IPPR

IPPR is an independent charity working towards a fairer, greener and more prosperous society. We are researchers, communicators, and policy experts creating tangible progressive change, turning ideas that seem impossible into common sense realities. Working across the UK, IPPR, IPPR North and IPPR Scotland are deeply connected to the people of our nations and regions, and the issues they face.  

We have helped shape national conversations and progressive policy change for more than 30 years. From making the early case for the minimum wage and tackling regional inequality, to proposing a windfall tax on energy companies, IPPR’s research and policy work has responded directly to the crises facing society. 

Today, our work drives social, democratic, environmental and economic progress by securing: 

  • Well-funded and reformed public services (health, care, housing, education) and social security that ensures everyone has access to the basics they need to flourish. 
  • A renewed democracy which gives everyone a voice in society, ensures equal access to our rights and passes power down to people, places, and communities. 
  • A modern, green economy that delivers prosperity and justice to all people and places through actively shaping markets for social good and tackling concentrations of wealth and power. 

Our major projects all aim to support this. IPPR’s Centre for Economic Justice is reshaping the debate on the UK economy, building on our landmark commission report, Prosperity and Justice. Our Fair Transition Unit looks at how to achieve net zero and restore nature both quickly and fairly, expanding on the findings of our cross-party Environmental Justice Commission. Through our Commission on Health and Prosperity we are making the case that good health is a keystone of a strong economy; and we are addressing the challenge of place-based inequalities through our work on progressive ‘levelling up’. 

IPPR receives funding from a wide range of sources including leading trusts and foundations, and has been awarded the highest rating (A) for transparency from Open Democracy’s Who Funds You? project.


Latest reports

Healthy industry, prosperous economy

This report from UK think tank IPPR proposes a new approach to harmonise public health and industrial policy. If we want both health and prosperity, then public health and economic strategy need to work in lockstep – but this is not the case today. While there is a tendency in health policy to focus on...

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Half of us: turnout patterns at the 2024 general election

This report from UK think tank IPPR takes a first look at who spoke in the 2024 UK general election. One-half of adults in this country voted at the 2024 general election, the lowest share of the population to vote since universal suffrage. This report takes a first look at who spoke in the 2024...

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Rock bottom: low investment in the UK economy

This report from UK think tank IPPR discusses low investment in the UK economy. The UK’s investment performance is still worse than every other G7 country, new data shows. Compared to Japan, the USA, Germany, France, Italy and Canada, the UK languished in last place for business investment in 2022, a spot we have now...

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A second wind: maximising the economic opportunity for UK wind manufacturing

This report from UK think tank IPPR argues for a green industrial strategy for the wind sector that should focus on expanding the UK’s wind manufacturing. In terms of offshore wind capacity, the UK is second in the world only to China. Yet in the next seven years, the UK must install triple the amount...

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An electoral strategy for childcare

This report from UK think tank IPPR outlines their findings from their survey about perceptions of our childcare system. The public are ambitious about the potential role of childcare and early education. With a UK general election now announced, political parties should consider how they can meet this motivation with an improved early years offer....

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Moving together: a people-focussed pathway to fairer and greener transport

This report from UK think tank IPPR argues that the path to net zero has to be about the real-world impact. All decarbonisation pathways must be designed with people, and the principles of a just and fair transition, as their starting point.IPPR has been working to explore what a fair transition to net zero transport...

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Skills matter: shaping a just transition for workers in the energy sector

This report from UK think tank IPPR argues that delivering a just transition must include developing an understanding of future career options for energy sector workers. The transition to a net zero economy is both a necessity and an opportunity for the UK. In this report, we focus on the challenges workers face in the...

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Manufacturing matters: the cornerstone of a competitive green economy

This report from UK think tank IPPR makes the case for building green manufacturing in the UK. We make the case for building green manufacturing in the UK, and put forward a framework for how to make choices about which capabilities we most need. UK manufacturing has declined far more than other advanced economies in...

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Mission-driven government

This report from UK think tank IPPR aims to establish what 'mission-driven government' means in practice. This paper explores how and why the next government will need to be innovative in seeking to renew government for the 2020s. Successive government in previous decades – especially the Labour Party in 1997 – have radically reformed Whitehall....

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State of the North 2024: Charting the course for a decade of renewal

This report from UK think tank IPPR assesses our current course and proposes five priority areas for a decade of renewal. The North’s communities are ambitious for a better future, but face systemic and pronounced inequalities. Gaps in power, wealth, opportunity, and health result in shorter, sicker, less fulfilling lives. Regional inequality is a major...

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Snakes and ladders: Tackling precarity in social security and employment support

This report from UK think tank IPPR looks at tackling precarity in social security and employment support. Across the country, people are trying to make ends meet, build financial security and pursue their aspirations. But, in a vicious cycle of snakes and ladders, many are being pulled down into poverty. This paper advocates for two...

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Broken hearted: a spotlight paper on cardiovascular disease

This report from UK think tank IPPR looks at how we need to raise our ambition on cardiovascular disease. Progress on cardiovascular disease was a significant driver of better health and prosperity in the latter half of the 20th century, however progress has recently stalled – with indications it may be in reverse. Stalling progress...

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Stride and ride

This report from UK think tank IPPR looks at England's path from laggard to leader in walking, wheeling, and cycling. There is overwhelming evidence that investment in active travel infrastructure brings significant benefits. These include large returns on investment, addressing emissions from road transport, reducing regional inequalities, and improving health. Despite this, investment has remained...

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Healthy places, prosperous lives

This report from UK think tank IPPR identifies examples of transformative place-level interventions in the UK which are already making a difference. The UK is getting poorer and sicker, and this trend is not equal across the country. Poorer and sicker areas are getting poorer and sicker the most quickly. To help develop a path...

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Who decides? Influence and inequality in British democracy

This report from UK think tank IPPR looks at how power and influence are distributed unequally across our society. If there is one thing that unites people in this country, it is their disdain for Westminster. People have generally had enough of paying for the mistakes of politicians. This deeply held sentiment will not be...

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