How should our policy priorities, investment and public services be different when we emerge from the pandemic? Understanding Society’s Insights 2022 Report will launch in January with a programme of events showcasing analysis of three topics:
- The mental health legacy of Covid19 – Monday 24 January 9.30-11am
- Did furlough help and protect? – Wednesday 26 January 9.30-11am
- Children in the pandemic – Friday 26 January 9.30-11am
Monday 24 January: The Mental Health Legacy of COVID-19
There have been reports of improvements in mental health for some groups and deterioration in others. This event will discuss how the picture has been changing over time, what government policy got right and wrong, and how to address the long-term effects.
9.30-9.35: Welcome and introductions – Raj Patel, Associate Director of Policy, Understanding Society
9.35-9.55: Mental health before and during the Covid-19 pandemic – Professor Tamsin Ford, University of Cambridge
9.55-10.15: Older people, seeing family, and mental health during the pandemic – Dr Yang Hu, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Data Science, Lancaster University
10.15-10.30: Policy reflections – Lucy Thorpe, Head of Policy at the Mental Health Foundation
10.30-10.55: Q&A
10.55-11.00: Summary and close
Register here for Monday 24 January.
Wednesday 26 January: Did Furlough Help And Protect?
Furlough has been one of the biggest innovations in UK policy – how should its legacy be assessed? What have the financial and health effects been? How has the scheme affected different groups? This event will discuss what we are learning about the experience of furlough.
9.30-9.35: Welcome and introductions – Raj Patel, Associate Director of Policy, Understanding Society
9.35-9.55: Furlough and household financial distress – Christoph Görtz, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham
9.55-10.15: Economic security, furlough and mental distress – Isabel Taylor, Research Director (Analyst), NatCen Social Research
10.15-10.30: Policy reflections – Kate Shoesmith, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Recruitment and Employment Federation
10.30-10.55: Q&A
10.55-11.00: Summary and close
Register here for Wednesday 26 January.
Friday 28 January: Children in the Pandemic
The pandemic has disrupted children’s schooling. Has it also made educational inequality harder to address? Can schools become better places for targeted learning and mental health, nutrition and social justice? What support is needed, and how might the future of education be different?
9.30-9.35: Welcome and introductions – Raj Patel, Associate Director of Policy, Understanding Society
9.35-9.55: The emotional and behavioural effects of school closures on children – Professor Birgitta Rabe, Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex
9.55-10.15: Learning inequalities during the Covid-19 pandemic: what happened and how can we address it? – Dr Nicola Pensiero, Lecturer in quantitative education and social science, School of Education, University of Southampton
10.15-10.30: Policy reflections – Social Mobility Commission (TBC)10.30-10.55: Q&A
10.55-11.00: Summary and close
Register here for Friday 28 January.
Raj Patel, Associate Director of Policy at Understanding Society says: “We want to ask how the pandemic has changed health, livelihoods and learning – and how policy, investment and public services should be different as a result. All this needs to take the effects on children, adults and families into account. How well have emergency measures worked, for example?
“Tackling the ongoing effects matters for improving lives and life chances, but drawing out lessons should also help governments to think about how to manage future crises. The data from our COVID-19 Survey are making it possible to see how different groups in society have been affected. These events will present some of the strongest research from the last year, with insights from researchers and policy experts on the way forward.”
Register for one or all of these online events here