Skip to main content

Media Coverage

CEP research in the news.

Coverage from 2020

Financial Times
Covid crisis threatens UK boom in self-employed work

New research by Jack Blundell, Steven Machin and Maria Ventura finds a fifth of the self-employed workforce expect to leave self-employment as a result of the Covid-19 crisis; and the proportion is h... Read more...

23 November 2020

The Guardian
A million people may quit self-employment in Covid-hit UK – study

Survey findings from Jack Blundell, Stephen Machin and Maria Ventura finds the trend of more people working for themselves under threat during the Covid-19 pandemic. A fifth of the self-employed... Read more...

10 November 2020

The Times
Self-employed switching to regular jobs

A survey by Jack Blundell, Stephen Machin and Maria Ventura finds one in five self-employed workers plan to switch to other forms of employment because of Covid-19. ... Read more...

10 November 2020

The Telegraph
Alter A-levels and GCSEs to take into account lost learning, parents demand

New research by Lee Elliot Major finds the majority of parents with school aged children feel that exams should be amended to compensate for learning loss resulting from Covid-19. ... Read more...

6 November 2020

BBC
'Generation Covid' hit hard by the pandemic, research reveals

BBC Panorama reports on CEP research, fiding people aged 16-25 were more than twice as likely as older workers to have lost their job, while six in 10 saw their earnings fall, according to new research. ... Read more...

26 October 2020

The Telegraph
Only six in ten pupils are getting full education despite schools reopening, report finds

During late September and early October, just 59 per cent of pupils benefitted from “full schooling”, says new report. ... Read more...

26 October 2020

TES
Revealed: UTC attainment gap for pre and post-16s

New research finds that while 14-year-olds who enrol at University Technical Colleges (UTCs) get significantly worse GCSE results than their peers, 16-year-olds who enrol at a UTC outperform their peers in sk... Read more...

14 October 2020

The Guardian
Only radical reform can fix Britain's broken ladder of social mobility

Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin argue how political reform is needed to solve issues with social mobility resulting from Covid-19. They explain that the findings of their review of evidence on social mobil... Read more...

7 October 2020

Department for International Trade
CEP associates to join new UK trade panel

Two Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) associates are members of a new expert trade panel set up to support UK trade negotiations. The Department for International Trade (DIT) has said that Professor Ton... Read more...

30 September 2020

The Express
GENERATION COVID: Britain's under-25s will never recover from this

COVID-19 was the great equaliser, it was claimed during the early days of the pandemic. Lee Elliot Major explains that the virus didn't care whether you were rich or poor. We were all in it together. ... Read more...

25 September 2020

British Medical Journal
Taking a wellbeing-years approach to policy choice

Every day, policy makers have to decide whether a policy is desirable by examining its impact on a whole range of outcomes. But the problem is how to aggregate these disparate outcomes. Richard Layard et al&nb... Read more...

24 September 2020

Economics Observatory
Will coronavirus cause a big city exodus?

Big cities thrive because of the economic and social benefits of proximity – but proximity also helps to spread Covid-19. Does this mean an end to the big city revival of recent years? Much will depend o... Read more...

23 September 2020

BNN Bloomberg
The world is losing the money laundering fight

Amidst increasing levels of money laundering, Tom Kirchmaier suggests a three-step solution to the issues faced by banks. ... Read more...

21 September 2020

The Economist
Covid-19 has forced a radical shift in working habits

The Economist examines the benefits of working from home in light of lockdown, and cites findings made by Nick Bloom that those who worked from home were more productive. ... Read more...

12 September 2020

TES
'Big concerns’ over Covid catch-up tutors shortage

Lee Elliot Major, who used to head up the Sutton Trust, which is helping to deliver the scheme, said there were now "big concerns" over whether there was sufficient capacity to support... Read more...

9 September 2020

The Guardian
How coronavirus piled misery on India's workers

Shania Bhalotia, Swati Dhingra and Fjolla Kondirolli examine the impact of lockdown imposed in late March on more than 8,500 urban workers, finding 52% went without work or pay during lockdown, while less than... Read more...

6 September 2020

Bloomberg
India’s Gen Z Risks Getting Left Out of Formal Jobs, Study Says

India has been struggling with an unemployment problem and the coronavirus pandemic. New research by Shania Bhalotia, Swati Dhingra and Fjolla Kondirolli, finds Federal and state governments recogniz... Read more...

1 September 2020

Blogs: LSE Business Review
Why we need to do something about the monopsony power of employers

Why we need to do something about the monopsony power of employers - Alan Manning writes about how monopsony lowers worker mobility and wages, in this new blog article at LSE. ... Read more...

