Resolution Foundation Events Podcast

The new NEETs? Understanding the changing nature of youth worklessness

High levels of young people not in employment, education or training  was a major social and economic concern in the 1990s. Decades of concerted policy action to reduce numbers across Britain has seen the scale of the problem shrink, but it has not gone away. Under the positive headlines, some forms of worklessness are on the rise. Understanding that complex picture is crucial if we’re to make further progress in the decade ahead.
What has driven falls the reduction in youth worklessness? Where are increases taking places under the radar? Which groups have been left behind? How different is the story for men and women, and different ethnicities? And what impact has the pandemic had?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of its Young People in an Insecure World project, supported by the Health Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from new research on youth worklessness, we will hear from leading experts on the interactions between work, education, training and mental health for young people.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/not-working/ 
Watch the event back: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/the-new-neets/ 

All change please? What going for growth could mean for different places across Britain

After a decade of stagnation and many decades of persistent regional economic divides, the task of securing a brighter economic future for a wider range of places is now up in lights. It’s an ambition that resonates with the public too, and if policy makers across local, city-wide and national government are to take effective action, its vital they understand what people want – and don’t – when it comes to growth in their home towns and cities.
Do people think their local area has fared well or poorly over recent years? Which routes do they see for their place, and the people in it, to succeed? How do people’s experiences differ between major city centres, nearby commuter areas and less well-connected towns? What are the factors pushing people away from whey they live, and what are the pull factors keeping them there?
The Resolution Foundation and Open Innovations are hosting an in-person, hybrid event in Leeds – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions.
Following a presentation of the key highlights from new Resolution Foundation research on people’s experience of the economy in their local area, we will hear from leading experts – including the Metro Mayor for West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin – on what this means for local and regional economic strategies, as well as the Government’s levelling up agenda in Westminster.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/all-over-the-place/ 
Watch the event back: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/all-change-please/ 

Chatting to Chancellors: Book launch for The Chancellors by Howard Davies, featuring former Chancellor George Osborne

The nature of British economic policy, and the Treasury’s role in directing it, have ebbed and flowed over the past 25 years. Monetary policy was ceded to the Bank of England in 1997, but the Treasury then extended its grip over domestic policy. The last decade has seen it respond to two once-in-a-lifetime economic crises, oversee a period of austerity, and play a key role in the Brexit debate. The Treasury – and the Chancellors who have led it – have not had a quiet quarter of a century.
How has British economic policy evolved in recent decades? What evolution have we seen to the role of the Treasury, and has this led to better or worse policy outcomes? To what extent is this about institutions or the personality of the Chancellor? And what can we learn from the Treasury’s recent record, as Britain looks to drastically improve its economic record over the coming decade?
To debate and answer these questions, the Resolution Foundation and Society for Professional Economists are hosting a joint event to mark the launch of a new book by Howard Davies, The Chancellors: Steering the British Economy in Crisis Times, who has had leading roles at key economic institutions ranging from the Bank to the Treasury, the CBI and the LSE. The work draws on interviews with most recent Chancellors and Howard will be joined at the event by former Chancellor George Osborne.
Watch the event back: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/chatting-to-chancellors/ 

Raising the bar: What are the new frontiers for tackling low pay?

Over the past two decades, Britain’s low pay landscape has been transformed by the introduction and ramping up of the national minimum wage. This has been an unqualified policy success, so much so that the government is on course to eliminate hourly low pay this decade. With that landmark moment in sight, policy makers will need to decide if they are claiming this is job done or refocusing their ambitions on improving the world of work for lower earners. Despite significant progress, challenges for low-paid workers, from volatile hours to whether they’re even covered by the minimum wage, still loom large
How big an impact has the minimum wage had? Why have the ill-effects many predicted failed to materialise? What is happening to low-paid work beyond hourly wage rates – from job insecurity to progression out of low pay? Where does the rise of the gig economy fit in this picture? And given all of this, where should policy makers wanting to improve outcomes for low earners focus their efforts during the 2020s?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from Low Pay Britain 2022, our annual in-depth examination of labour market trends for low-paid workers, we will hear from leading experts – including world-renowned minimum wage expert Professor Arin Dube – on the future of low pay in the coming decade.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/low-pay-britain-2022/ 
View the event presentation: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/raising-the-bar/ 

Green growth: miracle or mirage? How might cutting down carbon give the UK economy a cutting-edge?

