Institute for Employment Research » IER News & blogs (tag [poverty])

Workshop: An international perspective on child development

Thu, 07 Feb 2019 17:03:00 GMT

As part of IER’s ESRC-funded Impact Accelerator NGO data fund, Puja Marwaha, CEO of Child’s Rights and You (CRY), India, will be talking about ‘Malnutrition: the Grave Reality in India that Can be Changed’ at a workshop on 7th March, 11am to 3pm. The event will be held in room B0.41 Social Sciences building, University of Warwick. A sandwich lunch will be provided.

The workshop aims to bring together people from academia and outside of academia working in the development sector towards improving the lives of children. It will engage in discussions focusing on issues such as malnutrition among children in India, childhood poverty, child labour, child marriage, education, and children’s rights.

For further details please contact Sudipa Sarkar (S.Sarakar.2@warwick.ac.uk) and for registration Lynne Marston (L.Marston@warwick.ac.uk) by 4th of March.

IER contributes to General Election poverty audit

Tue, 03 Oct 2017 15:30:18 GMT

IER's Gaby Atfield, Peter Dickinson, Erika Kispeter and Sally Wright have assessed the employment policy pledges made by the UK's major parties, focusing especially on how the manifestos address poverty. The analysis is part of the Election Manifesto Poverty Audit, which is organised by the UK chapter of the international organisation Academics Stand Against Poverty. Find the full report here.

Harnessing growth sectors for poverty reduction

Tue, 25 Apr 2017 10:29:18 GMT

Two further reports have been published by Professor Anne Green, Paul Sissons (Coventry University) and Neil Lee (LSE) from an ESRC-funded project on Harnessing Growth Sectors for Poverty Reduction.

The first report on employment entry finds that there is potential for using a well-targeted, sector-focused approach to increase employment entry and help reduce poverty. Social care and the hospitality industry offer opportunities for sector-specific training programmes for people who find it difficult to access employment. But because these sectors are characterised by low pay policies need to promote career progression as well as job entry. The construction sector is also well placed to provide employment and training opportunities for local residents, and the government could encourage this through procurement and planning policies. There is also growing interest in the potential role of social enterprises in providing local jobs – especially with regard to repairs and maintenance of social housing. Sector-focused work experience is an important way of getting young people and unemployed adults skilled up for work.

The second report examines aspects of job quality. It finds that while job quality should be a critical issue for policymakers there is a lack of empirical evidence from approaches seeking to enhance job quality. Pay and job security are important elements of job quality, as are flexible employment practices that enable people to balance work and caring responsibilities. Trade unions can play an important role in improving job quality outcomes. Where there is evidence from sector-focused approaches to job quality these have sought to link changes in employment conditions with service improvements for employers; utilised procurement as an opportunity to shape job quality; or sought to encourage changes in business models as a precursor to improving job quality. There is a need to pilot and trial different approaches to improving job quality in different sectors and for different types of employment.

Growth Sectors: Data Analysis on Employment Change, Wages and Poverty

Mon, 27 Feb 2017 17:48:44 GMT

A study by Anne Green, Neil Lee (LSE) and Paul Sissons (Coventry University) demonstrates that the sector which an individual works in has a significant impact on their pay, but that the level of local demand for labour is also important. The report is an output from an ESRC-funded project on ‘Harnessing Growth Sectors for Poverty Reduction’. It highlights that low pay is a key feature of the accommodation/food services, residential care, wholesale/retail, and the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors. Three of these sectors (accommodation / food services, residential care, wholesale and retail) are likely to have the highest employment demand in the medium term. Hence policies are needed which focus on upgrading skills and developing career in order to help reduce low pay and in-work poverty. Find out more in the Growth Sectors report.

Why in-work progression matters when it comes to tackling poverty

Tue, 02 Aug 2016 14:58:28 GMT

Professor Anne Green talks about the importance of in-work progression in a recent Manchester Policy Blog. Anne draws on evidence from her IER work to highlight the importance of employment initiatives to help people in-work move out of poverty. To conclude, Anne draws out a number of policy challenges for city-regions to consider.

IER welcomes Sudipa Sarkar from University of Salamanca

Mon, 15 Feb 2016 12:13:00 GMT

IER warmly welcomes Sudipa Sarkar from the University of Salamanca in Spain, who will be a Visiting Fellow until June.

Sudipa is a labour economist with additional interests in the economics of education and development economics. She has published a number of articles on poverty, skills and occupational change in India and also a report on pay and job quality in India for Eurofound, where she was working part of last year. Sudipa will be working with a number of colleagues in IER over the next few months.

New report on How cities can connect people in poverty with jobs

Tue, 16 Jun 2015 14:32:35 GMT

This study, by Professor Anne Green with others from IER and in partnership with Dr Paul Sissons and Kevin Broughton (Coventry University), reviews UK and international evidence on local approaches linking people not in work to jobs, and those in work to better jobs. It looks at four stages in a stylised ‘pathway to employment’: pre-employment; employment entry; staying in work; and in-work progression. It found that variations in the challenges and opportunities facing cities have an impact on how anti-poverty policies are likely to succeed. Although there are differences in cities’ precise powers and resources, their policies can reduce poverty in their area. However, the evidence is clear that progress can be made without greater local autonomy and with no or limited additional resources. Among other factors in the success of anti-poverty strategies are how strong the local leadership is and what priority is given to change in local areas.

For more information see:

Green, A.E., Sissons, P., Broughton, K., and de Hoyos, M. with Warhurst, C. and Barnes, S-A. (2015). How cities can connect people in poverty with jobs. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. (A Summary is also available)

What works in tackling poverty?

Thu, 06 Nov 2014 17:44:10 GMT

The ESRC is funding four groundbreaking research projects on what works in tackling poverty. In association with the Public Policy Institute for Wales, the aim of the research is to advance understanding of effective strategies for tackling poverty. Professor Anne Green is leading one of the projects on 'Harnessing growth sectors for poverty reduction: what works to reduce poverty through sustainable employment with opportunities for progression?'. Find out more about Anne's project, with Paul Sissons (University of Coventry), Neil Lee (LSE) and the Bevan Foundation, in her blog.