26 August 2020

ESRC
Professor John Van Reenen to lead £5m research programme into boosting UK productivity

A multi-million-pound research programme to help boost UK productivity is to be led by Professor John Van Reenen, associate and former director of the Centre for Economic Performance. The Programme on Innov... Read more...

21 August 2020

The Independent
Low-income workers three times more likely to have hours cut during pandemic then high-income workers

'Realistic' unemployment rate is 15 per cent, and disadvantaged groups are much more likely to be affected, finds new research by Brian Bell, Mihai Codreanu and Stephen Machin. ... Read more...

17 August 2020

The Telegraph
The future of skyscrapers: a mile high, slimmer than ever and made from wood

Paul Cheshire, associate of the CEP, talks about how planning rules shape London and why big-name trophy architects are used so often, in this piece about the future of skyscrapers. ... Read more...

30 July 2020

The Guardian
Brexit will deliver double shock to UK economy, study finds

Sectors unscathed from coronavirus crisis face being severely affected by Brexit, finds a report from Dr Swati Dhingra and Josh De Lyon. ... Read more...

28 July 2020

Local Government Chronicle
Pay rather than visa system will tackle social care recruitment

Employers are not vocal enough about the need for higher pay, writes Alan Manning, former chair of the government's Migration Advisory Committee and professor of economics aat LSE. ... Read more...

21 July 2020

The Guardian
Domestic abuse calls to London police rise by a tenth during lockdown

An increase in the number of domestic abuse calls to the police during lockdown was largely due to a rise in reports from third parties such as neighbours, rather than from victims, find Dr Ria Ivandi... Read more...

15 July 2020

World Politics Review
To Save the Economy From COVID-19, Protect Informal Workers

In India, the pandemic reportedly tripled the unemployment rate in just three weeks, and the vast majority of those newly unemployed worked were in the informal sector. The government respo... Read more...

14 July 2020

The Guardian
End of the office: the quiet, grinding loneliness of working from home

The assumption has been that remote workers slack without direct supervision. But do they? Economist Nick Bloom staged a trial – the first of its kind – involving 250 members of a Ctrip call cen... Read more...

14 July 2020

The Telegraph
Social care targets UK jobless as Government closes off migrant recruitment in new points system

Social care companies are starting to tap into the growing pool of potential employees who have lost jobs in the Covid-19 crisis.  Alan Manning, former Chair of the Government's Migration Advisory ... Read more...

14 July 2020

BBC Two
Newsnight

Interview with Swati Dhingra - industries that have weathered Covid could be hit by Brexit. ... Read more...

14 July 2020

The Economist
Roland Fryer on better alternatives to defunding the police

Using police presence to estimate the impact of police on crime is exceedingly difficult, but has been done in at least one impressive case study. Using data from the 2005 London terror attacks, M... Read more...

10 July 2020

The Independent
'Screaming and smashing around': Surge in neighbours and family members reporting domestic abuse to police in lockdown

A new study, carried out by the London School of Economics, said police have seen around 380 more domestic violence calls per week on average as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. Finding the cause is &ldqu... Read more...

2 July 2020

The Independent
Lockdown burnout: Women face mental exhaustion as they juggle childcare, housework and jobs

Professor Barbara Petrongolo talks to the Independent about her research into how women are more likely to deal with homeschooling, childcare and chores around the house, even if they are working. ... Read more...

1 June 2020

The Express
Schools reopening UK: Why school days may be LONGER post-lockdown; SCHOOLS in the UK may reopen with longer days to prevent a "dark age" of low social mobility.

CEP's director Professor Stephen Machin, co-author of the report, Covid-19 and social mobility, notes how: "We need to develop bold policies for now and the longer term to ensure the economic rec... Read more...

29 May 2020

The Telegraph
Schools need to be open longer to allow 'Covid generation' to catch up after lockdown

Intervention is needed to prevent children entering a 'dark age' of declining social mobility due to social inequalities, says the report Covid-19 and social mobility by Professor Lee Elliot Major... Read more...

28 May 2020

The Financial Times
Aid for UK self-employed in doubt despite pledge of ‘parity’ with furloughing

A report on self-employed workers mentions the survey conducted by Jack Blundell and Professor Stephen Machin, of the London School of Economics’ Centre for Economic Performance, which showed self-e... Read more...

