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Understanding Society Podcast Series

How have the pandemic related school closures affected our children?

Season 3, Ep. 6

In the sixth episode of our podcast series, we look at how the COVID19 school closures have affected our children – and their parents. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Professor Birgitta Rabe from the Institute for Social and Economic Research about her work comparing the mental health of those children who were invited to return to school in June 2020 with those who weren’t. Catherine’s second guest is Tom McBride, Director of Evidence at the Early Intervention Foundation, who explains why research such as this is so important for policy and practice.

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  • 1. Pregnancy and early childhood data

    11:15
    In a new episode of our one-to-one podcasts, Edith Aguirre, a senior research officer at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, talks to host Chris Coates about Understanding Society’s ‘PEACH’ file. This brings our data on children under 10 together with data on pregnancy and child development, to help researchers study family dynamics.
  • 6. Coastal communities

    15:24
    Emily Murray, Director of the new Centre for Coastal Communities at the University of Essex, joins host Chris Coates to talk about the work of the new centre, and her research into the challenges and opportunities of living by the sea
  • 5. Boomerang movers

    33:34
    Emily Grundy, a Professor in the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, and Toby Murray, from the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, discuss the trend of ‘boomerang’ movers – adult children who move back in with their parents, and what it means for wellbeing
  • 4. Loneliness and mental health

    23:09
    What can data tell us about loneliness and its links with poorer mental health? And what, if anything, can we do about it? Discussing this with host Chris Coates are Ann-Marie Creaven from the University of Limerick, and Isabel Taylor from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
  • 3. Religion and mental health

    34:18
    Ozan Aksoy, Associate Professor in social science at the Social Research Institute at University College London, and Malcolm Brown, Director of Faith and Public Life at the Church of England, discuss research which shows that attending religious services more frequently was associated with higher wellbeing.
  • 2. Climate change: attitudes and policy

    18:41
    Ting Liu, a social statistics PhD student at the University of Manchester, who is investigating attitudes toward climate change risk and carbon emissions, and Helena Bennett, Head of Climate Policy at the Green Alliance think tank, discuss what data can tell us about how we think about climate change, and what’s next for government policy?
  • 1. Housing, wealth and inheritance

    35:12
    Rory Coulter from University College London and David Sturrock from the Institute for Fiscal Studies join Catherne to talk about housing, wealth and inheritance – what does research tell us, and what does it mean for government policy?
  • 9. Who answers panel surveys every time, and who doesn’t?

    08:50
    Nicole James, Survey Data Officer at Understanding Society, and a PhD Student in Survey Methodology at the Institute for Social and Economic Research says understanding survey attrition helps make sure our sample is representative. Her paper on the subject was published in the Survey Research Methods journal.
  • 8. Flexible working

    12:46
    Cara Booker, a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Essex, discusses flexible working, and what it might mean for how men and women share childcare and housework