The UK’s net zero transition represents a major challenge for the UK, but also a major opportunity if we get it right. Many argue it could see the UK utilising its existing economic strengths to lead the way in cutting edge clean technology – creating jobs and new export opportunities. But with other countries holding these same ambitions, securing this success is far from guaranteed.
How realistic is it that the UK will be at the forefront of emerging clean technologies? What are the UK’s existing strengths and how can they built over the coming decade? Will there be a role for services as well as goods in our net zero transition? Which areas of the country are best placed to benefit? And how best can we unlock the investment and innovation required to seize the opportunities for growth-enhancing green economic change?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from new Economy 2030 Inquiry research from the LSE on the UK’s clean growth potential, we will hear from leading experts on how we can unlock this potential as part of a successful net zero transition.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/growing-clean/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/green-growth-miracle-or-mirage/ 

From platforms to promotions: How technology can boost young people’s career prospects

The way young people enter the job market from education can have a marked effect on their future prospects. Economic crises are a particularly tough time to start a career, and while the Job Retention Scheme prevented mass unemployment during the pandemic, young people still face huge challenges in terms of rising insecurity and finding a career path amid a very uncertain economic outlook.
What barriers do young people face in securing good work, and how do these affect different groups? What works in terms of supporting young people, especially non-graduates, into better jobs and what are the challenges? How can technology play a role in scaling new solutions and where is more investment in innovation required? This is an area that the Workertech Partnership – of which the Resolution Foundation is a co-founder – is keen to support and invest in.
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar to debate and answer these questions. We’ll hear from some social entrepreneurs we’ve supported on how tech and social investment can move the dial on supporting young people to transition into good jobs, as well as experts on the wider world of work.
Watch the event: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/from-platforms-to-promotions/ 

Whose economy? Exploring people’s experiences as workers, consumers and citizens

We all experience the economy in a myriad of different ways – from the jobs we do, to the things we buy and the communities we live in. The good, the bad and the ugly of those experiences are important considerations, not just for individual economic policy decisions, but in setting the objectives of our economic strategy. What people get paid matters, but so does what they value. How people feel about change, as well as the status quo, is also crucial as a decade of significant change – driven by a cost of living crisis, the aftermath of Covid and Brexit, and the net zero transition – gets underway.
How do workers feel about their jobs? What holds them back from making big changes to their working lives, such as moving jobs or industries? How does that vary between high and low earners? To what extent do people want their consumption choices to drive change – from buying sustainable products, to supporting employers who pay their workers a decent wage? And how should people’s experiences of the wider economy be integrated into thinking about the UK’s economic strategy?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from new Resolution Foundation research on individuals’ experiences as workers, consumers and social citizens, we will hear from leading experts on what that should mean for how the UK navigates economic change and attempts to renew its economic strategy.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/listen-up/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/whose-economy/ 

Taking the right path: Where does monetary policy go in a low rate, high inflation, unstable economic environment?

The Resolution Foundation and the Money, Macro and Finance Society are co-hosting a new series of events to dive into the big economic challenges we face as we recover from the pandemic and come to terms with the new world we now face. Internationally renowned economists and policymakers will discuss those challenges – from the state of multilateral policy making to the new challenges for fiscal and monetary policy makers.
The second event in the series will focus on the challenges facing monetary policy makers as they seek to tame high inflation without causing a recession. We will hear from Michael Saunders, external member of the Monetary Policy Committee and Petra Geraats, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge. The event will be chaired by Rachana Shanbhogue, Finance and Economics Editor for The Economist.
Watch the event back here: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/taking-the-right-path/