28 May 2020

The Guardian
Pandemic damages life prospects of all young Britons, report says

The "Covid generation" of under-25s is less likely to fulfil its potential, regardless of background, says the report Covid-19 and social mobility by Professor Lee Elliot Major and Professor Stephen ... Read more...

28 May 2020

About Manchester
More than a third of self-employed ‘lack money for basics’

The survey, published by the LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), finds that the self-employed have been hit particularly hard by the Covid-19 crisis, with around three out of every four responde... Read more...

22 May 2020

The Daily Telegraph
The surprising health benefits of the coronavirus lockdown; Despite the gloom, there are reasons to be positive, say Helen Chandler-Wilde and Luke Mintz

"It's not just core relationships that matter, it's also the peripheral ones," says Professor Lord Richard Layard, a happiness researcher at the London School of Economics. "People never... Read more...

18 May 2020

The Financial Times
Letter: Extending jobs scheme to the young will deliver for taxpayers

The UK chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has now implemented two-thirds of the reform programme outlined by Richard Layard (“How to save pandemic survivors from the scourge of unemployment”, Opinion, May 9)... Read more...

14 May 2020

Independent
Women bearing burden of childcare and homeschooling in lockdown, study finds.

Report on research by Dr Claudia Hupkau and Barbara Petrongolo which suggests the coronavirus outbreak is widening the gender gap in the workplace and at home. ... Read more...

14 May 2020

The Daily Telegraph
Economy still in limbo as working parents continue to juggle childcare; With schools remaining closed, productivity levels will continue to suffer, writes Russell Lynch

But the short-term productivity hit of a workforce partly hamstrung by childcare, could be dwarfed by the longer-run economic blow to the children missing school and the wider economy, according to education e... Read more...

14 May 2020

TES
Extra teaching needed to plug disadvantage 'chasm'

School closures have cost £1bn per week in lost 'teaching inputs' and extra teaching hours will be needed to help some pupils, finds the study Covid-19 school shutdowns: What will they do to our ... Read more...

7 May 2020

Independent
A former head of the civil service has warned that Boris Johnson’s “levelling up” agenda is in danger of becoming a casualty of the coronavirus recession.

Speaking to Econ Films’ CoronaNomics show Lord Gus O’Donnell said he feared the impact of the lockdown was undermining the Prime Minister’s ambitions of reducing income and regional... Read more...

6 May 2020

Hindustan Times
It’s time to refresh old ideas like universal job guarantee

Even in more advanced countries, national statistics have proved inadequate in recording informal workers outside the organised sector, especially the new breed of self-employed and temporary workers in cities... Read more...

5 May 2020

TES
Disadvantaged pupils face six-month 'learning loss'

School closures during the coronavirus lockdown could leave disadvantaged children six months behind their peers, researchers find. ... Read more...

29 April 2020

Express and Star
Covid-19 ‘could leave disadvantaged children with learning loss of six months’

More than 50 northern MPs and peers have called for a ‘catch-up premium’ for poorer pupils Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, and Stephen Machin, professor ... Read more...

29 April 2020

Fortune
5 lessons for the coronavirus recovery, from an expert on success and failure in crisis

Richard Davies talks to Fortune magazine about what helps economies recover from extreme shocks, such as the Covid-19 pandemic.  ... Read more...

26 April 2020

The Times
Focusing on wellbeing can steer us out of lockdown

Lord Gus O'Donnell writes about new research led by Richard Layard. The paper When to release the lockdown sets out a wellbeing-based framework to analyse the cost and benefits of lifting lockdown restrict... Read more...

24 April 2020

Daily Mail
Ease lockdown from JUNE: Ex-top civil servant Gus O'Donnell says ministers should use 'wellbeing' analysis to allow a Sweden-style 'phased' easing of the coronavirus restrictions by balancing quality of life against the death toll

Former top civil servant Gus O'Donnell urges ministers to use 'wellbeing' analysis to allow a Sweden-style 'phased' easing of the coronavirus lockdown by balancing quality of life against t... Read more...

24 April 2020

New York Times
The World Has a $2.5 Trillion Problem. Here's How to Solve It.

The coronavirus has not yet exploded in the developing world, but poor countries are already suffering from the pandemic. Their economies have been battered by lockdowns, falling commodity prices, declining re... Read more...

20 April 2020

TES
How rocketing unemployment damages children's education

Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela, CEP research economist, writes about how job insecurity during the Covid-19 crisis will dramatically affect education outcomes for the families involved. ... Read more...

17 April 2020

TES
The reputation of apprenticeships is at stake...

