tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/inequality-829/articlesInequality – The Conversation2024-03-20T13:59:10Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2254412024-03-20T13:59:10Z2024-03-20T13:59:10ZFashion needs stronger storytelling that is more inclusive, relevant and responsible<p>The fashion industry could not exist without storytelling. Compelling and aspirational stories conveyed through catwalks, campaigns and social media are the stuff that make garments fashionable, fostering a strong desire to be seen wearing them.</p>
<p>Fashion’s stories can spread positive messaging about issues that affect us all. In 2020, Stella McCartney’s Paris show featured models wearing cartoonish animal costumes. This humorous stunt emphasised a serious point about the “planet-friendly” brand’s <a href="https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a31191131/stella-mccartney-mascot-paris-fashion-week/">pledge</a> not to use leather, fur, skins, feathers or animal glues.</p>
<p>But more often, the darker, more unpalatable truth is that fashion’s storytelling drives overconsumption. And it defines unrealistic beauty expectations that exclude many by perpetuating western standards about what is normal and acceptable.</p>
<p>As a cultural historian who researches fashion, I believe the industry has to do better to effect change, and this can be achieved through stronger, more inclusive and responsible storytelling. </p>
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<h2>Fashion and world problems</h2>
<p>According to recent fashion industry <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/sustainable-fashion-communication-playbook">reports</a>, storytelling is becoming more prominent as brands seek to demonstrate their social responsibility by forging deeper relationships with consumers. The increased significance of storytelling within fashion can be linked to two themes that have defined social and political debate about the world’s post-COVID recovery: self and society.</p>
<p>Consumers want more meaningful experiences that enable them to explore their identities and connect with others. Fashion is the ideal medium for this, especially during a time of social and political unease. The industry’s global reach means that visual cues and messaging conveyed through clothing campaigns can be easily shared and understood.</p>
<p>The Business of Fashion’s report, <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion">The State of Fashion 2024</a>, links the increased importance of storytelling to consumers being “more demanding when it comes to authenticity and relatability”. People want to buy brands that share and support their values.</p>
<p>The consumer group most concerned to align their lifestyle choices and beliefs with the companies that clothe them is Gen-Z – people born between 1996 and 2010 – who “value pursuing their own unique identities and appreciate diversity”. </p>
<p>The increasing prominence of storytelling in fashion is also linked to the industry’s global sway and corresponding social responsibility. Organisations like the UN are <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/sustainable-fashion-communication-playbook">increasingly clear</a> that the fashion industry will only help tackle the global challenges emphasised by COVID if it uses its influence to change consumers’ mindsets.</p>
<p>The uneven social impact of the pandemic, which <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2021/06/inequality-and-covid-19-ferreira.htm">emphasised longstanding inequalities</a>, provided a wake-up call to take action on many global problems, including climate change, overconsumption and racial discrimination. This makes the fashion industry, which <a href="https://fashinnovation.nyc/fashion-industry-statistics/">contributes 2% to global GDP</a>, a culprit but also a potential champion for driving change. </p>
<p>The British Fashion Council’s <a href="https://www.britishfashioncouncil.co.uk/Innovation/Diversity-Equity-Inclusion--Belonging">Fashion Diversity Equality & Inclusion Report</a>, published in January 2024, highlights “fashion’s colossal power to influence, to provide cultural reference and guide social trends”. Similarly, the UN’s <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/sustainable-fashion-communication-playbook">Fashion Communication Playbook</a>, published last year, urges the industry to use its “cultural reach, powers of persuasion and educational role to both raise awareness and drive a shift towards a more sustainable and equitable industry”.</p>
<p>To do this, the UN’s report urges storytellers, imagemakers and role models to change the narrative of the fashion industry. They are asked to educate consumers and inspire them to alter their behaviour if it can help create positive change. </p>
<h2>Fashion’s new stories</h2>
<p>Since the pandemic, there is evidence the fashion industry has begun to change the content and form of the stories it tells, chiefly by putting a human face on current global challenges. Large-scale, entrenched social problems are being explored through real-life stories. This can help people to understand the problems that confront them, and grasp their role in working towards overcoming them.</p>
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<p>One example is Nike’s <a href="https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/nike-move-to-zero-sustainability">Move to Zero campaign</a>, a global sustainability initiative which launched during the pandemic in 2020. Instead of endless statistics and apocalyptic warnings about crisis-point climate emergency, Nike encourages people to “<a href="https://www.nike.com/nl/en/product-advice/product-care">refresh</a>” sports gear with maintenance and repair. Old Nike products that have been recreated by designers are sold through pop-ups. When salvage is not possible, Nike provides ways for people to <a href="https://www.nike.com/nl/en/sustainability/recycling-donation">recycle and donate old products</a>.</p>
<p>By encouraging relatively small changes that align the lifecycle of a product with consumers’ everyday lives, Nike’s campaign challenges the traditional idea of clothes being new, immediate and ultimately disposable by making change aspirational. </p>
<h2>Narrative hang-ups</h2>
<p>While some fashion brands are rethinking the stories they tell, my <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/hangups-9781350197268/">recent book</a>, Hang-Ups: Reflections on the Causes and Consequences of Fashion’s Western Centrism, explains that some of fashion’s most powerful and harmful stories are deep-rooted.</p>
<p>Concepts defined during the 18th and 19th centuries – civilisation, anthropology, sexology – still influence how the fashion industry engages with age, gender, race and sex. Its drive for newness and the way it pushes the idea that purchasing expensive brands brings automatic status is also based on traditional western social values that fit poorly with 21st-century perspectives and priorities.</p>
<p>The persistence of centuries-old attitudes is apparent too in Nike’s Move to Zero campaign, however well-intentioned. While the initiative is clearly conceived to influence consumer behaviour in a positive way, it still doesn’t fundamentally address what the fashion industry is and does. But at the very least, it accepts that fashion functions through high consumption and the sense of status that owning and wearing a brand confers.</p>
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<h2>Throwing everything out</h2>
<p>One of the key points I make in my book is that effective change will be more likely if we understand how the industry developed into what it is today. This calls for more audacious storytelling that critiques notions of normality, acceptability and inclusivity.</p>
<p>One example is Swedish brand <a href="https://avavav.com/en-gb/about">Avavav</a>, which commits itself to “creative freedom driven by humour, entertainment and design evolution”. In February 2024, the brand’s <a href="https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/gallery/avavav-fashion-show-trash-photos-1236222394/avavav-runway-milan-fashion-week-womenswear-fall-winter-2024-2025/">Milan catwalk show</a> concluded with models being pelted with litter. This experimental performance explored prevailing social media stories by calling out online trolls and highlighting the hurt of hate speech, within and beyond the fashion industry.</p>
<p>Naturally, it <a href="https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/62036/1/avavav-aw24-fw24-beate-karlsson-milan-fashion-week-mfw-trash">caused a sensation</a> and was widely covered in the media. A stunt perhaps, but it got people talking and drew attention to designer Beate Karlsson’s message about online hate. Clearly, compelling and innovative storytelling has the power to change minds and behaviour.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Wild does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Representing 2% of global GDP, the fashion industry must use its cultural reach to drive a shift towards a more sustainable and equitable industry.Benjamin Wild, Senior Lecturer in Fashion Narratives, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2215672024-03-19T12:27:35Z2024-03-19T12:27:35ZUS democracy’s unaddressed flaws undermine Biden’s stand as democracy’s defender − but Trump keeps favoring political violence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581766/original/file-20240313-18-8p9hen.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=297%2C152%2C4186%2C3446&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Democracy in the U.S. has historically not been available to all.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/waving-flag-united-states-on-a-dark-wall-royalty-free-illustration/513437560?phrase=democracy+united+states&adppopup=true">Panacea Doll/iStock / Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>President Joe Biden argues that “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/05/us/politics/biden-speech-trump-jan-6.html">democracy is on the ballot</a>” in the 2024 election. </p>
<p>We believe there are potential threats to U.S. democracy posed by the choices voters make in this election. But the benefits of American democracy have for centuries been unequally available, and any discussion of the current threats needs to happen against that background. </p>
<p>One of us is a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xdia5UoAAAAJ&hl=en">political scientist who focuses on civic engagement</a>; the other is a <a href="https://tischcollege.tufts.edu/about/leadership/dayna-l-cunningham-dean">former voting rights lawyer</a>. At Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life, we both lead nonpartisan efforts to educate college students and other people about their roles in democracy. </p>
<p>For us, Biden’s talk of democracy is a useful starting point for a broader conversation about U.S. democracy and the 2024 election. </p>
<h2>The ‘sacred cause’</h2>
<p>On Jan. 5, 2024, the president delivered a speech in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, titled “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/01/05/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-third-anniversary-of-the-january-6th-attack-and-defending-the-sacred-cause-of-american-democracy-blue-bell-pa/">Defending the Sacred Cause of American Democracy</a>.” </p>
<p>As a candidate for reelection at the early stages of a political campaign, the president argued that he and his fellow Democratic candidates are in favor of democracy. Former President Donald Trump and his supporters in the U.S. Congress, said Biden, are against it.</p>
<p>In this speech and other statements, Biden makes the following case: Trump supported or even incited the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, and he refuses to <a href="https://whyy.org/articles/biden-jan-6-valley-forge-speech-2024-election-pennsylvania/">denounce political violence</a>. Trump floats ideas for his second presidential term that include <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-military-insurrection-act-2024-election-03858b6291e4721991b5a18c2dfb3c36">invoking the Insurrection Act</a>, which authorizes the president to deploy the military inside the United States. </p>
<p>In contrast, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris argue that they respect the Constitution, recognize their limited power and limited importance as leaders within a constitutional order and support freedom of speech. They maintain, in Biden’s words, that “<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/01/05/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-third-anniversary-of-the-january-6th-attack-and-defending-the-sacred-cause-of-american-democracy-blue-bell-pa/">political violence is never, ever acceptable</a> in the United States.”</p>
<p>The basic facts in Biden’s speech appear accurate: Trump’s own statements support some of Biden’s claims. </p>
<p>If elected again, Trump is reportedly considering deploying the Insurrection Act <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/05/trump-revenge-second-term/">against civilian protests</a>. He has expressed <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2023/11/12/donald-trump-comments-xi-jinping-kim-jong-un-new-hampshire-rally-se-cupp-acostanr-vpx.cnn">open admiration for foreign authoritarian leaders</a>, most recently <a href="https://theconversation.com/i-watched-hungarys-democracy-dissolve-into-authoritarianism-as-a-member-of-parliament-and-i-see-troubling-parallels-in-trumpism-and-its-appeal-to-workers-224930">Hungary’s Viktor Orban</a>. He encouraged <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-guard-vote-election-2024-flynn-39d41fe4f7229d4ab7e1956efc428e10">his supporters to “guard the vote” and to “watch those votes” in certain cities</a>, which some interpret as threatening and potentially intimidating to election workers. </p>
<p>Trump has threatened to prosecute his political opponents, claiming in October 2023 that since he was being prosecuted during the Biden administration, that provided justification for him to do the same.</p>
