We publish blogs to provide insights from, and stimulate debate about, the latest research and thinking. Any views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Institute as a whole.
Featured
Using the example of flexible working and recent research on its application (or lack of), Duncan Brown argues that HR functions are overly focused on policy drafting and procedural niceties, such that these policies’ goals are often not delivered into practice. IES research highlights why these policy-into-practice gaps exist, and how to close them.
Featured
With the State Pension age rising to 67, Emily Kramers considers what’s needed to drive the recruitment and retention of older workers, drawing on personal experience to demonstrate the process of a career change in later life and the positive impact of age diversity at work.
The UK labour market is currently facing several major challenges, one of the most acute of which is skills shortages, writes Daniel Muir, Research Economist at IES.
Flexible working can take many forms and is in high demand by many employees. Astrid Allen reflects on recent research focusing on people who work in site-based roles and details several steps that employers can take to reap the equality, wellbeing and productivity benefits of flexible working.
Drawing on recent IES research, Stephen Bevan's blog considers the persistent wage penalty for working age women living with obesity and calls for society as a whole to permanently challenge the deeply embedded discrimination against people, especially women, living with obesity.
Research indicates that people are providing more hours of unpaid care than ever before. In a personal blog to support Carers Week, Zofia Bajorek reflects on her own experiences as a carer and considers the toll of additional unpaid hours for people who work, detailing actions that organisations can implement to 'care for the carer'.
With both the current government and Labour opposition planning to expand childcare in England, IES researchers detail an assessment of where the childcare sector is today to inform what needs to change to meet the planned expansion.
Stephen Bevan reflects on the main causes of health-related job loss among older workers in the UK, highlighting what can be done by employers to predict and mitigate the risk of the problem getting worse.
IES has supported the development of a new Youth Employment Toolkit from Youth Futures Foundation. Becci Newton explains how the resource is designed to move the dial from identifying the risks facing marginalised young people to supporting them to see better outcomes.
Youth Futures Foundation (YFF) commissioned IES and the Centre for Evidence and Implementation to lead evidence synthesis to inform the development of a Youth Employment Toolkit of effective practices for improving employment outcomes amongst young people, particularly those who face marginalisation in the labour market.
Findings from the just-released Parental Rights Survey indicate that take-up of shared parental leave entitlement has been low. Rosie Gloster highlights challenges including awareness and affordability when considering why shared parental leave has not been the answer to more equal parenting for most families.
With the latest Parental Rights Survey indicating that two in five new fathers did not access paid parental leave, Rosie Gloster considers how more new fathers can be supported to take paternity leave.
