Public policy towards wealth gap ‘incoherent and contradictory’

Household wealth in Great Britain amounts to £5.5 trillion, even excluding pension rights – four times national income. It is far more unequally distributed than incomes or earnings.

Impact assessment shows public sector pension reform will reduce the average value by more than a third

The Government’s proposed reforms to the four largest public service pension schemes will reduce the average value of the pension benefit for members of these schemes by more than a third, and reduce long-term government expenditure on unfunded public service schemes by around a quarter, says Pensions Policy Institute.

The Conversation goes live in the UK

The Conversation, a new journalism project that brings together academics and journalists to produce news, analysis and commentary for the public, has launched in the UK today.

It has already reshaped the media landscape in its two years in Australia. In the UK seven editors are now working with registered academics to deliver the smartest and most informed take on the events, discoveries and developments shaping our time.

IFS recommends exam scores should be age adjusted to ensure fair comparisons

New research published today by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, provides fresh evidence on the extent to which the difference in educational outcomes between children born at different times of the year continues to affect them throughout their lives.

Care Inquiry calls for decisions based on need not legal status

Eight leading charities are urging the Government to rethink care and the way in which the most vulnerable children and families who encounter the care system are treated in England. The call to base decisions on need and not legal status comes following an eight-month inquiry into the best way to provide permanent homes for children.

Advocate's Gateway launched

A new service to give free access to practical, evidence-based guidance on vulnerable witnesses and defendants has been launched by the Advocacy Training Council.

The Advocate's Gateway provides eight toolkits that set out the common problems for advocates when examining vulnerable witnesses and defendants, as well as suggested solutions and best practice guidance. 

Women refugees have more difficulty finding work and suffer greater health problems than their male counterparts

A study carried out by experts from the University of Birmingham and Cardiff University found that women refugees living in the UK experienced worse physical and emotional health than men.

The report, funded by The Nuffield Foundation and entitled Social Networks, social capital and refugee integration, noted: “Compelling evidence of a striking gender difference in emotional and physical health.”

In memory of Kath Hart

We note with sadness the death of Kathleen Hart, a leading mathematics educator who played an important part in several Nuffield mathematics projects.

When and how should people conceived using donor sperm or eggs be told of their origins?

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has today published a report that says parents of donor-conceived children should be the ones to decide what to tell their children about their conception, but that they need more support in making and following through this difficult decision.

100 years of car-making in Oxford

On 28 March 1913, bicycle maker William Morris, later Lord Nuffield and the Foundation's benefactor, produced his first car in a newly built factory at the former Oxford Military College in Cowley, Oxford. The Morris was dubbed "Bullnose" because of its rounded radiator.

This photo gallery from the BBC shows how car-making in Oxford has developed over the last 100 years. Click on the image to view the gallery on the BBC website.