<p>“This is third-world-country stuff, ‘<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/05/trump-revenge-second-term/">arrest your opponent</a>,’” Trump said during a New Hampshire campaign visit. “And that means I can do that, too.”</p>
<h2>Democracy vs. security</h2>
<p>Biden’s own record, however, undermines some of his claims to be fully committed to democracy. </p>
<p>The Biden-Harris administration <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/3924376-double-standard-will-biden-truly-champion-human-rights/">has been accused</a> by human rights advocates and <a href="https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/in-the-news/senators-warn-biden-that-a-defense-pact-with-authoritarian-saudi-arabia-in-exchange-for-normalizing-ties-with-israel-hurts-american-interests">even Democratic senators</a> of a double standard: championing democracy while maintaining close ties with authoritarian leaders, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-repressive-saudi-arabia-remains-a-us-ally-156281">including the Saudis</a>. </p>
<p>At the very least, Biden has continued a historic pattern of U.S. engagement across the globe that <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/12/13/examining-u.s.-relations-with-authoritarian-countries-pub-91231">prioritizes security over human rights</a> and liberal democracy. His administration is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/19/us/politics/biden-israel-gaza-poll.html">widely criticized</a> for its support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza and its disastrous humanitarian consequences.</p>
<p>At home, despite a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/10/20/upshot/biden-budget-before-after-animation.html">major expansion of the government’s role</a> in the economy, the Biden administration <a href="https://regulatorystudies.columbian.gwu.edu/new-goals-old-tools-broadening-public-participation-regulatory-process-biden-administration">has not done anything significant</a> to make federal policymaking more democratic or participatory.</p>
<h2>Longer trends</h2>
<p>It’s helpful to step back from the daily campaign and its heightened rhetoric and consider how Biden’s assertion holds up in light of general research and evidence about democracy in the U.S. That analysis reveals a more complex picture of threats to democracy, some of which are specific to the upcoming election. Others have existed for some time.</p>
<p>In their 2020 book “<a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250244420/fourthreats%22%22">Four Threats: The Recurring Crises of American Democracy</a>,” political scientists Suzanne Mettler and Robert C. Lieberman argue that democracies in general suffer when any of four trends occur: intense partisan polarization, efforts to exclude some people from the electorate, economic inequality and unilateral exercises of power by the executive branch.</p>
<p>Mettler and Lieberman show that each of these trends has been rising in the U.S. for several decades. Applying their framework, we’d note that both Biden and Trump used a <a href="https://theconversation.com/biden-like-trump-sidesteps-congress-to-get-things-done-218010">comparable number of executive orders</a> – 127 and 137, respectively – in their first three years to bypass a reluctant Congress and enact policies unilaterally. The Biden administration has been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/01/us/politics/student-loan-debt-supreme-court-executive-power.html">credibly accused of stretching executive power</a> in areas such as student loan forgiveness.</p>
<p>These long-term trends mean that neither Trump nor Biden is mainly responsible for causing them. Biden criticized all four of these threats in his Jan. 5 speech, however, whereas Trump often <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3941462-trump-wishes-happy-easter-to-pathetic-rinos-and-radical-left-democrats/">endorses political polarization</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/17/us/politics/trump-plans-2025.html">limitless executive power</a> and has <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/24/938187233/trump-push-to-invalidate-votes-in-heavily-black-cities-alarms-civil-rights-group">challenged the validity of votes</a> cast in urban and suburban areas with significant minority populations. This difference lends support to Biden’s argument.</p>
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<span class="caption">Pro-Trump protesters gather in front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C., a day that may have signaled the beginning of an era of political violence in the U.S.</span>
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<h2>Violence as a threat to democracy</h2>
<p>Notable in Biden’s campaign rhetoric about democracy is his <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2024/jan/05/donald-trump-election-warning-nikki-haley-joe-biden-latest-news?page=with%3Ablock-65987be28f08d8e96baf827e#block-65987be28f08d8e96baf827e">alarm about political violence</a>. In any democracy, violence is a threat because, among other things, it intimidates people and makes participation dangerous. In the U.S., political violence has always been associated with attempts to deny democratic rights. It is <a href="https://www.amacad.org/publication/story-violence-america">often racialized</a> and targeted at the most vulnerable communities. </p>
<p>By its very nature, the system of slavery required extreme violence, political repression and the denial of democratic rights to enslaved black people. Though rarely recognized as such in history books, it could be characterized as a <a href="https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479803729.003.0010">racially targeted police state</a> coexisting within a liberal democracy for whites only.</p>
<p>Governance under slavery included organized vigilante violence, repression of dissent, violent clashes and rebellions, harsh suppression, broad prosecution of dissidents, and systematic passage of restrictive laws or renewed enforcement of existing measures when resistance emerged.</p>
<p>Desmond S. King and Rogers M. Smith in “<a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691142630/still-a-house-divided">Still a House Divided</a>” catalog some of these patterns. Even after slavery and the post-Civil War period known as Reconstruction, <a href="https://eji.org/reports/reconstruction-in-america-overview/">political violence</a> – frequently in response to Black political mobilization or the exercise of basic rights – helped maintain what was known as <a href="https://www.britannica.com/summary/Jim-Crow-Laws-Key-Facts">Jim Crow rule</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://eji.org/report/reconstruction-in-america/">Two major instances among many stand out</a>: the 1898 “<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-white-supremacist-coup-succeeded-in-1898-north-carolina-led-by-lying-politicians-and-racist-newspapers-that-amplified-their-lies-153052">Wilmington coup</a>,” when white supremacists overthrew the democratically elected biracial city government, and the destruction of a city’s vibrant Black business district and community in <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-grandfather-to-grandson-the-lessons-of-the-tulsa-race-massacre-140925">the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921</a>. </p>
<p>Violence as a threat to democracy is by no means new, but the U.S. may be entering a new violent chapter. </p>
<p>While we do not have extensive historical data, the rate of political violence seems high now, and there are indications of dangerous trends. For example, in 2023, the U.S. Capitol Police <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/19/politics/uscp-threat-assessment-lawmakers-2023/index.html">investigated</a> more than 8,000 threats against members of Congress, a substantial increase over 2022. The number of serious threats against federal judges has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-election-judges-threats/">increased each year</a> since 2019 and is 2.5 times higher now than five years ago. </p>
<p>Citing data collected by Nathan P. Kalmoe, Lilliana Mason and Bright Line Watch, <a href="https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=AUa1y3wAAAAJ&hl=en">democracy scholar Rachel Kleinfeld</a> <a href="https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/the-rise-of-political-violence-in-the-united-states/">shows</a> that the percentage of both Democrats and Republicans who believe that violence is sometimes justified to achieve their political goals has more than doubled since 2017, although this remains a minority view in both parties. </p>
<p>From 2020 to 2023, the <a href="https://acleddata.com/">Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project</a> <a href="https://peterlevine.ws/?p=30819">cataloged</a> 1,080 demonstrations in the United States that the organization labels violent – along with more than 50 times as many nonviolent demonstrations – plus 157 cases of excessive force against demonstrators and 22 armed clashes. This data establishes a baseline for tracking the phenomenon in the near future.</p>
<p>From our perspective, nonviolent protests are expressions of a vibrant democracy that deserve protection. There may be room to debate some of the protests labeled “violent.” However, the sheer number of demonstrations that the project labels violent – more than 1,000 in four years – is concerning to us.</p>
<p>The Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol may prove to be an example of a period of political unrest. Trump is deeply implicated in the violence. Biden is decrying it – but not necessarily proposing any response other than to vote against Trump.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221567/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There are potential threats to US democracy posed by the choices voters make in this presidential election. But the benefits of American democracy have for centuries been unequally available.Dayna Cunningham, Pierre and Pamela Omidyar Dean, Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts UniversityPeter Levine, Tisch College Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Lincoln Filene Professor, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2229872024-03-19T00:12:59Z2024-03-19T00:12:59ZThe ‘digital divide’ is already hurting people’s quality of life. Will AI make it better or worse?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579788/original/file-20240305-18-nir9gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C22%2C2775%2C1971&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/road-closed-sign-outback-red-center-1438599635">ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today, <a href="https://www.digitalinclusionindex.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/ADII-2023-Summary_FINAL-Remediated.pdf">almost a quarter of Australians</a> are digitally excluded. This means they miss out on the social, educational and economic benefits <a href="https://ctu.ieee.org/benefits-of-closing-the-global-digital-divide/">online connectivity provides</a>.</p>
<p>In the face of this ongoing “digital divide”, countries are now talking about a future of inclusive artificial intelligence (AI).</p>
<p>However, if we don’t learn from current problems with digital exclusion, it will likely spill over into people’s future experiences with AI. That’s the conclusion from our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43681-024-00452-3">new research</a> published in the journal AI and Ethics.</p>
<h2>What is the digital divide?</h2>
<p>The digital divide is a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162521007903#bib0030">well-documented social schism</a>. People on the wrong side of it face difficulties when it comes to accessing, affording, or using digital services. These disadvantages significantly reduce their quality of life.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.digitalinclusionindex.org.au/">Decades of research</a> have provided us with a rich understanding of who is most at risk. In Australia, older people, those living in remote areas, people on lower incomes and First Nations peoples are most likely to find themselves digitally excluded.</p>
<p>Zooming out, <a href="https://www.itu.int/itu-d/reports/statistics/facts-figures-2023/">reports</a> show that one-third of the world’s population – representing the poorest countries – remains offline. Globally, the <a href="https://gddindex.com/#:%7E:text=The%20Gender%20Digital%20Divide%20Index%20(GDDI)%20is%20a%20pilot%20benchmarking,gender%20divides%20in%20digital%20development.">digital gender divide</a> also still exists: women, particularly in low and middle-income countries, face substantially more barriers to digital connectivity.</p>
<p>During the COVID pandemic, the impacts of digital inequity became much more obvious. As large swathes of the world’s population had to “shelter in place” – unable to go outside, visit shops, or seek face-to-face contact – anyone without digital access was severely at risk.</p>
<p>Consequences ranged from social isolation to reduced employment opportunities, as well as a lack of access to vital health information. <a href="https://press.un.org/en/2020/sgsm20118.doc.htm">The UN Secretary-General stated in 2020</a> that “the digital divide is now a matter of life and death”. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579789/original/file-20240305-22-cqzgoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A lonely older woman looking out a window while wearing a medical mask." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579789/original/file-20240305-22-cqzgoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579789/original/file-20240305-22-cqzgoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579789/original/file-20240305-22-cqzgoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579789/original/file-20240305-22-cqzgoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579789/original/file-20240305-22-cqzgoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579789/original/file-20240305-22-cqzgoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579789/original/file-20240305-22-cqzgoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">People without digital access were severely impacted during the COVID pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/lonely-senior-woman-surgical-mask-sitting-1688780245">Miriam Doerr Martin Frommherz/Shutterstock</a></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-inclusion-and-closing-the-gap-how-first-nations-leadership-is-key-to-getting-remote-communities-online-216085">‘Digital inclusion’ and closing the gap: how First Nations leadership is key to getting remote communities online</a>
