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SUMMARY:St Catharine's Political Economy Seminar - Professor Christina Bea
 tty -'Reducing economic inactivity in the UK:  An economic and political i
 mperative'  - Christina Beatt
DTSTART:20250219T180000Z
DTEND:20250219T193000Z
UID:TALK221908@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Philippa Millerchip
DESCRIPTION:*Speaker:* Professor Christina Beatty \n\n*Title:*'Reducing ec
 onomic inactivity in the UK:  An economic and political imperative'\n\n*Ti
 me:* 19 February 2025\, 18:00-19:30\n\n*Location:* The Ramsden Room\, St C
 atharine's College.\n\nThe next St Catharine’s Political Economy Seminar
  will be held on Wednesday\, 19 February 2025. Professor Christina Beatty 
  will give a talk on “Reducing economic inactivity in the UK:  An econom
 ic and political imperative”. The seminar will beheld in the Ramsden Roo
 m at St Catharine’s College from 6.00-7.30 pm. All are welcome. The semi
 nar series is supported by the Cambridge Journal of Economics and the Econ
 omics and Policy Group at the Cambridge Judge Business School.\n\n*Talk Ov
 erview:*\n\nEconomic inactivity has increasingly come to the fore of conte
 mporary political and policy debates. Unemployment is low\, vacancies are 
 high and labour shortages in specific sectors are common\, and yet employm
 ent rates remain stubbornly below pre-pandemic levels. Central to understa
 nding this conundrum is the substantial increase in the number of working 
 age adults who are not actively participating in the labour market – tho
 se neither in employment nor unemployed.  The UK labour market has therefo
 re emerged from the pandemic with an economic inactivity problem rather th
 an an unemployment problem.  However\, national assessments of the issue o
 ften only provide an aggregate overview\, whereas in reality a very distin
 ct economic geography underpins the phenomenon.  If national\, regional an
 d local government are to understand the trends\, and develop policy solut
 ions to address the issue\, then the geography of economic inactivity need
 s to be recognised.  Christina Beatty will draw on a range of research pro
 jects to illustrate the geography of economic inactivity in Britain and fa
 ctors associated with recent observed trends in both the benefits system a
 nd the Labour Force Survey. The evidence presented questions whether the p
 olitical rhetoric driving recent policy direction to increase the conditio
 nality requirements for Universal Credit claimants is likely to have the d
 esired effect of increasing labour market participation.\n\n*Speaker Overv
 iew:*\n\nChristina is a Professor of Applied Economic Geography in the Cen
 tre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) at Sheffield Hallam 
 University. She is a social statistician by background with over 30 years
 ’ experience of undertaking applied policy research. Christina is partic
 ularly interested in the intersection of welfare reform\, labour markets\,
  and housing policy in Britain. Her research often seeks to highlight the 
 sub-regional impacts and unintended consequences of national policy decisi
 ons for different types of places in varied local economic contexts. Her r
 esearch often focuses on the uneven impact of welfare reform\; the dynamic
 s of hidden unemployment and incapacity benefits\; older industrial Britai
 n\; former coalfield areas\; and Britain’s seaside towns. Christina has 
 also worked on a number of large scale national policy evaluations for sev
 eral central government departments. These include: The New Deal for Commu
 nities Evaluation\; the Evaluation of Reforms to Local Housing Allowance S
 ystem\; and the 2023 Supported Housing Review.  \n\nThis talk is part of t
 he St Catharine’s Political Economy Seminar Series series. www.political
 economy.group.cam.ac.uk
LOCATION:The Ramsden Room\, St Catharine's College
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