...... unless the government steps up and offers immediate funding support to training providers, says academic.Guglielmo Ventura, CEP research assistant, says the government should give a guarantee to every existing a... Read more...

7 April 2020

Bloomberg
How low UK unemployment masked holes exposed by pandemic

Professor Stephen Machin, director of CEP, helps explain how many workers are more vulnerable to the economic fallout from the coronavirus than the record-high employment figures suggest. "The last 12 ... Read more...

6 April 2020

Bloomberg News Wire
How Low U.K. Unemployment Masked Holes Exposed By Virus Pandemic

The U.K. has record-high employment and the lowest jobless rate since the 1970s. But the labor market - and many workers - are more vulnerable to the economic fallout from the coronavirus than those headline n... Read more...

6 April 2020

Journal of the European Economic Association
Does additional spending help urban schools? An evaluation using boundary discontinuities

Read more...

6 April 2020

The Telegraph
Young and poor hit first as coronavirus ravages the economy

Older workers are more likely to be relatively secure with salaries and jobs which can be done from home during the lockdown. ... Read more...

3 April 2020

Glogs: The Converstation
Coronavirus lays bare the trauma of losing your job

Jan-Emmanuel De Neve considers the economic impact of Covid-19, and it's effects on work and wellbeing. ... Read more...

24 March 2020

CEP NEWS
UPDATE ON SEMINARS AND EVENTS

Due to the current coronavirus outbreak, many of our seminars and workshops this term are cancelled. When possible these will be replaced by online seminars. Please check our website and Twitter feed for updates. For ... Read more...

18 March 2020

BBC Radio 3
Free Thinking: Does Growth Matter?

Anne McElvoy discusses economic futures with demographer Danny Dorling and economists Richard Davies and Petr Barton. ... Read more...

17 March 2020

BBC
Digital Planet

How can AI help police forces determine who might be most at risk of domestic abuse? Ria Ivandić talks about work being done at CEP to use existing information to help police prioritise emergenc... Read more...

9 March 2020

BBC Radio 4 Analysis
Unequal England

Professor Stephen Machin, director of CEP, and Henry Overman, research director of CEP, contribute to an investigation into the differences in wages and opportunities across the country and why some towns and ... Read more...

9 March 2020

National Review
Contra the Skeptics, Trade and Technology Really Do Benefit Most American Workers

Robots and other new technologies change the mix of tasks and jobs, but they do not decrease the overall demand for labor. Automation can replace existing tasks, especially jobs involving routine manual labor,... Read more...

3 March 2020

New Statesman
The long and winding road to HS3

Transport upgrades are a key part of the Northern Powerhouse strategy, but there is some criticism about how much large-scale public investment in transport can act as a panacea for economic development. Profe... Read more...

26 February 2020

Financial Times
UK backs restrictions on low-skilled migrants; Conservative government; Ministers say plans are based on aspects of Australia's points system

As part of the new system, the government is expected to drop plans for a salary threshold of £30,000 for applicants. The government immigration adviser, the Migration Advisory Committee, recommended las... Read more...

15 February 2020

TES
Should schools teach students how to be happy?

Teachers are supposed to focus on their pupils' grades, but should their priority be to make students' feel good? Richard Layard tells the TES why these goals are not mutually exclusive.... Read more...

7 February 2020

Financial Times
Can We Be Happier? — yes, but it’s not about wealth or GDP

Richard Layard's manifesto for wellbeing is reviewed in the Financial Times. ... Read more...

6 February 2020

London Review of Books
What’s fair about that?

Adam Swift, professor of political theory at UCL, writes about three books on social mobility: Social Mobility And Its Enemies by Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin, Social Mobility and Education in Britain by Erzs&e... Read more...

23 January 2020

The Economist
How an obsession with home ownership can ruin the economy

Special report: includes research findings from CEP researchers Paul Cheshire and Christian Hilber [paywall] INREV THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF HELP TO BUY* Felipe Carozzi London School of Economics & Centre for Economic Pe... Read more...

22 January 2020

BBC
News at Six

Academics at Oxford University and the London School of Economics have been carrying out controlled trials aimed at raising mental well-being among adults. The course run by volunteers from the charity Action for Happine... Read more...

20 January 2020

Guardian
Interview - Richard Layard: ‘It's in politicians' self-interest to make policies for happiness’

The economist on the science of happiness - and how it can help us rethink the world. ... Read more...

19 January 2020

Observer
How to make the world happier – and why it should be our first priority

In this extract from his new book, Richard Layard argues for wellbeing as a political goal as well as a personal one. ... Read more...

19 January 2020