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<h2>Not just a question of access</h2>
<p>As with most forms of exclusion, the digital divide functions in multiple ways. It was originally defined as a gap between those who have access to computers and the internet and those who do not. But research now shows it’s <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/tesg.12047">not just an issue of access</a>. </p>
<p>Having little or no access leads to reduced familiarity with digital technology, which then erodes confidence, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/global-agenda-for-social-justice/tackling-digital-exclusion-counter-social-inequalities-through-digital-inclusion/C9171EE3C4C944FC7712306280EAABDC">fuels disengagement</a>, and ultimately sets in motion <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0144929X.2021.1882577">an intrinsic sense of not being “digitally capable</a>”.</p>
<p>As AI tools increasingly reshape our workplaces, classrooms and everyday lives, there is a risk AI could deepen, rather than narrow, the digital divide.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/artificial-intelligence-holds-great-potential-for-both-students-and-teachers-but-only-if-used-wisely-81024">Artificial intelligence holds great potential for both students and teachers – but only if used wisely</a>
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<h2>The role of digital confidence</h2>
<p>To assess the impact of digital exclusion on people’s experiences with AI, in late 2023 we surveyed a representative selection of hundreds of Australian adults. We began by asking them to rate their confidence with digital technology. </p>
<p>We found digital confidence was lower for women, older people, those with reduced salaries, and those with less digital access.</p>
<p>We then asked these same people to comment on their hopes, fears and expectations of AI. Across the board, the data showed that people’s perceptions, attitudes and experiences with AI were linked to how they felt about digital technology in general. </p>
<p>In other words, the more digitally confident people felt, the more positive they were about AI. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/giving-ai-direct-control-over-anything-is-a-bad-idea-heres-how-it-could-do-us-real-harm-210168">Giving AI direct control over anything is a bad idea – here's how it could do us real harm</a>
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<p>To build truly inclusive AI, these findings are important to consider for several reasons. First, they confirm that digital confidence is not a privilege shared by all. </p>
<p>Second, they show us digital inclusion is about more than just access, or even someone’s digital skills. How confident a person feels in their ability to interact with technology is important too. </p>
<p>Third, they show that if we don’t contend with existing forms of digital exclusion, they are likely to spill over into perceptions, attitudes and experiences with AI. </p>
<p>Currently, <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/09/digital-quality-life-internet-affordability-cybersecurity/">many countries are making headway</a> in their efforts to reduce the digital divide. So we must make sure the rise of AI doesn’t slow these efforts, or worse still, exacerbate the divide.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577249/original/file-20240222-22-7cjal0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person working on a laptop with the ChatGPT loading screen displayed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577249/original/file-20240222-22-7cjal0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577249/original/file-20240222-22-7cjal0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577249/original/file-20240222-22-7cjal0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577249/original/file-20240222-22-7cjal0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577249/original/file-20240222-22-7cjal0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577249/original/file-20240222-22-7cjal0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577249/original/file-20240222-22-7cjal0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">AI tools are already transforming lives – but only if you’re on the right side of the ‘digital divide’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-person-is-using-a-laptop-computer-on-a-table-16094056/">Matheus Bertelli/Pexels</a></span>
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<h2>What should we hope for AI?</h2>
<p>While there <a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-dystopian-scenarios-ai-is-pervasive-today-and-the-risks-are-often-hidden-218222">is a slew of associated risks</a>, when deployed responsibly, AI can make significant positive impacts on society. Some of these can directly target issues of inclusivity.</p>
<p>For example, computer vision can <a href="https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/monash-university-and-tennis-australia-serve-up-world-first-accessible-audio-stream-for-fans-with-blindness-or-low-vision">track the trajectory of a tennis ball</a> during a match, making it audible for blind or low-vision spectators.</p>
<p>AI has been used to analyse <a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/closing-gap/implementation-measures/csiro-indigenous-jobs-map">online job postings</a> to help boost employment outcomes in under-represented populations such as First Nations peoples. And, while they’re still in the early stages of development, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41746-022-00560-6">AI-powered chatbots</a> could increase accessibility and affordability of medical services. </p>
<hr>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-boost-indigenous-employment-we-need-to-map-job-opportunities-to-skills-and-qualifications-our-new-project-does-just-that-212440">To boost Indigenous employment, we need to map job opportunities to skills and qualifications. Our new project does just that</a>
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<p>But this responsible AI future can only be delivered if we also address what keeps us digitally divided. To develop and use truly inclusive AI tools, we first have to ensure the feelings of digital exclusion don’t spill over. </p>
<p>This means not only tackling pragmatic issues of access and infrastructure, but also the knock-on effects on people’s levels of engagement, aptitude and confidence with technology.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222987/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Bentley works for CSIRO, which receives funding from the Australian Government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Naughtin works for CSIRO, which receives funding from the Australian Government.</span></em></p>The benefits of AI are transforming modern life — but disparities in digital confidence are leaving some behind.Sarah Vivienne Bentley, Research Scientist, Responsible Innovation, Data61, CSIROClaire Naughtin, Principal Research Consultant in Strategic Foresight, Data61Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2180912024-03-10T13:10:22Z2024-03-10T13:10:22ZThe world is not moving fast enough on climate change — social sciences can help explain why<p>In late 2023 the United States government released <a href="https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/">its Fifth National Climate Assessment</a> (NCA). The NCA is a semi-regular summation of the impacts of climate change upon the U.S. and the fifth assessment was notable for being the first to include <a href="https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/chapter/20/">a chapter on social systems and justice</a>. </p>
<p>Built on decades of social science research on climate change, the fifth NCA contends with two truths that are increasingly being reckoned with in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/21/climate/biden-environmental-justice.html">U.S. popular</a> and <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1816020116">academic conversations</a>. </p>
<p>The first is that climate change has the potential to exacerbate health, social and economic outcomes for Black, Indigenous, people of colour (BIPOC) and low-income communities. The second is that social systems and institutions — including governmental, cultural, spiritual and economic structures — are the only places where adaptation and mitigation can occur.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-is-not-just-heat-waves-climate-change-is-also-a-crisis-of-disconnection-210594">It is not just heat waves — climate change is also a crisis of disconnection</a>
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<p>We only have to compare <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-020-06081-w">mortality rates for the COVID-19 pandemic disaggregated by race, income, and other axes of inequality</a> to recognize that we are not all in the same boat, despite experiencing the same storm. Today, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sou120">race</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087403253053">income</a> similarly predict who is likely to be displaced permanently after a major hurricane — and forced relocation can have negative impacts on individuals and communities for generations. </p>
<p>Understanding how existing social systems influence, and are influenced by, climate change is key to not only slowing the effects of an increasingly warming Earth, but also ensuring that society’s transition to a new world is a <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-030-89460-3.pdf">just one</a>. </p>
<p>And there is no doubt that we are indeed facing a new world.</p>
<h2>Not moving fast enough</h2>
<p>Decades of scientific research have shown that <a href="https://nca2023.globalchange.gov/all-figures">increasingly devastating and rapid climatic changes</a> are ahead of us, including more intense hurricanes, droughts and floods. </p>
<p>Our recent levels of resource consumption — particularly in the Global North and countries with large developing economies — <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262681612/a-climate-of-injustice/">are untenable</a>. To be clear, the world <em>is</em> responding to these risks with the U.S. alone achieving a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-04/documents/us-ghg-inventory-1990-2019-data-highlights.pdf">13 percent decrease in annual greenhouse gas emissions between 2005 and 2019</a>, but these responses are not good enough.</p>
<p>It is the purview of social scientists — the scientists tasked with studying human society and social relationships in all of their complexity — to ask why.</p>
<p>What is it about the ethics, cultures, economies, and symbols at play in the world that have made it so difficult to turn the tide and make change? Why do we — individuals, societies, cultures, and nations — mostly seem unable to curb emissions at the rates necessary to save ourselves and our planet?</p>
<p>These are questions that can only partially be answered by new information and technologies developed by physical scientists and engineers. We also need an understanding of how humans behave. Having new technology matters for little if you do not also understand how social, economic and political decisions are made — and how certain groups are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1818859116">able to develop habits around lower rates of emissions and consumption</a>.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/telling-stories-of-our-climate-futures-is-essential-to-thinking-through-the-net-zero-choices-of-today-210326">Telling stories of our climate futures is essential to thinking through the net-zero choices of today</a>
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<p>We know that inequitable systems create <a href="http://thinkpunkgirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Lee_2021.pdf">unevenly distributed risk</a> and capacities to respond. For example, a hurricane’s intensity scale is less predictive of its mortality rates than the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27572097/">socio-economic conditions within the nation where the storm makes landfall</a>. Understanding these dynamics is the only way to respond to climate change in a way that does not entrench deep tendencies towards racist, sexist and classist landscapes of vulnerability. </p>
<h2>Empowering real change</h2>
<p>Recognizing that disasters and climate disruptions have the potential to make inequality worse also means that we have the opportunity to do better. </p>
<p>There are a range of outcomes that may stem from climate related disasters with a vast inventory of what is possible. There are also hopeful examples that point the way to rich collaborations and problem solving. For example, <a href="https://www.cityoftulsa.org/government/departments/engineering-services/flood-control/flooding-history/">Tulsa, Okla.</a> was the most frequently flooded city in the U.S. from the 1960s into the 1980s, but a coalition of concerned citizens came together with the city government to create a floodplain management plan that serves as <a href="https://kresge.org/resource/climate-adaptation-the-state-of-practice-in-u-s-communities/">a model</a> for other cities. </p>
