ReWAGE is fortunate in having some of the UK’s foremost thinkers on its Expert Group, drawn from leading universities and research organisations from across the UK. Between them they have a huge breadth of knowledge, covering such subjects as the labour market, job quality, employment relations and the changing nature of work. This week, we’re focusing on Professor Jonathan Portes who is our expert on immigration and labour mobility and the economic implications of Brexit.

Background:

Jonathan Portes started his career at HM Treasury in 1987 and spent most of his career as a civil servant, serving as Chief Economist at the Department for Work and Pensions from 2002 to 2008 and Chief Economist at the Cabinet Office from 2008 to 2011. He led the Cabinet Office’s economic analysis and economic policy work during the financial crisis and on the G20 London Summit in April 2009. From 2011 to 2015, he was Director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

Area of expertise:

Jonathan is a Senior Fellow of the Economic and Social Research Council's UK in a Changing Europe initiative, based at King’s, which promotes high quality research into the complex and changing relationship between the UK and the European Union. His current research concentrates on issues related to immigration and labour mobility, both within the European Union and outside, and the economic implications of Brexit. Other research interests include labour markets, fiscal policy, social security and welfare, and the use of evaluation and evidence in public policy.

Why Jonathan became a ReWAGE expert:

To help explain to government and the public how, after the pandemic, we can improve jobs, wages and conditions in the UK labour market, which – while employment remains high and unemployment low – remains plagued by insecurity, precarity and low investment.

Recent achievements:

Jonathan recent research on fertility, the “two-child limit” in the benefit system, and child poverty was widely publicised and cited in Parliament; he wrote about it for the Guardian. His most recent book is “Immigration: what do we know?” He writes articles on economic issues regularly in the UK and international press. He has testified on numerous occasions before Parliamentary committees, in particular the Treasury Committee and the Home Affairs Committee.

What achievement makes Jonathan feel most proud?

Contributing to the large body of research in the UK and elsewhere over the last two decades which shows the broadly positive impacts of immigration on the economy and labour market; and helping to communicate the results and implications of that research to the general public.

Recent publications:

• Immigration and the UK economy after Brexit
  Portes, J., 15 Jan 2022, In: OXFORD REVIEW OF ECONOMIC POLICY. p. 24 24 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• Immigration and the UK economy after Brexit
  Portes, J., 6 Jun 2021, (GLO Working Papers). Research output: Working paper/Preprint › Working paper
• Between the Lines: Immigration to the UK between the Referendum and Brexit: DCU Brexit Institute Working Paper 12-2020
  Portes, J., Dec 2020, Dublin: BRIDGE Network. Research output: Working paper/Preprint › Working paper
• The economic contribution of Indian migrants to the EU: Two sector case studies
  Portes, J., Oomen, E. & Campo, F., Jul 2020, 25 p. Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report › peer-review

Other interests:

Jonathan Portes is a trustee of the charity Coram and a board member of the Campaign for Social Science.

ReWAGE’s Expert Group is uniquely placed to offer the government informed practical advice and policy recommendations to support its strategic response to the recovery and renewal of work and employment in the UK as it tackles the impact of Covid-19.