Latest News from STICERD

Special event: Launch of the Social Policy in a Cold Climate research programme

Tue, 14 May 2013

CASE would like to invite you to the launch of Social Policy in a Cold Climate

Monday 1st July 2013, 11.00 am - 12.30 pm, followed by a reception with lunch provided.

Venue: Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building, London School of Economics.

The event will present the initial findings from the Social Policy in a Cold Climate programme, which presents a comprehensive final assessment of the impact of the New Labour government and a baseline position for the Coalition goverment. Looking at the key areas of tax and social security, early years education, and health and social care it considers:

What did the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown aim to do?
What did they spend to achieve these objectives, in real terms and in historic and international perspective?
What did the money produce?
How did economic and social outcomes change overall, and in particular how did the distribution of social outcomes change, widening or narrowing gaps, between and within social groups?

Later papers will provide similar analysis of the first years of the Coalition social policies.

In addition, the event will launch the latest update to the National Equalities Panel report which examines how outcomes have changed for different groups following the recession

The event will start with an introduction on behalf of the main funders, then:

An overview of the main findings of the Social Policy in a Cold Climate work by Dr Ruth Lupton
An overview of the update on the National Equalities Panel survey, by Professor John Hills
Three responses from a panel of comentators:
- James Kempton of Centre Forum
- Matt Oakley of Policy Exchange
- Nick Pearce of IPPR
Questions and discussion

The event will be followed by a buffet lunch and an opportunity to explore some of the data using the new website data exploration tools.

To reserve your place email Cheryl Conner

Directions and information about attending events at LSE can be found here

Podcast video and audio recordings of the event will be available

Special event: Visit to STICERD by Toyota, 10th May 2013

Fri, 10 May 2013

STICERD were very pleased to welcome Mr Masanori Nohara (Executive Director and Coordinator, Toyota (GB) PLC), accompanied by Mr Nobuyuki Shimizu, on Friday 10th May 2013. Following a tour of STICERD’s new offices, Mr Nohara and Mr Shimizu were introduced to members of some of our research programmes and heard about the benefits of STICERD being co-located with the Economics Department. Mrs Yoko Morishima and Prof Sutton talked about the history of the establishment of the Centre, and Mr Nohara recalled Toyota’s historic links to England’s industrial past. The meeting was very instructive for everyone and we hope to welcome representatives from Toyota to other events in the future.

Present were (l to r):
Prof John Sutton, Mrs Morishima, Prof Janet Hunter, Mr Shimizu, Mr Nohara, Prof Oriana Bandiera, Dr Francesco Nava, Ms Jane Dickson, Prof Maitreesh Ghatak and Prof Javier Hidalgo.

Special event: Launch of new book 'Wealth in the UK: Distribution, Accumulation and Policy'

Wed, 8 May 2013

CASE would like to invite you to the launch of a new book being published by the Oxford University Press

Wealth in the UK: Distribution, Accumulation, and Policy

By John Hills, Francesca Bastagli, Frank Cowell, Howard Glennerster, Eleni Karagiannaki, and Abigail McKnight

Wednesday 22nd May, 6.30 pm to 7.45 pm

This is a public (unticketed) LSE event, open to all.
Venue: Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building, London School of Economics.

Directions and information about attending events at LSE can be found here

This new book presents findings from a research programme on the distribution of wealth carried out in CASE over the last few years with the support of the Nuffield Foundation and Economic and Social Research Council. It presents new information on wealth inequality and how it has changed, how people accumulate wealth through capital gains and inheritance, and the effects of wealth-holding on life chances. It argues that despite its great importance, public policies towards personal wealth are inconsistent, contradictory and often regressive.Â

The event will be chaired by Howard Glennerster, Emeritus Professor of Social Policy, LSE. John Hills and Abigail McKnight introduce some of the main findings, followed by a general discussion. The event will be followed by an informal reception.

EOPP: Recent Publications: Can Basic Entrepreneurship Transform the Economic Lives of the Poor?

Mon, 29 Apr 2013

Abstract

The world’s poorest people lack capital and skills and toil for others in occupations that others shun. Using a large-scale and long-term randomized control trial in Bangladesh this paper demonstrates that sizable transfers of assets and skills enable the poorest women to shift out of agricultural labor and into running small businesses. This shift, which persists and strengthens after assistance is withdrawn, leads to a 38% increase in earnings. Inculcating basic entrepreneurship, where severely disadvantaged women take on occupations which were the preserve of non-poor women, is shown to be a powerful means of transforming the economic lives of the poor.