<p>In another example, Indigenous communities around the U.S. have some of the most <a href="https://doi.org/10.7930/NCA5.2023.CH16">proactive planning</a> in place for adapting to climate change, despite histories of persecution, theft and violent exploitation.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A report on Indigenous-led bison conservations in the U.S., produced by the Associated Press.</span></figcaption>
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<p>There is an adage that says in order to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. Make no mistake, climate change is the most urgent issue of our time. However, moving quickly and carelessly will serve only to re-entrench existing social, economic, political and environmental inequalities. </p>
<p>Instead, we must look at other ways of being in the world. We can repair and recreate our relationships with the Earth and the consumption that has gotten us to this point. We can <a href="https://theconversation.com/respect-for-indigenous-knowledge-must-lead-nature-conservation-efforts-in-canada-156273">pay attention and listen to global Indigenous peoples and others who have cared for this earth for millennia</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cop28-climate-change-theatre-and-performances-reveal-new-narratives-about-how-we-need-to-live-219366">COP28: Climate change theatre and performances reveal new narratives about how we need to live</a>
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<p>We must be more creative with our solutions and committed to ensuring that all, and not just a privileged few, are able to live in a better world than the one in which they were born into. Technological approaches alone will not achieve this goal. To build a better world we need the social sciences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218091/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Climate change is often seen as solely a technical problem. This is a misguided belief. Understanding how to build a better world begins, and ends, with understanding the societies which inhabit it.Fayola Helen Jacobs, Assistant Professor of urban planning, University of MinnesotaCandis Callison, Associate professor, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, and Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies, University of British ColumbiaElizabeth Marino, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Oregon State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2246912024-03-05T20:57:58Z2024-03-05T20:57:58ZWomen want to climb the corporate ladder — but not at any price<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578677/original/file-20240115-27-31qawf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women are just as interested in opportunities for advancement as men are. However, they find them less attainable because of their busy schedules.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The consulting firm <a href="https://www.spencerstuart.com/">Spencer Stuart</a> recently published a study <a href="https://www.spencerstuart.com/-/media/2023/december/f500-profiles/fortune-500-csuite-snapshot-profiles-in-functional-leadership.pdf">of top management at Fortune 500 companies</a>, the 500 richest companies in the United States.</p>
<p>The analysis focused specifically on the gender of the people in these positions, their functions and the source of their appointments, whether they came from inside or outside the organization.</p>
<p>Studying the composition of top management, often referred to as the C-Suite, is particularly important since it allows us to see how many women make it to the position of CEO in an organization.</p>
<p>Respectively Dean of the John Molson School of Business, and an expert for several decades on the place of women in the upper echelons of the business world, we will discuss the main findings of the Spencer Stuart study.</p>
<h2>Starting points</h2>
<p>Three conclusions in particular caught our attention:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Men represent 60 per cent of the select group that constitutes top management. Men principally occupy the positions that offer the greatest potential for appointment as CEO, <a href="https://www.spencerstuart.com/-/media/2021/december/lastmile/the-last-mile-to-the-top-future-ceos-who-beat-the-odds.pdf">according to the history of appointments to such positions</a>. These include, for example, Chief Operating Officer, Head of Division and Chief Financial Officer;</p></li>
<li><p>Although women are increasingly present in top management positions (40 per cent), they are still found in the positions of Head of Human Resources, Head of Communications, Head of Diversity and Inclusion and Head of Sustainable Development. In other words, women are in so-called support functions that, while important for organizations, are unfortunately perceived as having little impact on shareholder equity and financial performance;</p></li>
<li><p>Appointments to top management positions that lead to the position of CEO come mainly from within the company. What does this mean? That an intimate knowledge of the organization gained over a long period is valued and that there is generally a promotion process in place to feed the succession pool.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Global overview of the situation</h2>
<p>Our experience over the last few decades allows us to draw similar conclusions about Canada. So we wanted to check whether this situation was similar in other countries.</p>
<p>A report by the International Labour Organization called <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_700953.pdf">“The Business Case for Change”</a> provides an overview of the position of women in the upper echelons of power in 13,000 companies operating on every continent.</p>
<p>As in the United States and Canada, the gender divide between positions that could be called support jobs, and those that contribute directly to an organization’s profitability, appears to be widespread. According to the authors of this study, it is also referred to as a “glass wall,” since it limits the pool of potential female candidates for the position of CEO.</p>
<p>But how can this phenomenon be explained?</p>
<h2>Stereotypes, biases and prejudices</h2>
<p>First of all, gender stereotypes and prejudices come into play from childhood.</p>
<p>They have an impact on the toys children play with, the subjects they study, their lives and their future careers.</p>
<p>Girls — generally speaking — aspire to become doctors, teachers, nurses, psychologists and veterinary surgeons. As for boys, they want to become engineers and <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/smashing-gender-stereotypes-and-bias-and-through-education">work in IT and mechanical fields</a>.</p>
<h2>Organizational culture</h2>
<p>Secondly, organizational culture is a <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_700953.pdf">mirror of our society and its traditions</a>.</p>
<p>It therefore conveys biases regarding the leadership potential of women compared to men.</p>
<p>According to the International Labour Organization survey cited above, 91 per cent of the women questioned agreed or strongly agreed that women lead as effectively as men. However, only 77 per cent of men agreed with this statement.</p>
<p>Arguably, this leadership bias has an impact on the recruitment, appointment, talent development and “stretch assignment” processes that pave the way for career progression.</p>
<p>There is also reason to believe that these biases are equally present on boards of directors, which are responsible for appointing CEOs and which are still predominantly composed of men.</p>
<h2>Different life goals</h2>
<p>Finally, women and men have different preferences and career goals.</p>
<p>According to a study by Harvard Business School professors Francesca Gino and Alison Wood Brooks entitled <a href="https://hbr.org/2015/09/explaining-gender-differences-at-the-top">“Explaining the Gender Differences at the Top,”</a> women are just as interested in opportunities for advancement as men are. However, they find them less attainable because of their busy schedules. As a result, women have to more seriously take into account the compromises and sacrifices they will have to make to occupy positions of high responsibility and power.</p>
<p>The authors are careful to point out that these results do not mean that women are less ambitious, but that career success means different things to different people. For some, it takes the form of power. For others, it can mean making colleagues happy and helping to make the world a better place in a collaborative and supportive environment.</p>
<p>This research is in line with that of Viviane de Beaufort, a professor at the École supérieure des sciences économiques et commerciales (ESSEC). In a survey of the career aspirations of 295 French women managers, she found that women do want to rise to the highest positions. <a href="https://www.academia.edu/80171918/WP_CERESSEC_CEDE_ESSEC_Viviane_de_Beaufort_2022_avec_le_collectif_WOMEN_BOARD_READY_ESSEC">But not at any price</a>.</p>
<h2>What determines career paths?</h2>
<p>This article therefore raises the following question:</p>
<p>Can we, as women, one day hope to be CEOs or fulfill our professional dreams despite the biases, prejudices, stereotypes and barriers we have to overcome?</p>
<p>Simone de Beauvoir wrote in 1949 in her essay “The Second Sex”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Women determine and differentiate themselves in relation to men, not men in relation to women: they are inessential in relation to what is essential. He is the subject, he is the absolute, she is the other.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This excerpt reminds us that the skills and knowledge required to perform strategic functions have always been defined in terms of the male exercise of power in an environment where the organization’s performance is judged almost exclusively by financial success and growth of shareholder value.</p>
<p>It’s time to think about new career paths and skills that are not defined by gender, but rather, by an organization’s mission and objectives. These goals must take into account <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/07/the-c-suite-skills-that-matter-most">how they contribute to creating a better world</a>, as much as ensuring the financial success of organizations.</p>
<p>Functional skills must be valued as much as softer skills such as emotional intelligence, empathy, a sense of community and boldness.</p>
<p>Breaking down glass walls also means that organizations and their boards have a responsibility to identify and encourage women to take up positions where they can gain experience and develop their leadership skills in front line rather than support roles.</p>
<p>In such a context, women, as much as men, will have a better chance of reaching the highest positions in a company while remaining true to themselves — and doing so on equal terms.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224691/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Women are increasingly present in top management positions, but they end up in so-called support functions, which rarely lead to CEO positions.Louise Champoux-Paillé, Cadre en exercice, John Molson School of Business, Concordia UniversityAnne-Marie Croteau, Dean, John Molson School of Business, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2246662024-02-28T11:23:56Z2024-02-28T11:23:56ZNet zero to the housing crisis: how we’re using expert evidence to help policymakers improve UK society<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578593/original/file-20240228-28-4mivz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-above-drab-rooftops-run-2352209899">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Three years ago, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-conversation-partners-on-2m-research-policy-project-to-mitigate-covid-19-pandemics-social-impacts-150476">The Conversation partnered</a> with a group of leading universities, including UCL, Cardiff and Queen’s Belfast, on the ESRC-funded <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/">International Public Policy Observatory (IPP0)</a>. The project’s goal was initially to assess and report to UK policymakers evidence from around the world on the best ways to mitigate the devastating social impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.</p>
<p>IPPO has since evolved and expanded – and from January 2023 has been tailoring its work to focus on a wide range of key UK social challenges, from net zero to inequality.</p>
<p>For example, the UK is committed to reaching net zero by 2050. But the country’s uptake of green technologies, such as heat pump installation, currently lags far behind that of many other European nations such as Norway, Finland, France and Italy.</p>
<p>Consequently, UK policymakers must urgently find new ways to get so-called “able to pay” households to spend their money on green technologies such as better insulation and heat pumps.</p>
<p>IPPO’s <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/home-energy-behaviour-change-barriers-green-purchases-evidence-review/">recent review of the published evidence</a> suggests policy interventions that support the behavioural and emotional reasons for making these choices could increase the likelihood of consumers moving towards green purchases.</p>
<p>New policy ideas could include the establishment of <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/the-case-for-home-upgrade-agencies-mobilising-data-for-net-zero/">Home Upgrade Agencies</a> across the UK to coordinate consistent messaging and offer bespoke advice to householders. <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/society-wide-conversations-recommendations/">Storytelling</a> around net zero should also be made more relevant to people’s everyday lives: binning the jargon; being honest but hopeful; appealing to people’s emotions and everyday realities rather than just reporting the broad, technocratic detail, and acknowledging the current impact of falling living standards on many communities. </p>
