Matthew re-joined IES in May 2013, having started his career at the Institute in the 1990s. An economist by training, Matthew has considerable experience and expertise in labour market analysis, at a local, regional and national level and for employers and public bodies, and he is a strong quantitative researcher and skilled in using SPSS to analyse administrative and survey datasets. He also has experience in the work areas of disability and higher education research.

Prior to re-joining IES Matthew worked for 12 years as a self-employed research consultant, often working in conjunction with IES, and worked on a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research projects. Qualitative work included: in-depth case studies with employers utilising High Performance Working practices for the UK Commission for Employment and Skills; interviews with employees with disabilities, workplace disability assessors, and Jobcentre Plus Disability Employment Advisers as part of the evaluation of the Access to Work programme; an investigation into the reasons why lone parents do not take up the New Deal for Lone Parents, involving interviews with lone parents and focus group discussions with Jobcentre Plus advisers; a qualitative evaluation of DWP’s adult learning option pilot, aimed at improving the skill levels of the unemployed up to NVQ Level 2, which involved interviews with unemployed participants, training providers, Jobcentre Plus advisers, and skills coaches; and two studies looking at the interaction between the benefits system and the housing market, in terms of the housing choices of individuals in the private rented sector, and individuals in receipt of Support for Mortgage Interest. In terms of quantitative projects, Matthew worked on the 2010 Childcare and Early Years Survey of Parents, a cost-benefit analysis of the Acas Pre-Claim Conciliation Pilot, and an investigation into the student and graduate population in the East Midlands region which involved the analysis of data from HESA and UCAS on students in the region, and movements between graduates home regions, their regions of study, and their regions of work.

Matthew has also undertaken a number of projects investigating employers’ views on, and likely responses to, the new employer pensions regime, building on the pensions research experience he gained at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

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