Who's involved in the gig economy?
Recently, NatCen have been lucky enough to carry out two really interesting studies into modern employment practices. Specifically, we have examined the ways in which these practices are facilitated by...
View ArticleThe Conservatives are being given a health warning by GPs
Don’t let the party tear itself apart by in-fighting on Europe and neutralise the NHS: two lessons Cameron and Osborne took from the long years of post-1997 wilderness.
View ArticleThe Personal is Statistical: Why do you drink?
Why do you drink? It’s a personal question, and yet data from the 2015 British Social Attitudes survey suggests that the answer might not be that personal at all. In fact, it seems that quite a large...
View ArticleNailing down the gig economy
The trend of using online platforms to source and offer on-demand jobs and unused assets has grown substantially in the recent years, drawing more and more interest from all sides to the number of...
View ArticleHow do British people feel about transphobia and transgender issues?
Most British people today are accepting of same-sex relationships. But while Britons may be more accepting of the “LGB” in LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender), it has been less clear how they...
View ArticleWhy has voter turnout recovered?
Turnout reached a twenty year high of 69% in last year’s General Election. What is behind this recovery in electoral participation in Britain? Analysis of the latest British Social Attitudes (BSA)...
View ArticleAfter the Cambridge Analytica scandal, how do we build trust around data...
The scandal over Cambridge Analytica’s use of data harvested from Facebook users is yet another sign that we are now in an age when the collection, storage and use of information has moved from the...
View ArticleThere's little evidence of a pro-Labour youth-quake in the 2017 General Election
A key plank of Jeremy Corbyn’s strategy for winning power is to secure the votes of the disaffected and the disenchanted who do not normally think it worth their while to make the journey to the...
View ArticleIntegration and cohesion: a puzzle for policy makers and social scientists
‘Do we live in an integrated and cohesive society’? ‘Is there a problem that we need to solve and, if so, how?’ ‘How can surveys and other research inform this debate’? These are some of the questions...
View ArticleImproving and using data on income at the small area level
Measuring change in household and individual income is a key aim of many social surveys and social policy analyses. The latest official data shows a small rise in income for the latest available year,...
View ArticleTranslating personal well-being questions into Sylheti and Urdu
Over the past 10 years, well-being has gained increasing traction as a subject for the social sciences – but measuring this complex concept can be difficult.
View ArticleDoes Britain want to stay in the EU customs union?
The parliamentary passage of the Brexit bill remains stormy with Monday’s Lords vote in favour of an amendment to keep the UK in the EU customs union. The Commons get their chance to vote on this...
View ArticleMental health support needs to begin in early childhood
There’s widespread concern about the mental health of children and young people in England. Self-reported levels of happiness and wellbeing are low and declining, and England compares poorly to other...
View ArticleMinimum Unit Pricing: do people want to see a floor price for alcohol?
In November 2017, following a long legal process, the UK’s Supreme Court ruled that introducing Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) for alcohol, as the Scottish Government had been attempting to do for five...
View ArticleIt takes a village: the importance of multi-agency partnerships in tackling...
Online child sexual abuse is a global and ever-evolving problem. Every day, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) identifies and removes online images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.
View ArticleAre we eating out more - and enjoying ourselves less?
Social research is often focused on finding out more about a particular problem or concern. We carry out research on the issues that affect victims of crime, for example – or we evaluate experiments on...
View ArticleMental Health Awareness Week - how research can inform the mental health...
As many will be aware, this week is Mental Health Awareness week. Perhaps less well publicised, last week was National Teacher Appreciation week. This has led me to reflect more on something that I’ve...
View ArticleMore frequent survey data is needed on England’s mental health
Published annually, the Health Survey for England monitors the general health of the nation. It’s how we have a handle on who’s most likely to have undiagnosed diabetes or chronic kidney disease,...
View ArticleElectoral Shocks: Professor Jane Green on the Sir Roger Jowell Memorial Lecture
On 21 May 2018, Professor Jane Green delivered the fifth annual Sir Roger Jowell Memorial Lecture, in honour of the famed statistician (and NatCen's co-founder). In this blog she shares some of her...
View ArticleWhat does the research tell us about homophobia in football?
“I'm coming out about my homosexuality because I want to move the discussion about homosexuality among professional sportspeople forwards,” former Germany international Thomas Hitzlsperger explained...
View Article