<h2>Finding our place</h2>
<p>Post-pandemic, remote and hybrid working have become the new normal – leading to substantial social change. Indeed, the UK is facing unprecedented challenges as people decide where to work and live.</p>
<p>While, overall, <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/hybrid-work-and-disabled-people-post-pandemic-policy-problems/">remote and hybrid working</a> can benefit people’s subjective experience of work, we need solid research to truly learn from the dramatic social changes wrought by the pandemic.</p>
<p>We must also ensure that certain groups, such as those with disabilities, have sufficient support to make positive changes to their working lives.</p>
<p>As fewer people head to the office, policymakers must also consider how we use this increasingly vacant space – particularly as the UK is facing a chronic housing shortage. Indeed, the UK government is proposing to widen planning rules to encourage developers and builders to convert empty commercial spaces into housing.</p>
<p>This sounds superficially positive – but can trigger its own, deeper problems. Work by IPPO, for example, <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/why-converting-office-space-into-flats-wont-solve-the-housing-crisis/">shows</a> that converting commercial buildings into housing under these proposed “permitted development rights” tends to result in smaller, lower-quality homes in worse locations than homes given full planning permission. And this directly impacts people’s lives.</p>
<p>Indeed, this change to planning rules is likely to make the existing housing quality crisis even worse, as already cash-strapped local authorities lose oversight of the development process.</p>
<h2>Finding the right evidence</h2>
<p>IPPO is also establishing the most effective ways of gathering evidence and filtering it for the use of policymakers.</p>
<p>In September 2023, the team launched a series of <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/innovations-in-evidence/">public, online events</a> on new methods for mobilising evidence for greatest impact, to guide researchers, policymakers and intermediaries.</p>
<p>Our events have included sessions on digital tools, rapid evidence assessments, systems mapping, the transferability of evidence, using evidence during a crisis, and including lived experience in analyses of how policy can solve socioeconomic problems.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, IPPO also ran its first <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/international-public-policy-observatory-winter-school-northern-ireland/">knowledge exchange winter school</a> to bring together civil servants from Northern Ireland and a selection of expert speakers.</p>
<p>There is much still to do. But by acting as a bridge between research evidence and the policymakers who can use it to better inform their decision making, IPPO aims to benefit the British public and particularly disadvantaged groups.</p>
<p><em>For more information about IPPO, or if any of these topics are relevant to your work, please visit our <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/">website</a> or <a href="mailto:%20s.o'meara@ucl.ac.uk">get in touch</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224666/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
As a partner on the International Public Policy Observatory, The Conversation is making an impact.Sarah O'Meara, IPPO/Communications and Engagement ManagerLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2230192024-02-08T17:16:27Z2024-02-08T17:16:27ZWhy international students are taking the ‘back door’ route into England’s top universities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574357/original/file-20240208-22-fsok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C2986%2C1985&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/professor-giving-presentation-lecture-hall-university-225178372">Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In January, England’s university leaders had their weekend breakfasts disturbed by an undercover investigation in the Sunday Times. </p>
<p>Using secret film of recruitment agents, <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cash-for-courses-the-foreign-students-with-low-grades-at-top-universities-pcskjb6xx">the newspaper reported</a> on a “back door” route which lets international students into <a href="https://russellgroup.ac.uk/about/our-universities/">Russell Group universities</a> with “far lower grades” than students from the UK. Like the Ivy League in USA and Australia’s Group of Eight, these universities figure highly in university rankings and have stringent academic entry requirements.</p>
<p>The “back door” enables international students to enter a year-long foundation course with lower entry grades, then apply for progression onto an undergraduate degree. </p>
<p>The government has responded by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/jan/29/department-education-investigate-recruitment-international-students-uk-universities">commissioning its own investigation</a>. Robert Halfon, minister for higher education, has said he wants to make sure there is a “level playing field” for domestic students. </p>
<p>England’s universities now gain most of their income through tuition fees rather than government grant, and they can charge much higher fees to international students. This is leading to concerns that they are favouring international students through the foundation year route. There has never, though, been a “level playing field” for university entry due to the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/11881">influence of family background on school results</a>. </p>
<h2>Foundation years</h2>
<p>The Sunday Times story focused on bridging programmes, which are usually called <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/student/advice/what-foundation-year-uk">foundation years</a> in England. These are year-long courses taken after school but before starting an undergraduate degree. They help students improve their academic standing and prepare them for university. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1754143191262003585"}"></div></p>
<p>There are foundation years run by <a href="https://www.intoglobal.com/">independent companies</a> with partnerships and recognition from universities. Russell Group and other English universities also <a href="https://www.foundationyear.cam.ac.uk/">run foundation years themselves</a>, often linked to specific subjects such as <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2024/medicine/mb-chb-gateway-to-medicine/">medicine</a> and <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/fd/physical-sciences-foundation.aspx">physical sciences</a>. Foundation years are becoming increasingly popular, with the number of entrants <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/foundation-years-statistics/2021-22">increasing</a> from 8,000 to around 70,000 during the last decade.</p>
<p>These courses were initially intended to help two groups of students enter undergraduate degrees. First, English students from less-advantaged backgrounds. These students <a href="https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/annual-report-2023/">gain lower grades overall</a> and are more likely to have <a href="https://www.ucas.com/advisers/help-and-training/guides-resources-and-training/pre-application-support/entry-requirements-and-alternatives-levels#:%7E:text=Vocational%20qualifications%20are%20often%20welcomed,others%20will%20list%20accepted%20qualifications.">vocational qualifications</a> designed for progression into work, rather than academic studies. </p>
<p>And second, international students from educational systems with school-leaving qualifications that are not <a href="https://www.enic.org.uk/Qualifications/SOC/Default.aspx">comparable</a> to those in the UK. </p>
<p>For many years, different governments in England have encouraged recruitment of both groups of students. This has included setting targets for the recruitment of <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/cameron-access-targets-major-factor-higher-education-green-paper">under-represented groups</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/apr/18/internationalstudents.politics">international students</a>, and making changes to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/nov/09/socialexclusion.politics">higher education</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49655719">immigration</a> regulations.</p>
<p>By helping less-advantaged students enter university, foundation years increase opportunities and improve the supply of highly skilled graduates. Their attraction of international students also generates tuition fee income for universities and creates connections for trade and diplomacy. These benefits are now being set against perceptions of unfairness, which relate to the use of foundation years by students who have not met the required grades.</p>
<h2>Student recruitment</h2>
<p>During the last decade, the most selective universities in England have <a href="https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7857/CBP-7857.pdf">increased their recruitment</a> of domestic students from all backgrounds as well as international students. But this is becoming increasingly difficult due to the level of tuition fees for domestic undergraduates. </p>
<p>The government has increased the maximum fee for domestic students only once in ten years, from £9,000 to £9,250 per year in 2017. In real terms, the fee for each student has <a href="https://ifs.org.uk/publications/annual-report-education-spending-england-2023">reduced by around one quarter</a> in this time. </p>
<p>In contrast, there is no cap on international student fees. These can be <a href="https://study-uk.britishcouncil.org/moving-uk/cost-studying">over £30,000 per year</a>. There are, therefore, much stronger financial incentives to increase numbers of international rather than domestic students.</p>
<p>The “back door” identified by the Sunday Times involves not only foundation year provision for students with qualifications from other countries, but also international students who have gained UK qualifications through independent schools. These students achieve grades below the published entry requirements, then take a foundation year to meet the standard. Universities are recruiting more students through this route because they rely on them to fund domestic student places.</p>
<p>Is this unfair? Many UK families <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/engines-of-privilege-9781526601278/">pay for private schooling</a> and tutoring, and pay for students to re-sit examinations to meet selective university entry requirements. Those from private schools are over <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AccesstoAdvantage-2018.pdf">twice as likely</a> to enter Russell Group universities as students from the state sector.</p>
<p>And this route leads to influence. <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/our-research/sutton-trust-cabinet-analysis-2023/">Two-thirds of the current UK cabinet</a> attended fee-paying private schools, compared with 7% of the wider population. <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/our-research/elitist-britain-2019/">Research conducted</a> in 2019 found that 87% of cabinet members were Russell Group alumni.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-public-cost-of-private-schools-rising-fees-and-luxury-facilities-raise-questions-about-charitable-status-182060">The public cost of private schools: rising fees and luxury facilities raise questions about charitable status</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Notwithstanding this, the perception of unfairness highlighted by the report may be influential. The government wants universities to balance their pursuit of private income from international students with the interests of its own population.</p>
<p>Yet <a href="https://londoneconomics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/LE-Nuffield-Foundation-HE-fees-and-Funding-in-England-FINAL.pdf">the government now funds</a> only £1,600 of the average £10,200 that English universities receive for each domestic student. This 15% contribution cannot adequately represent the level of public interest in the education of the nation’s young people. A new settlement must, then, be a priority for whichever government is in power by the end of 2024.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223019/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Millward is employed by the University of Birmingham, which is a member of the Russell Group. For four years prior to his appointment to the University of Birmingham in 2022, Chris was the Director for Fair Access and Participation on the executive and board of England's higher education regulator, the Office for Students. He has, therefore, been directly involved in the issues addressed by this article. </span></em></p>England’s universities get most of their income through tuition fees, and they can charge much higher fees to international students.Chris Millward, Professor of Practice in Education Policy, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2212822024-02-06T15:51:10Z2024-02-06T15:51:10ZFuel poverty: as government support dries up, communities are taking action<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573777/original/file-20240206-22-xvyur2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4928%2C3260&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A cooperative in southern England installed solar panels on flats and used the revenue to fund energy-efficient improvements.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/roof-mounted-solar-panels-manchester-england-394391113">Marcin Wos/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/about-us1/media/press-releases/more-than-two-million-people-will-be-cut-off-from-their-gas-and-electricity-this-winter-because-they-cant-afford-to-top-up-citizens-advice-warns/">More than two million people</a> will be cut off from their gas and electricity this winter because they can’t afford to top up their prepayment meter. That’s according to a report from the charity Citizens Advice, which says it is helping more people than ever who cannot pay for energy.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/articles/whoismostlikelytoliveinhomesthatarehardertokeepwarm/2023-12-14">Data</a> from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests that lone parents (75%), renters (60%), disabled adults (54%), and Black, African, Caribbean, or Black British adults (58%) are more likely to report difficulties in affording their energy payments compared to the national average of 43%.</p>