Keywords: asset transfers, capital constraints, vocational training, occupational
choice, structural change, poverty.

Link to the paper

LSE Housing Plus Think Tank: Welfare Reform and Poverty: the next big challenge for social landlords

Fri, 19 Apr 2013

Tuesday 4th June 2013
National Communities Resource Centre, Trafford Hall, near Chester

Chaired by Professor Anne Power, London School of Economics and Liz Richardson, University of Manchester

An open forum led by LSE Housing and Communities to uncover the positive contributions of social landlords and demonstrate their value.

For more information, please see the Think Tank summary and programme as well as the full programme.

Good measures matter: Ruth Lupton explains why many social policy academics disagree with the governments proposed reforms to measures of child poverty

Wed, 6 Mar 2013

Good measures matter: the government should stick with the child poverty measure it has got

Ruth Lupton explains why many social policy academics disagree with the governments proposed reforms to measures of child poverty in a for the British Politics and Policy at LSE blog.

She says that for one, the proposals appear to downplay the importance of income. Research shows that income is a key driver of child outcomes. It should be measured in its own right. That doesn’t mean that other things shouldn’t be measured as well – the idea that child poverty is about more than just income has broad support. But combining all the indicators into one measure, as the government proposes, is fraught with difficulty, conceptually and methodologically. Read full blog post here

British Politics and Policy at LSE Blog: Kitty Stewart and Ludovica Gambaro discuss plans for allowing childcare staff to mind more children

Tue, 5 Mar 2013

Deregulating ratios without improving qualifications first is a recipe for a more chaotic and less nurturing environment for young children

Ludovica Gambaro and Kitty Stewart argue that the plans for allowing childcare staff to mind more children than currently allowed has merit, although there are significant problems. Their work suggests that there may indeed be potential gains in allowing ratios to rise if this allows for a more highly qualified workforce. However, the proposed qualification level is too low and relaxing ratios will not automatically be passed on to staff in the form of higher wages. Improving qualifications should come before deregulating ratios. Read full blog post here

Child Poverty Measurement Consultation: CASE response

Fri, 15 Feb 2013

CASE makes the case for continuing income poverty measures – and a complementary dashboard

The CASE response to the Government’s consultation on the measurement of child poverty was submitted on 15 February. Available here are the summary covering letter and the questionnaire response. At the same time John Hills, CASE Director, was one of the co signatories to a letter to the Guardian, which is feeding into the continuing wider debate and responses. (CASE is not responsible for the content of these external websites)

Ruth Lupton explains why many social policy academics disagree with the governments proposed reforms to measures of child poverty in a blog for British Politics and Policy at LSE.

CASE is working on a range of related projects including Social Policy in a Cold Climate, which is a review of the impact of economic and political change in the UK since 2007 with particular focus on poverty, inequality, and spatial impacts. The first set of papers, covering the impact of the policies of the previous labour administration, are due to be released midyear.
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Housing Plus Think Tank: Tackling an uncertain future: Are social landlords a problem or solution?

Wed, 13 Feb 2013

Wednesday 13th February 2013
National Communities Resource Centre, Trafford Hall, near Chester

Chaired by Professor Anne Power, London School of Economics and Liz Richardson, University of Manchester

An open forum led by LSE Housing and Communities to uncover the positive contributions of social landlords and demonstrate their value.

For more information, please see the think tank programme, summary, and Themes from Housing Plus Think Tank.

Housing Plus: LSE Housing and Communities collaborate with the University of Manchester on new research project.

Wed, 13 Feb 2013

Housing is high on the policy agenda due to increasing demand for social and other low-cost options, growing inequality between areas, the urgency of reducing energy use and fuel poverty, the shortage of quality affordable renting, and land costs and population pressures. Current debates on the direction of housing policy focus on freed-up planning, localism and the Big Society, whilst seriously reduced funding streams threaten the core activities of housing providers. This project will bring together high-level strategic thinkers with ground-level providers and tenants, to work out how current government changes will affect different groups, and to propose an agenda for social housing providers to work through the changes. In a time of resource constraints, public spending cuts, decline in support of affordable housing, and rising poverty and inequality, housing has risen up the political agenda.

The first Think Tank, on Housing and Affordability, will take place at Trafford Hall on Wednesday 13th February, with a dinner and informal debate the night before.

For more information, please see the think tank programme and summary.