The UK's human capital policy

Understand this issue

Sure Start achieved its aims, then we threw it away

comment

"We know that poor children grow up with poor life chances. We know how to ameliorate that. The choice is ours." Paul Johnson writes for the Times.

15 April 2024

If you can’t see it, you can’t be it: role models influence female junior doctors’ choice of medical specialty

comment

Working alongside a greater share of senior women specialists during an early-career placement influences junior women’s own specialty choice.

24 April 2024

A mess has been made of Child Benefit, and the clear-up operation may not be easy

comment

"Status quos can be hard to change, no matter how incoherent they are." Robert Joyce writes about child benefit in The Telegraph.

29 March 2024

Policy analysis

The short- and medium-term impacts of Sure Start on educational outcomes

report

We study the medium-run effect of Sure Start on academic outcomes, finding large benefits, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

9 April 2024

Progression of nurses within the NHS

report

This report examines the career progression of NHS nurses, how this compares with that of other NHS staff groups and how this has changed over time.

12 April 2024

Regional variation in earnings and the retention of NHS staff in Agenda for Change bands 1 to 4

report

We examine the association between local pay and retention of NHS hospital and community staff in pay bands 1 to 4 of the Agenda for Change framework.

10 April 2024

Academic research

Higher Education Access and Funding: challenges and policy options

conference 14 May 2024 at 11:00

This one-day academic conference looked at access to and funding of Higher Education systems.

Forced displacement, mental health, and child development: Evidence from Rohingya refugees

working paper

In this study, we conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 3,500 Rohingya mother-child pairs in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

10 May 2024

Leveraging edutainment and social networks to foster interethnic harmony

working paper

Using a cluster-randomised field experiment, this paper investigates the effectiveness of educational entertainment in promoting interethnic harmony.

10 May 2024