Understanding Society Podcast Series

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.

In the fifth episode of our podcast series, we look take a look at how relationships are changing. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Professor Brienna Perelli-Harris, Understanding Society’s Topic Champion for Families, about her research on partnerships, marriage and fertility trends using our main dataset and our COVID19 survey. Catherine’s second guest is Dee Holmes, Senior Practice Consultant from the relationship support charity, Relate, who assesses the extent to which Brienna’s research is reflected in what she sees ‘on the ground’.

In the fourth episode of our podcast series, we look take a look at the role of social action in civic participation. Series host Catherine McDonald speaks to Dr Stuart Fox from Brunel University about his research looking at whether volunteering makes young people more likely to vote in their first election. Catherine then moves on to talk to Victoria Harkness, Head of Research and Evaluation at the National Citizen Service Trust about the Trust’s experience of young people and their levels of civic participation.