PM’s plans for skills “the right first step” but more support will be needed
The Prime Minister’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee, announced today (29 Sept), will be a necessary part of our response to the coming wave of unemployment, but…
Helen Barnard
Chancellor fails to take action to protect those hardest hit by Covid
The Chancellor @RishiSunak announced some action to preserve jobs today, but the new scheme will still see a new wave of job losses and there…
Millions set to be worse off unless the Government makes the increase to Universal Credit permanent
Keep the lifeline: Around 16 million people are at risk of seeing their social security support cut by £1,040 per year in April 2021 700,000 people…
Job vacancies rising, but some areas have struggled to weather the storm
@jrf_uk @EmploymtStudies @adzuna – Job vacancies rising, but some areas have struggled to weather the storm New analysis published today (19 Aug) shows tentative signs of recovery in…
It is unacceptable for young people to pay the price of a global pandemic
#ResultsDay 2020 – A fog of uncertainty has created a new peak of anger and worry Before coronavirus, too many young people from poorer backgrounds…
Social Metrics Commission report on impacts of Covid-19 crisis
The Social Metrics Commission (@SocMetricsComm) report on #poverty and Covid-19, Helen Barnard, Acting Director of the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said: “In a society…
Basic, digital and vocational skills are the missing link in the levelling up agenda
As the Chancellor took to the stand on 11th March, we were already at the foothills of the COVID-19 outbreak. But Rishi Sunak wanted to…
Levelling up: we can’t afford not to – JRF warns of ‘double injustice’ without a recovery that reduces poverty
Tackling the root causes of poverty has “taken on a new urgency” as COVID-19 risks compounding challenges facing people on low incomes, according to a…
The recent Social Mobility Commission report offers three lessons to help us build on the best and remedy the worst
Coronavirus has held up a mirror to our society, showing us the best and worst of ourselves. The recent Social Mobility Commission report offers three…
We’re about to see the first ‘Levelling Up’ Budget – Will adult skills play the starring role it deserves?
This week, the new Chancellor will deliver the first Budget from a government with a sizable majority for nearly a decade. The election result gives…