Reposted by Christine Farquharson, Ben H. Ansell
I can't wait to see all the amazing evidence that we'll gain from this newest study!
It will study 30,000 children born in 2026 across the four nations of the UK.
Watch out for upcoming opportunities for researchers and other stakeholders to engage with the study team via @clscohorts.bsky.social
Reposted by Christine Farquharson
@helenmiller.bsky.social, @ckfarquharson.bsky.social and Anne Longfield explore family life in the UK, rising child poverty and pressures on social care in our 'Are the kids ok?' podcast mini-series.
🎧 Listen here: ifs.org.uk/articles/are...
Reposted by Christine Farquharson
@ckfarquharson.bsky.social details the rise in special educational needs and its effect on schools.
🎧 Listen here: ifs.org.uk/articles/are...
@helenmiller.bsky.social and I had a great conversation with Sir Philip Augar - we covered the design of the post-16 system, the gulf between higher and further education, and even some tentative signs of hope. Do listen!
Reposted by Christine Farquharson
@helenmiller.bsky.social, @ckfarquharson.bsky.social & Sir Philip Augar discuss how well England’s education system supports young people as they move into adulthood in our 'Are the kids OK?' series.
🎧 Listen here: ifs.org.uk/articles/are...
Reposted by Christine Farquharson
@ckfarquharson.bsky.social argues effective early years policy must focus on working with parents and families.
🎧 Listen here: ifs.org.uk/articles/are...
Reposted by Christine Farquharson
Are England’s school children thriving, or are too many being left behind?
@helenmiller.bsky.social, @ckfarquharson.bsky.social & @samfr.bsky.social assess the state of England's schools in our podcast.
🎧 Listen here: ifs.org.uk/articles/are...
by Gavin Kelly — Reposted by Christine Farquharson
With the excellent @careyoppenheim.bsky.social @ckfarquharson.bsky.social & @helenmiller.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/00sX...
Reposted by Christine Farquharson, Jonathan Portes, Jill Rutter
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
A great discussion with @officialedballs.bsky.social and @pjtheeconomist.bsky.social on the benefits of Sure Start and the political economy of keeping early childhood programmes going.
Reposted by Christine Farquharson
@pjtheeconomist.bsky.social is joined by @ckfarquharson.bsky.social and @officialedballs.bsky.social to explore the impact and legacy of Sure Start.
🎧 Listen here: ifs.org.uk/articles/pol...
Reposted by Christine Farquharson
ifs.org.uk/articles/pop...
Meeting childcare commitments looks much more expensive than we had thought in March 2023.
That adds to the pressure on other public services.
Childcare entitlements are really popular.
Could be great news - if it's driven by more parents in work. But it's still too early to tell.
A bit over half of this reflects the entitlement rollout anticipated in March 2023.
But there's ~£600m to top up spending. That will meet most, but not all, of the spending pressures.
So the long-term cost of childcare entitlements is on track to be £1 billion (!!) higher than we had originally thought.
Could easily end up several hundred million lower or higher.
The exceptions were (almost) all in London, where there is some evidence that eligible and interested parents are less likely to actually find a childcare spot. Might point to capacity issues?
We now think spending on new entitlements last year was £500m - 28%!! - higher than we had thought in December 2023.
Depends on:
* how many families are eligible
* how many families will move into paid work so they become eligible
* take-up amongst eligible families
Difficult!
1) The big in-year revisions to spending we have already seen (for 2024-25)
2) What higher-than-expected take-up might mean for costs in future years, once entitlements are fully rolled out
So what's going on? I break down the numbers that @pjtheeconomist.bsky.social and @maxwarner.bsky.social set out in @theifs.bsky.social post-Spending Review briefing.
Reposted by Christine Farquharson, Paul Johnson
Efficiency savings would be good and needed, but it's odd that the government thinks the scope for savings is almost identical across every area, regardless of whether these departments are priority areas or not...
Protecting the total core schools budget means real-terms spending per pupil will rise by around 3%.
We don't know anything on colleges yet - reminder that real-terms per-pupil protection there needs an extra £300m in today's £.
by Luke Sibieta — Reposted by Christine Farquharson
My guess is that this is a real-terms freeze in the core schools budget plus some extra money for free school meals
This thread explains why 🧵[1/6]
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
@theifs.bsky.social @nuffieldfoundation.org
Check out our response to today's announcement here: ifs.org.uk/articles/ben...
And our @theifs.bsky.social's report on all things free school meals, joint with Jonathan Cribb, @awmckendrick.bsky.social and Tom Waters: ifs.org.uk/publications...
