Latest Publications

We research all aspects of education and work, but we focus particularly on aspects that political debate often neglects: further education; vocational and technical education; apprenticeships and lifelong learning; in-work poverty.

Latest Publications:

Publication

Vicious Cycles: Sustained employment and welfare reform for the next decade

SMF’s latest report "Vicious Cycles: Sustained employment and welfare reform for the next decade" focuses on the direction of welfare reform for the next decade.
Published: 06 July 2009
Author(s): Beth Foley, Ian Mulheirn, Jessica Prendergrast, Verena Menne
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Publication

Anglo-Flexicurity II: Insuring against Unemployment in the UK

This report outlines a fresh approach to national unemployment insurance, in which people can insure themselves against loss of income due to unemployment. It builds on the conceptual framework set out in the Social Market Foundation's earlier report Anglo-flexicurity: A safety net for UK workers.
Published: 20 May 2009
Author: Henry Kippin
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Publication

The jobs crisis and what to do about it

This report uses data from two previous recessions and the latest Ernst & Young ITEM Club economic growth forecasts to estimate what might happen to claimant count unemployment and the number of long-term unemployed in particular.
Published: 22 April 2009
Author(s): Ian Mulheirn, Rena Menne
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Publication

Flexible New Deal: Making it Work

In this report, the authors examine how likely the implementation of FND will be to succeed in four key areas: cost-effective commissioning; helping all jobseekers; preventing revolving door employment; and stimulating innovation in welfare-to-work provision.
Published: 04 September 2008
Author(s): Ian Mulheirn, Verena Menne
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Publication

Angloflexicurity: A safety net for the UK workers

This report argues that government, in cooperation with the private sector, can and should provide a safety net for the vulnerable middle class to counteract this trend.
Published: 12 March 2008
Author(s): Ann Rossiter, Verena Menne
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Publication

Staying the Course: Changes to the Participation Age and Qualifications

In this compelling collection of essays, leading education thinkers including Michael Barber, Alan Smithers, Mike Tomlinson and Alison Wolf consider these changes and debate their impact.
Published: 03 March 2008
Author: Conor Ryan
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Publication

Disability, Skills and Work: Raising our ambitions

This paper finds that improving the employment rate of disabled people to the UK average would boost the UK economy by £13 billion, equivalent to six months economic growth.
Published: 01 June 2007
Author: Social Market Foundation
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Publication

The New Demographics: Reshaping the world of work and retirement

The New Demographics: Reshaping the world of work and retirement analyses a number of false assumptions which underline our thinking about retirement and calls for a radical overhaul of employment and leadership models that will allow people to continue working.
Published: 16 May 2007
Author: Andrew Turnbull
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Publication

Poverty pay: How public sector pay fails deprived areas

This publications examines the next steps in modernising public sector pay. A major finding of the paper is that greater equity of service provision will rely on increased local variation in public sector pay within a national pay bargaining framework.
Published: 10 May 2007
Author: Robin Harding
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