ReWAGE is fortunate in having some of the UK’s foremost thinkers on its Expert Group, drawn from leading universities and research organisations 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 are pointing the spotlight onto ReWAGE expert Professor Christina Beatty who is Professor of Applied Economic Geography at Sheffield Hallam University, and who is our expert on labour markets and productivity.

Background:

Christina is a Professor of Applied Economic Geography in the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR). Her work focuses on the intersection of labour market policy, the benefits system and productivity. Her research explores how these policy areas impact on different types of places and varied economic contexts across Britain. Her research has a particular focus on older industrial Britain, former coalfield areas, inner city areas, and Britain’s seaside towns.

Area of expertise:

Christina is an expert on welfare reform, economic inactivity and the long-term dynamics of labour markets and productivity across places.

Why Christina became a ReWAGE expert:

It is a good opportunity to engage with policy makers and practitioners as well as academics, to try and inform and influence policy debates.

What achievement makes Christina most proud:

Making a difference by providing hard evidence of the uneven impact of benefit cuts across all local authorities in Britain.

Recent achievements:

Celebrating my 30^th year as a researcher at the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University.

Projects

Christina has undertaken national studies funded by ESRC, Scottish Parliament, DWP, DHLUC, the Financial Times, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and Oxfam. These include national studies on the geography of economic inactivity amongst men, understanding the rise in incapacity benefits amongst women, the uneven impact of welfare reform, and the real level of unemployment.

Other interests

Christina is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a member of the Editorial Board of Social Policy and Administration, a member of the SIPHER Scientific Advisory Board, and a member of Advisory Board for Nuffield Foundation funded project “Unpacking the Disability Employment Gap”.

Recent publications

· The Real Level of Unemployment 2022: The myth of full employment across Britain

· Managing precarity: food bank use by low-income women workers in a changing welfare regimeLink opens in a new window

· Recovery or stagnation? Britain’s older industrial towns since the recessionLink opens in a new window

· The impact on welfare and public finances of job loss in industrial Britain

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 and other challenges.