Societal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic: emerging evidence from research funded by the Nuffield Foundation

The British Academy has been asked by the Government Office for Science to produce a report on the long-term societal effects and impacts of COVID-19. As part of this project, it made a call for evidence, to which this report is a rapid response.

In the report, we summarise the main insights regarding the societal impact of the pandemic that are emerging from research projects we have funded. We also include work produced by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, and the Ada Lovelace Institute – organisations that are part of the Foundation and which have also responded to the crisis.

In preparing the report, we have used the framework provided by the British Academy in relation to three key policy areas: health and well-being; communities, culture and belonging; and knowledge, skills and employment. We have also added a section on the justice system, reflecting one of our core domains, where we have a body of relevant work relating to the impacts of COVID-19. Across all sections, we have selected the evidence that most clearly aligns with the British Academy’s framework. As such, this report is not intended as a comprehensive summary of evidence from research we have funded in relation to the pandemic.

The insights we describe are those reported by our grant-holders, and we provide links to further information about their projects, many of which will have additional outputs in 2021 and beyond. The report covers the period from April to mid-November 2020.