<p>Underlying all the vulnerable groups who will struggle to keep warm this winter is class. Apart from people aged 65 years and over (who are also more likely to live in homes with lower energy efficiency and so consume more gas and electricity as a result) those most affected by <a href="https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2024-01-16c.676.5">fuel poverty</a> are people who live payday to payday and have very little savings, if any. Race sometimes becomes a factor as government <a href="https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-pay-and-benefits/pay-and-income/household-income/latest/">figures</a> show that Black households (54%) are most likely out of all ethnic groups to have a weekly income of less than £600 (US$760).</p>
<p>Soaring heating expenses, stagnating or declining wages and poorly maintained housing have marred millions of lives with debt and poor health. <a href="https://www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk/about-fuel-poverty/excess-winter-deaths-and-fuel-poverty/">Estimates</a> suggest that 10% of excess winter deaths are directly attributable to fuel poverty and 21.5% to cold homes.</p>
<p>So what support is available – and what is actually needed?</p>
<h2>National schemes don’t go far enough</h2>
<p>The government energy bill support <a href="https://www.gov.uk/get-help-energy-bills/getting-discount-energy-bill">scheme</a> gave every household a £400 discount on their energy bills for winter 2022-2023. This ended in March 2023. Now some households could get £150 off their electricity bill (or added to their prepayment meter) for winter 2023-2024 under the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme">warm home discount scheme</a>.</p>
<p>This discount should be automatically applied to your bill, meaning there is no need to apply for the scheme if you are getting the guarantee credit element of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme/guarantee-pension-credit">pension credit</a> or are on a low income and live in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme/low-income-England-Wales">England and Wales</a>. You may need to apply for it if you are eligible and live in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme/low-income-scotland">Scotland</a>, however.</p>
<p>The Citizens Advice <a href="https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/get-help-paying-your-bills/grants-and-benefits-to-help-you-pay-your-energy-bills/">website</a> has useful information on grants and benefits to help with paying energy bills in England. Your local council may have other schemes so it is <a href="https://www.gov.uk/find-local-council">worth checking</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A paper electricity bill." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573780/original/file-20240206-22-ne8gjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573780/original/file-20240206-22-ne8gjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573780/original/file-20240206-22-ne8gjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573780/original/file-20240206-22-ne8gjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573780/original/file-20240206-22-ne8gjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573780/original/file-20240206-22-ne8gjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573780/original/file-20240206-22-ne8gjq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">UK energy bills have remained high for the last two years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/paper-electricity-bill-cost-increasing-notice-2132985595">Jevanto Productions/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-319-69625-6_124-1">Research</a> I conducted with others has shown that what support is available is inadequate. People may be unaware of their eligibility for the warm home discount and struggle to contact their energy supplier, as is sometimes required in Scotland. They may also be loath to contact their local authority for information on nearby “warm spaces” – public places that anyone can use to stay warm, like libraries.</p>
<p>Eligibility itself poses a problem because people in need often miss out due to narrowly defined criteria that excludes people on marginally higher incomes or who are self-employed. Inaccurate government data and flawed disability assessments are also an issue.</p>
<h2>Warm communities</h2>
<p>Fuel poverty is a devolved policy area in the UK, meaning that powers and funding rest with local government. But our <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-69625-6_124-1">research</a> shows that people in poverty and ethnic minority groups often do not trust city councils and local political representatives.</p>
<p>Fortunately, others are taking action. <a href="https://communityenergyengland.org/pages/what-is-community-energy">Community Energy England</a>, a not-for-profit company, <a href="https://communityenergyengland.org/pages/who-we-are">provides</a> <a href="https://communityenergyengland.org/how-to-pages/data-digital">free</a> <a href="https://communityenergyengland.org/how-to-pages/community-energy-fortnight-2023-resources">resources</a> for people who want to start <a href="https://communityenergyengland.org/how-to-pages/getting-started-with-community-energy">community energy projects</a>. One <a href="https://communityenergyengland.org/how-to-pages/case-studies">example</a>, <a href="https://www.brightonenergy.org.uk/">Brighton Energy Co-op</a>, has invested in the <a href="https://www.brightonenergy.org.uk/home/our-projects/">installation of solar panels</a> on <a href="https://www.brightonenergy.org.uk/home/our-projects/">buildings</a>, ranging from schools to blocks of flats and even a football stadium. Money raised from selling this electricity has helped repay investors and funded insulation and other energy efficiency improvements for vulnerable people. </p>
<p>Energy efficiency experts <a href="https://www.groundwork.org.uk/greendoctor/">Groundwork’s Green Doctors</a> also give vulnerable <a href="https://www.groundwork.org.uk/greendoctor/our-partners/">people</a> (remotely and in person) useful tips on how to <a href="https://www.groundwork.org.uk/london/saving-resources/">save energy</a> and where to find discounts. Their <a href="https://www.groundwork.org.uk/london/green-doctors-help-residents/">advice</a> includes demonstrating how to put reflective panels behind radiators so that more heat is kept within rooms instead of being lost through walls.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.fuelbankfoundation.org/">Fuel Bank Foundation</a> provides emergency credits for people whose prepayment meters run out. </p>
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<p>All of this work is helpful because <a href="https://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2023/12/homes-hit-hardest-by-fuel-poverty-not-benefiting-from-government-scheme.page">research</a> shows that households in the areas hardest hit by fuel poverty are not benefiting the most from government programmes.</p>
<h2>More help is needed</h2>
<p>People should not be dying as a result of <a href="https://www.nea.org.uk/news/fuel-poverty-charity-reveals-45-people-per-day-die-from-cold-homes/">cold homes</a> in a country as wealthy as <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?most_recent_value_desc=true">the UK</a> and given the statistics, the government ought to implement a programme of targeted benefits for elderly people with disabilities, addressing the extra costs related to disability and care needs. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352126874_Ethnic_Poverty_Causes_Implications_and_Solutions">research</a> also indicates that higher unemployment rates, low wages, and limited career progression in low-paid sectors frequently ends in fuel poverty, particularly among people in lower socioeconomic classes and especially those from Black communities.</p>
<p>Tackling fuel poverty requires <a href="https://energyforall.org.uk/">diverse</a>, long-term solutions. The support currently offered should expand to involve community-led approaches to improve energy efficiency and help those in dire need.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tolu Olarewaju does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Energy bill discounts have failed to meet the scale of the problem, research shows.Tolu Olarewaju, Economist and Lecturer in Management, Keele UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2217872024-01-27T09:17:25Z2024-01-27T09:17:25ZMatric results: South Africa’s record school pass rates aren’t what they seem – what’s really happening in the education system<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571116/original/file-20240124-19-jpr4hb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South Africa's minister of basic education, Angie Motshekga.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luba Lesolle/Gallo Images via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa’s matric (grade 12) class of 2023, which wrote final school-leaving exams late last year, has been hailed by the country’s minister of basic education for achieving “<a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/extraordinary-class-of-2023-records-best-pass-percentage-in-national-senior-certificate-history-20240119">extraordinary</a>” results. Of the 691,160 candidates who wrote the National Senior Certificate exams, 82.9% – that’s 572,983 – passed, up from 80.1% of the class of 2022. And more candidates than ever before obtained marks that allow them to study for a bachelor’s degree.</p>
<p>All of the country’s nine provinces managed to improve on their 2022 pass rates. This is despite the <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-learning-losses-what-south-africas-education-system-must-focus-on-to-recover-176622">after-effects of the COVID pandemic</a> in 2020 and 2021, when this class was in grade 9 and grade 10 respectively. The results also reflect a steady uptick in the overall national pass rate, <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/364476/south-africas-matric-pass-rate-2008-to-2019/">which has risen</a> from 60% in 2009 and stabilised over the past two years at above 80%.</p>
<p>As is clear from this summary, the release of the results focused a great deal on the numbers. As a former teacher, school principal, education circuit manager, academic expert in curriculum studies and current vice-dean of teaching and learning at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, I would caution against this approach. South Africans should not confuse quantity with quality.</p>
<p>The fanfare and hype around the results risks obscuring the big picture, which is that the actual pass rate – when dropouts are taken into account – is far lower and has been for many years. This points to huge problems within the education system.</p>
<h2>‘Real’ numbers</h2>
<p>This year, as has become the case annually, there’s been furious debate between politicians and education experts about the quality of the results. </p>
<p>Some experts <a href="https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/reports/why-matric-pass-rate-not-reliable-benchmark-education-quality">openly</a> say that government is striving for numbers instead of focusing on quality. For example, a matric class in a township (underdeveloped, generally urban areas largely inhabited by Black South Africans) will boast a pass rate of 80%. But only a few of those matriculants qualify to study at a university. </p>
<p>The essence of the debate revolves around what <a href="https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/education/matric/matric-pass-rate-da-claims-real-rate-is-55-3/">some call</a> the “real” pass rate, measured by the number of matriculants who passed as a fraction of the number who started school together 12 years earlier. </p>
<p>In 2012, 1,208,973 learners entered the first year of school, grade 1. Of these, only 928,050 were in grade 11 and only 740,566 enrolled for grade 12 (matric) in 2023. Thus, 468,407 pupils (almost 40%) <a href="https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/education/matric/matric-results-2023-dropout-real-pass-rate-atm-da/">disappeared into the system</a>. Given this attrition, some analysts and politicians argue that the actual pass rate is only <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/education-experts-pour-cold-water-over-das-553-real-matric-pass-rate-20240119">just over 55%</a>.</p>
<p>This issue of “real pass rates” also plays out in the unhealthy competition between provinces. There are nine provinces in South Africa. Eight are governed by the African National Congress (ANC), which also governs nationally. The Democratic Alliance (DA) governs one province, the Western Cape. Each year when the results are released, it becomes a competition to see which province’s matrics performed best. </p>
