The Nuffield Foundation are presenting a seminar for policy makers on new research on changing family structures and the impact on labour market participation and wellbeing, based on evidence from ISER’s British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society, among others.
Teresa Williams, Nuffield’s Director of Social Research and Policy said: “A number of studies have documented major changes in structure of families and households in Britain, and we are fortunate in this country to have a rich longitudinal data resource, in the form of the Understanding Society survey (and the British Household Panel Survey which preceded it) to help us build a dynamic understanding of the changes. This seminar provides an opportunity for researchers, policy makers and practitioners to discuss the findings and implications of three studies which have used these data to explore changes in family structure, labour market participation and wellbeing, and whether and how these are related.”
Professor Mike Brewer, Director of the ESRC Research on Micro-social Change and Professor of Economics at ISER will present the interim findings from a Nuffield Foundation funded study which is providing an up-to-date and neutral assessment of the impact of partnership dissolution and formation on the economic circumstances of the family, the labour market behaviour of adults and mental health and wellbeing of both adults and children.
Professor Susan Harkness (University of Bath) will be launching her report, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, which looks at the contribution that paid work can make to the mental health of lone parents, who have been shown in the past to be at high risk of depression.
Professor Margaret O’Brien (Thomas Coram Research Unit, IoE) & Dr Sara Connolly (University of East Anglia) will present emerging findings from the Modern Fatherhood study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The research team has been documenting changes in the patterns of breadwinning among couples with dependent children.
The seminar will take place on Wednesday 20 November.