The referendum back in June last year and the Brexit-related rhetoric since seem to suggest a nation divided in two… just like the famous Two Nations Speech in Disraeli’s 1845 novel Sybil. “Two nations between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other’s habits, thoughts, and feelings, as […]
How do minorities come to adopt or reject national identities? The question ‘An Englishness Open To All?’ is the topic of a timely seminar being held today (31st March) by The Centre for English Identity and Politics at the University of Winchester. Alongside contributions from leading experts, Professor Anthony Heath delivered a presentation entitled How do […]
Just over a decade ago, Tony Blair made a speech about British Values, and here they are back on the political agenda again. Indeed, maybe they never went away, with both Brown and Cameron talking about values during their time in office too. British values also featured prominently in the recent Casey Report on community […]
The well-publicised growth in the number of people using foodbanks has served to establish food insecurity as a critical social policy issue facing the UK. Debates have considered whether this reported growth reflects genuine need, or whether data on the number of food parcels distributed by foodbanks capture an underlying problem that has only recently […]
Lindsay Richards, University of Oxford and Marii Paskov, University of Oxford For the last few decades, research into social determinants of health and well-being seemed to tell a simple story: the poorer you are, or the lower your class, the worse your health and well-being is likely to be. The gradient can be replicated with […]
Does modern life mean that parents are too busy to spend quality time with their children? In contemporary Britain mothers have been entering the labour market in greater numbers than in the past and there have been plenty of other societal changes too: lone parenthood has increased, marriage rates declined, and parenthood delayed. Gender roles […]
Ethnic minorities face well-documented penalties in the labour market. From higher levels of poverty and unemployment to lower wages and reduced social mobility, members of ethnic minority communities enjoy lower success in the labour market than the majority White British. Yet, this focus on ethnicity – while unquestionably important – has sometimes served to overlook […]
To what extent does education get passed from one generation to the next? How would your chances of obtaining a degree differ if you were born to degree-educated parents compared to parents who didn’t do so well at school? This intergenerational transmission of educational advantage is one way to look at social mobility in the […]
This week saw the publication of research on foodbank use in Britain conducted by the universities of Oxford and Chester, with the Trussell Trust. The report – entitled – #stillhungry – draws on four years’ referrals to West Cheshire Foodbank to provide an in-depth exploration of UK foodbank use. More specifically, the research explored additional […]
Thinking about social status, what would the ‘ideal’ type of society look like? Imagine social status as an entirely subjective matter, where individuals place themselves on an imaginary ladder based on where they think or feel they stand in the society… Would a society be ‘status equal’ (more egalitarian) if all its inhabitants tended to […]
