobia Revisited by Hardeep Singh builds on a previous collection of essays on Islamophobia published by Civitas in August 2019. Hardeep Singh returns to this topic, and in Islamophobia Revisited conducts a thorough investigation into how Islamophobia is defined...

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Breaking the care ceiling

This report from UK think tank Civitas looks at how many care leavers go to university. This Civitas report provides new evidence on the number of care leavers who go to university in the UK alongside the first-ever league table of care leavers at UK universities. In 2022 the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care...

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Fixing Human Rights Law

This report from UK think tank Civitas looks at what has gone wrong with contemporary human rights legislation. Fixing Human Rights Law by Dr. Michael Arnheim, a practising barrister, Sometime Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge and author of 23 published books to date, provides an overview of what has gone wrong with contemporary human...

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BBC impartiality and the problem of bias

This report from UK think tank Civitas examines bias and impartiality within BBC Bitesize and BBC Teach. Dr. Richard Norrie (former director of the statistics and policy research programme at Civitas) examines bias and impartiality within BBC Bitesize and BBC Teach, the organisation’s educational output aimed at younger audiences. In this Civitas publication, Dr. Norrie...

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