The lack of an anti-poverty strategy did not stop the Welsh Government from taking action during the pandemic to address poverty in Wales. From the provision of money, vouchers or packed lunches during the school holidays to children entitled to…
Finding a path to university as a mature student
It wasn’t until I came to the conclusion that I was miserable in my job that I first heard the monkey on my back screaming. Browsing through open vacancies online, I’d find a role I felt I’d be perfect for.…
Running on empty: why we need reform in the cost-of-living crisis
During the initial months of the pandemic, when various protections were in place – such as the £20 per week uplift to Universal Credit – the number of people who sought help from Citizens Advice on debt problems dropped significantly.…
Expanding post-compulsory education: what we’ve learned
On the 5th of May, we hosted our first in-person event since March 2020, and our first in our new home in sbarc|spark. We were delighted to welcome guests and speakers to an afternoon thinking through policy interventions that could…
Why go back to the office?
The Coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly catalysed one of the most rapid transformations in many people’s working lives for decades. UK data suggests that while 5% of workers worked from home prior to March 2020, this increased to approximately 43% at…
Should the age of participation in education or training be raised to 18 in Wales?
Dr Matt Dickson is Reader in Public Policy at the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) at the University of Bath. Sue Maguire is an Honorary Professor at the IPR at the University of Bath. Their research on raising the age…
‘Levelling Up’: a critical conversation for Wales
What does ‘levelling up’ mean in practice for Wales? While debate around the definition continues, the long awaited White Paper has now been published. However, questions remain around how results will be achieved. At the IWA Economy Summit in November…
‘Levelling Up’: continuing the conversation
‘Levelling Up’ – used here to refer to the wider UK Government policy agenda rather than the specific Levelling Up funding stream – is predominantly about tackling place-based economic inequality, economic development, and productivity. As set out in our previous…
The impact of infrastructure on wellbeing in Wales
Infrastructure is inextricably linked to well-being. Good infrastructure, well-designed and well-located, developed according to sound principles and in collaboration with the end-users, will likely produce outstanding results for a long period of time. The converse is also true. The upcoming…
Infrastructure requirements for Wales to transition to a prosperous, sustainable economy
Understanding wealth and wellbeing The twenty-first century will not be like the twentieth. Most obviously, the economy of the future will be low-carbon, more efficient, less reliant on fossil fuels and highly digitised. It will need to forgo dangerous depletion…