<p>The Free State province has achieved the <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/free-state-remains-first-for-the-fifth-year-running/ar-AA1ncb9E">best pass rate for the last five years</a>. However, it also has the <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/experts-welcome-matric-pass-rate-increase-but-note-450000-learners-dropped-out-along-the-way/ar-AA1nciwj">highest dropout rate</a> of all nine provinces, <a href="https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/education/matric/matric-results-2023-dropout-real-pass-rate-atm-da/">leading to allegations</a> by the DA and some analysts that authorities hold poorly performing pupils back to create a better matric pass rate. Some of those learners will later proceed to grade 12; others drop out entirely. For instance, almost half of the learners in the Free State who were in grade 10 in 2021 <a href="https://www.netwerk24.com/netwerk24/skole-studente/myskool/matrieks/vrystaat-se-top-prestasie-ruik-mos-na-kroekery-20240120">did not make it to matric in 2023</a>. </p>
<p>By contrast, the Western Cape only performed the 5th best but boasts a comparatively high throughput rate. </p>
<p>There is a strong feeling among educationists – and I completely agree – that a province’s “pass rate” should be published alongside its “dropout rate” to give a full perspective of the true situation. </p>
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<img alt="A graph showing the number of pupils who dropped out before reaching the matric class of 2023" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571605/original/file-20240126-19-oeximq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571605/original/file-20240126-19-oeximq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571605/original/file-20240126-19-oeximq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571605/original/file-20240126-19-oeximq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571605/original/file-20240126-19-oeximq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571605/original/file-20240126-19-oeximq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571605/original/file-20240126-19-oeximq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://charts.theoutlier.co.za/">The Outlier</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<h2>What’s gone wrong</h2>
<p>The ecstasy over the results also ignores the many challenges that the majority of pupils face on a daily basis.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/overcrowding-in-classrooms-a-challenge-facing-sa-teachers-sadtu/">Overcrowding</a> is one big problem, particularly at primary school level. The <a href="https://tdd.sun.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/E.-Wills-2023-Teacher-Shortages-class-sizes-LE-ratios.pdf">average class size</a> for grade 6 is 61 in Limpopo, 59 in Mpumalanga and 54 in KwaZulu-Natal. This <a href="https://www.mopse.co.zw/sites/default/files/public/downloads/2022%20Annual%20Education%20Statistics%20Report.pdf">compares poorly</a> with some neighbouring countries, such as Botswana and Zimbabwe.</p>
<p>Effective teaching, especially in the basic skills such as reading and writing, is impossible because no individual attention is possible. </p>
<p>Add to that the fact that many schools do not have libraries and it’s clear why <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-10-year-olds-are-struggling-to-read-it-can-be-fixed-206008">only 1 out of 5 pupils in grade 4</a>, aged on average 9 or 10, can read with comprehension. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-10-year-olds-are-struggling-to-read-it-can-be-fixed-206008">South Africa's 10 year-olds are struggling to read -- it can be fixed</a>
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<p>A second problem is that most South African schools do not have the necessary physical resources to create an environment conducive to learning. The lack of libraries is one example. Another is that many schools in poor communities do not have science or computer laboratories. Yet pupils are strongly encouraged to take STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects, because these are seen as giving young people the best opportunity of employment.</p>
<h2>A glimmer of hope</h2>
<p>It’s not all hopeless, however. There are certainly things to celebrate, including the achievements of <a href="https://briefly.co.za/education/178071-matric-results-2023-meet-melissa-muller-south-africas-top-achiever-future-mechatronics-engineer/">top-performing</a> individuals. Hardworking teachers also deserve thanks for the seldom-appreciated work they do, particularly in under-resourced rural areas.</p>
<p>One <a href="https://www.ewn.co.za/2024/01/19/khayelitsha-school-celebrates-99-matric-pass-rate">especially beautiful story</a> is that of the Khayelitsha Centre of Science and Technology. Situated in one of the Western Cape’s poorest residential areas, this school boasts a 2023 pass rate of 99% and 107 distinctions (a mark of 80% or higher), including 10 in mathematics. </p>
<p>Having carefully studied the results I am also delighted to see how many distinctions are emerging from schools in impoverished communities which charge no fees or very low fees. It is also heartening to see that pupils growing up in poverty are making a growing contribution to the pool of excellence.</p>
<p>These examples prove the value of good governance in schools, which creates an environment that is conducive for learning even in the absence of resources.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221787/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Le Cordeur does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The fanfare and hype around the results risks obscuring the big picture.Michael Le Cordeur, Professor and Vice- dean Teaching and Learning, Education Faculty, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2191552024-01-21T08:55:26Z2024-01-21T08:55:26ZSouth Africa’s ageing population comes with new challenges. How best to adapt to them<p><em>Young people – under the age of 15 – currently make up 29% of South Africa’s population. But this will soon change: the aged portion of the population is forecast to rise from 2030, bringing many challenges. Lauren Johnston, an economics and political economy expert, recently published a <a href="https://saiia.org.za/research/poor-old-brics-demographic-trendsand-policy-challenges/">paper</a> on the subject. We asked her to put the developments into perspective.</em></p>
<h2>What is South Africa’s current population profile?</h2>
<p>South Africa is “young” among the Brics countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), but “old” by African standards. For example, seniors make up 5.9% of South Africa’s population and children 28.6%. This <a href="https://saiia.org.za/research/poor-old-brics-demographic-trendsand-policy-challenges/">compares</a> with Russia’s 15.8% seniors and 17.2% children, and China’s 13.7% seniors and 17.7% children. </p>
<p>The sub-Saharan average is 3.0% for seniors and 41.8% for children. </p>
<h2>What’s up ahead?</h2>
<p>South Africa faces no fears of a substantially diminished working-age population, unlike a number of high-income countries. Nonetheless, population structure estimates suggest that it will be home to a rising number of seniors. </p>
<p><strong>Projected population structure, South Africa</strong></p>
<p>In general, the increase in population share of seniors is driven by falling rates of mortality and birth, leading to fewer younger people relative to elders. In South Africa’s case, a falling fertility rate <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN">from over six births per woman in 1960 to just over two today</a> is a key driver. </p>
<p>An ageing population is statistically defined as a population with 7% or more of people aged 65 and over. </p>
<p>In 2022, seniors made up 5.9% of South Africa’s population. So, it is not yet home to an ageing population. But the <a href="https://population.un.org/wpp/">United Nations</a> forecasts it will join the “population ageing” club as early as 2030. By around 2060 it will be home to an “aged” population – with seniors accounting for 14% of the population. </p>
<h2>What unique challenges lie ahead?</h2>
<p>In general, an ageing population puts added pressure on the working-age population. Each worker has to be more productive, just to maintain total output. Fiscal resources also come under pressure because there are fewer people of working age – net contributors to the economy. There are also more seniors requiring resources for their health and welfare. </p>
<p>For developing countries this can be especially precarious because budgets are often under strain. So are the resources needed for pursuing basic national development. Moreover, a trend of population ageing arising in developing countries is relatively new – just a few decades old. </p>
<h2>How prepared is South Africa for the challenges?</h2>
<p>One challenge for “young” South Africa is that the slower pace of demographic change reduces imminent and more obvious demographic change pressure. The very steady increase in the share of elders alongside pressing broader socioeconomic challenges gives the government little incentive to prioritise social or economic ageing-related issues on its policy agenda.</p>
<p>The array of socioeconomic challenges, including <a href="https://www.parliament.gov.za/storage/app/media/1_Stock/Events_Institutional/2020/womens_charter_2020/docs/19-02-2021/20210212_Womens_Charter_Review_KZN_19th_of_Feb_afternoon_Session_Final.pdf">poverty</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-police-are-losing-the-war-on-crime-heres-how-they-need-to-rethink-their-approach-218048">crime</a>, entrenched <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-cant-crack-the-inequality-curse-why-and-what-can-be-done-213132">inequality</a> and <a href="https://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/news-insights/shedding-the-load-power-shortages-widen-divides-in-south-africa/">energy access</a>, means that the need to respond to the demographic transition is less of an immediate priority. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/millions-of-young-south-africans-are-jobless-study-finds-that-giving-them-soft-skills-like-networking-helps-their-prospects-202969">Millions of young South Africans are jobless: study finds that giving them 'soft' skills like networking helps their prospects</a>
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<p>As a result, very few older South Africans benefit from aged care services, and then only the very frail, with inconsistent reach across provinces. Moreover, according to an October 2023 University of Cape Town study, there is little support for older persons who have high care needs and are at home, <a href="https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2023-10-02-funding-elder-care-in-south-africa-new-report#:%7E:text=Based%20on%20estimates%2C%20it%20is,older%20persons%20who%20need%20it.">or for active older persons</a>. Most elders do not have access to services that support their needs, but also fear rising healthcare costs, owing to the rising incidence of non-communicable diseases. These include strokes, cancer and diabetes.</p>
<p>Overall the basic national social welfare net is inadequate. For example, retirees living off less than 16% of their pre-retirement salaries are among those with the highest risk of <a href="https://theconversation.com/retired-women-in-south-africa-carry-a-huge-burden-of-poverty-177379">living in poverty</a>. This group is three times more at risk of poverty than any other group in South Africa. Black female widows are most at risk.</p>
<p>While the economic value of support to older persons has grown over time, the increase has been insufficient to <a href="https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2023-10-02-funding-elder-care-in-south-africa-new-report#:%7E:text=Based%20on%20estimates%2C%20it%20is,older%20persons%20who%20need%20it.">meet the needs of this growing population</a>. Statistics South Africa estimates that population ageing alone is already adding around 0.3% to <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=13445">expected health-related expenditures annually</a>. These trends suggest that without change, South Africa’s seniors will become even less adequately served with time.</p>
<h2>What needs to be done to prepare better?</h2>
<p>South Africa has committed to establishing frameworks for healthy ageing based on the <a href="https://www.who.int/initiatives/decade-of-healthy-ageing#:%7E:text=The%20United%20Nations%20Decade%20of,communities%20in%20which%20they%20live.">United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing from 2020 to 2030</a>. The agenda has four core areas of priority – age-friendly environments, combating ageism, integrated care, and long-term care. To realise these goals, difficult political decisions would need to be made around taxation and redistribution, as more revenue is required to ensure basic dignity for South African seniors. </p>
<p>Guided by the <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/2006-013_olderpersons.pdf">Older Persons Act</a> and the <a href="https://social.desa.un.org/issues/ageing/madrid-plan-of-action-and-its-implementation-main/madrid-plan-of-action-and-its">Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing</a>, the Department of Social Development in partnership with other departments, and the <a href="https://saopf.org.za/">South African Older Persons Forum</a> should further implement <a href="https://www.gov.za/news/media-advisories/government-activities/minister-lindiwe-zulu-officially-opens-2022-active">South Africa’s Active Ageing Programme</a> to empower senior citizens to stay physically and intellectually active, to continue to enjoying healthy, purposeful lives. This should help reduce pressure on more intensive care sectors and needs. </p>
<p>As explained in my <a href="https://saiia.org.za/research/poor-old-brics-demographic-trendsand-policy-challenges/">paper</a>, South Africa should take advantage of the Brics grouping’s new population structure and <a href="https://brics2023.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Jhb-II-Declaration-24-August-2023-%201.pdf">development cooperation agenda</a>. That way, state officials, civil society and entrepreneurs may be better positioned to take advantage of opportunities to reduce healthcare and aged care costs. </p>
