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Research carried out at the University of Glasgow directly resulted in an increased understanding of the complexity of modern youth transitions, helped to ensure that policy-makers understood the implications of their focus on the NEET group (Not in Education, Employment or Training), drew attention to the implications of precarious forms of work and highlighted the potential for acute social withdrawal among young people who experience difficult transitions in employment. This work has been widely covered by the media, has informed the development of a European agenda on vulnerable youth and was used as part of the response by the International Trade Union Congress to the G20 summit in Mexico.
Bell and Blanchflower's research on youth unemployment has been highly influential in affecting policy directions in both the UK and Europe during the Great Recession. It has also generated substantial public concern for a `lost generation' of unemployed young people through their sustained engagement in media and public debate.
Research on the post-apartheid South African labour market showed high levels of economic inactivity among black people concentrated in certain areas and high employee turnover among these groups. An integrated development programme was developed in and around Port Elizabeth tailored to address specific failings in labour market supply and demand identified by the research findings. This brought greatly improved employment rates for over 3,000 participating job seekers, with more than 80% achieving a positive outcome in terms of employment or further training. Furthermore, the programme reduced turnover rates for those employers involved in the project, and built the capacity of Union workforce representatives. The development programme comprising integrated training workshops and employer support is now being rolled out across South Africa.
Our research has impacted on policy and practice in the area of welfare to work, employment and skills, especially at regional and national levels. The most important impact has been through Professor Campbell's move to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills as Director of Research and Policy and subsequent applied research work by the PRI for the UK Commission on Employment and Skills (UKCES), which has contributed to the development of their policies on skills and employment. These policies in turn have informed government policy on skills, training and workforce development, and the work of the Sector Skills Councils to influence employers' practices, for example in the area of career development of staff. At the regional level, the main impact has been on skills policy through work for the Regional Development Agency.
The University of Huddersfield's School of Education and Professional Development has produced an extensive body of research addressing the experiences and needs of educationally marginalised young people. This work has developed understanding of the experiences of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), learners in alternative education and those on low-level vocational programmes. Responding to stakeholder demands for a more nuanced insight into these problems and their possible solutions, research has been disseminated to practitioners, policymakers, voluntary organisations, local authorities and the wider public through conference presentations, keynote addresses and the media, benefiting user communities at local, regional and national levels.
Research carried out at the University of Aberdeen into the factors that influence the job satisfaction, health and well-being of employees has directly informed national and international policy reviews and reports. In the UK, recommendations from the research were incorporated into the Hutton Review of Fair Pay in the Public Sector; internationally, they were included in several EU Commission policy reviews and business press reports. The research was also presented direct to policy makers at EU forums and achieved considerable secondary reach through media coverage.
Professor Pedro Martins' research expertise is on labour economics, including dismissals, wages and social returns of education. From June 2011 until February 2013, he was seconded from Queen Mary to undertake the key role of Portuguese Secretary of State for Employment. Informed by his research, he initiated and implemented a programme of effective labour market legislative reforms over a relatively short period of time. A reformed labour code (four changes of law) and several ordnances, resolutions and other policy change were the outcome, affecting individual dismissals, working time, collective bargaining, training and active labour market policies. His aim was to reduce unemployment by partly deregulating the labour market, so reducing the disincentives for firms to employ people, and by promoting active labour market policies to raise skill levels within the economy. The reforms affected approximately five million people. Following the reforms, Portugal moved to eighth place (in 2009 it was first) out of 34 countries in terms of the strength of permanent employees' protection (OECD Employment Outlook 2012); and unemployment fell, from 17.7% to 15.6%, and GDP increased, by 1.3%, between the first and third quarters of 2013.
There has long been concern about the large number of people claiming incapacity benefits in Britain. Repeated policies to reduce the caseload have had little effect. Professor Richard Berthoud has addressed the issues by exploring the interaction between disabled people's impairments and employers' expectations. He has been continuously engaged with policymakers and has influenced the policy debates about these benefits. He has made presentations to the Department for Work and Pensions and social security adjudication judges, and has provided research and advice for the Office for Disability Issues, the Equalities Review and the National Equalities Panel, and the Citizens Advice Bureau.
Financial compensation by the UK courts for injuries or fatalities caused by the fault of another is provided as a lump sum that represents a revenue stream of lost future earnings over the claimant's lifetime. Calculating this revenue stream requires an assessment of potential future worklife activity. The Ogden Tables are recognised by the UK courts for this purpose. Research by City University London academics identified a new and more accurate approach to the calculation of compensation, focusing on the key factors of age, gender, employment state, educational attainment and prior disability. The Ogden Tables have incorporated these improved calculations and methods since the 6th Edition in 2007 (and they were retained in the current 7th Edition, published in 2011). The revised Tables were used in most court cases involving personal injury claims between 2008 and 2013 so this research has impacted on the judiciary and other legal professionals who advise claimants in compensation cases, the claimants who benefit from fairer levels of support to meet their needs, particularly where disability is involved and the families and carers of the claimants who also benefit from the support provided.
Southampton based research on the interactions of a minimum wage policy and tax evasion has had a direct and clearly acknowledged impact on shaping the labour market policies of Hungary and other Southern European countries, while its research on the role of universal versus targeted benefits on employment has had a significant impact on Swedish fiscal policy. Looking at labour market policies in a broader context and from a behavioural economics point of view (e.g. payroll giving), our findings on charitable giving and workers' motivation have also been used by the UK government's Behavioural Insights Team and impacted its recommendations on giving. The same research is currently influencing US policy on the tax treatment of charitable contributions.