<p>To direct sustain the economy as the population ages, South Africa needs to ensure that the economy is robust enough to accommodate a worsening dependency burden. For example, young people must be proportionately empowered to drive productivity growth and innovation. That way, the increasing costs associated with the ageing population could be accommodated while <a href="https://www.uneca.org/stories/eca-discusses-african-middle-income-countries%E2%80%99-challenges-and-solutions-to-accelerate">continuing to drive national development</a>. </p>
<p>Digitisation trends and the Brics population and development agenda may, as examples, also foster opportunities for education and training among not only young South Africans, but all working-age people. This will help raise productivity potential per worker and <a href="https://saiia.org.za/research/poor-old-brics-demographic-trendsand-policy-challenges/">extend productive working lifespans</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/drc-has-one-of-the-fastest-growing-populations-in-the-world-why-this-isnt-good-news-209420">DRC has one of the fastest growing populations in the world – why this isn't good news</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>South African policy makers and entrepreneurs should also be cognisant of how population ageing affects <a href="https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/OP-351-AGDP-Johnston-FINAL-WEB.pdf">not only other Brics economies</a>, but also patterns of trade and investment. For example, over the coming decades, population decline in middle-income China, and the rapid decline of its working-age population, is likely to push China away from labour-intensive industries, and <a href="https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/222235/1/GLO-DP-0593.pdf">towards capital-intensive industries and sectors</a>.</p>
<p>In other words, population ageing at home and abroad will shift economic demography-weighted opportunities and challenges at home. The more responsive South Africa can be to these changes, the better off will the nation be.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Johnston does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In general, an ageing population puts added pressure on the working-age population to be more productive – just to maintain total output – amid growing fiscal constraints.Lauren Johnston, Associate Professor, China Studies Centre, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2181972024-01-15T17:52:26Z2024-01-15T17:52:26ZSix ways inequality holds back climate action<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568897/original/file-20240111-21-cneto0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5615%2C3741&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/rear-view-rich-woman-walking-towards-173767196">Tyler Olson/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Are improvements to green technologies, like better batteries and more efficient solar panels, enough on their own to tackle climate change? Unfortunately not. Our behaviour and lifestyles must change too.</p>
<p>Rolling out the solutions to climate change (electric vehicles, solar power, heat pumps) will require confronting the enormous gulf in wealth and resources separating the richest and poorest people – both within countries and between them.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01900-4">In our recent article</a> for Nature Climate Change, we explain why inequality remains one of the biggest barriers to the net zero transition.</p>
<h2>1. The very rich are very big polluters</h2>
<p>Oxfam recently shone a spotlight on the gap in emissions between the richest and poorest people globally. According to <a href="https://www.oxfam.org.uk/media/press-releases/richest-1-emit-as-much-planet-heating-pollution-as-two-thirds-of-humanity-oxfam/">their latest analysis</a>, the richest 1% emit as much CO₂ as the poorest 66% combined.</p>
<p>To limit warming to 1.5°C, each person has a yearly carbon budget of about <a href="https://wir2022.wid.world/chapter-6/">1 tonne</a>. However, the top 1% of emitters currently burn through more than one hundred times the sustainable amount, emitting on average a staggering <a href="https://wir2022.wid.world/chapter-6/">110 tonnes of carbon</a> a year each. </p>
<p>If we want to transition to net zero fairly and in time to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis, we need to slash emissions from the biggest sources.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1746862406322549055"}"></div></p>
<h2>2. Political solutions are limited</h2>
<p>The political power of the rich prevents measures that could otherwise distribute emissions and energy use more fairly. This is because wealthy people can shape government policy to suit their interests. </p>
<p>Billionaires who have made their fortunes through investments in the fossil fuel industry have donated to groups that campaign against <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/fighting-climate-chaos/climate-deniers/koch-industries/">policy solutions to climate change</a>, obstructing and delaying efforts to decarbonise.</p>
<p>With the ability to successfully lobby against climate policies, the super-wealthy have no compulsion to curb their highly polluting behaviour. For example, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/22/ban-private-jets-to-address-climate-crisis-says-thomas-piketty">private jet travel remains legal</a> despite it being the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-people-still-flying-to-climate-conferences-by-private-jet-218459">most polluting</a> transport mode of all and useful to just a tiny minority.</p>
<h2>3. Carbon taxes could be more effective</h2>
<p>No price attached to carbon emissions, in any country, accounts for their full damage to the Earth and to human health. This means that it is often cheaper for industries to pollute than switch to clean alternatives. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two smokestacks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568915/original/file-20240111-17-t01y0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568915/original/file-20240111-17-t01y0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568915/original/file-20240111-17-t01y0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568915/original/file-20240111-17-t01y0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568915/original/file-20240111-17-t01y0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568915/original/file-20240111-17-t01y0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568915/original/file-20240111-17-t01y0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Emitting carbon is still relatively cheap.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/view-on-two-smoke-flues-power-2093276599">Dmitry Danilenko/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Carbon taxes are supposed to increase the price of emitting greenhouse gases and pollution so that the greenest option is also the cheapest one. For example, taxing diesel and petrol vehicles (and investing the revenue in public transport) could make it cheaper for families to travel by train and bus instead of by car. If such taxes were widely introduced, research indicates they could be effective at <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joes.12531">reducing emissions</a>.</p>
<p>Instead, carbon taxes tend to disproportionately affect poorer people and countries by increasing the prices of goods and services that remain highly polluting, while wealthier people can afford to keep emitting. More equal societies, without extreme poverty or wealth, could introduce carbon taxes that enable everyone to decarbonise. </p>
<h2>4. Green options aren’t in reach for all</h2>
<p>While carbon emissions are not priced at their true cost, some lifestyle changes (such as replacing a gas boiler with <a href="https://theconversation.com/do-heat-pumps-work-in-the-uks-climate-an-expert-answers-your-low-carbon-heating-questions-211150">a heat pump</a>) require a hefty upfront investment. If you’re one of the many people on a low income then you may not be able to afford them.</p>
<p>In the UK, subsidies for energy-efficiency improvements like home insulation tend to be restricted to homeowners, leaving renters with little control over <a href="https://www.generationrent.org/2023/08/03/fuel-poor-private-renters-miss-out-on-home-insulation-grants/">the building they live in</a> – including its emissions. Similarly, tax breaks or grants to buy electric bikes are largely restricted to those in stable jobs which pay <a href="https://help.cyclescheme.co.uk/article/263-i-earn-national-minimum-or-living-wage-how-can-i-participate">above the minimum wage</a>.</p>
<p>Ensuring that subsidy schemes specifically support those on lower incomes could allow everyone to make the changes necessary for reaching net zero.</p>
<h2>5. People need free time to go green</h2>
<p>Beyond wealth and income, there are also inequalities in available time to consider.</p>
<p>Some low-carbon options take longer or are less convenient than the polluting alternatives, such as travelling long distances by train instead of flying. Learning new skills, like how to cook plant-based recipes to cut down on your meat consumption, can take time which wealthy people can more readily afford by working part-time, retiring early or paying others to take care of cleaning and childcare. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A crowded platform for Eurostar at St. Pancras station in London, UK." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568912/original/file-20240111-28-zxcrw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568912/original/file-20240111-28-zxcrw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568912/original/file-20240111-28-zxcrw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568912/original/file-20240111-28-zxcrw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568912/original/file-20240111-28-zxcrw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568912/original/file-20240111-28-zxcrw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/568912/original/file-20240111-28-zxcrw1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More free time would help more people travel by train over long distances.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-august-16-2019-people-1976601530">Alena Veasey/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More equality in free time, such as a <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/aotearoa/story/could-a-4-day-working-week-help-reduce-emissions-and-our-carbon-footprint/">four-day working week</a>, can help people make lifestyle changes that benefit the planet.</p>
<h2>6. Public services cannot meet their potential</h2>
<p>Providing high-quality public services to all makes low-carbon choices easier for everyone. Universally available amenities also meet basic standards of human wellbeing while <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378021000662">using less energy overall</a>.</p>
<p>In the UK, London boasts the cheapest bus fares and the most comprehensive public transport network. Although rent and property prices can be lower in rural areas than in cities, the deregulation and subsequent privatisation of the UK bus network in the 1980s – as well as austerity since 2010 – has led to <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1024529420964933">more unequal access</a> to public transport. </p>
<p>Fare increases and axed bus routes have put low-carbon public transport <a href="https://chrgj.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Report-Public-Transport-Private-Profit.pdf">out of reach</a> for many and made it harder to get around without a car.</p>
<p>The planet’s dwindling resources are being squandered by a rich minority. Reining in their emissions and redistributing their power and influence would help everyone live more sustainably so that the planet can support a decent life for all.</p>
<hr>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 30,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cutting wealth inequality could curb the super-rich’s disproportionate share of emissions.Emma Garnett, Researcher in the Health Behaviours Team, University of OxfordCharlotte A. Kukowski, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Climate Change Mitigation, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2208762024-01-15T00:01:48Z2024-01-15T00:01:48ZAs the billionaires gather at Davos, it’s worth examining what’s become of their dreams<p>Gathering for their annual World Economic Forum at <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/12/davos-2024-what-to-expect-and-whos-coming/">Davos</a> in Switzerland this week, the world’s business and political elite will be digesting some unpleasant reading courtesy of the aid agency <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/inequality-inc">Oxfam International</a>. </p>
<p>Oxfam’s annual report on global inequality released this morning shows the wealth of the world’s five richest billionaires has <a href="https://oi-files-d8-prod.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2024-01/Davos%202024%20Report-%20English.pdf">more than doubled</a> since the start of the decade, while 60% of humanity has grown poorer.</p>
<p>Among the findings of the report entitled <a href="https://oi-files-d8-prod.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2024-01/Davos%202024%20Report-%20English.pdf">Inequality Inc</a> are that</p>
<ul>
<li><p>billionaires own US$3 trillion more than they did three years ago, meaning their wealth has grown at three times the rate of inflation</p></li>
<li><p>even in Australia, the wealth of billionaires has climbed 70%</p></li>
<li><p>five billion other people can’t afford what they could three years ago.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Progress in Africa, which seemed promising for much of this century, has stalled since COVID. </p>
<p>And large parts of the populations in wealthy countries, feeling left behind, have been lured by the appeal of rightwing populism – ironically, largely promoted by billionaires and their advocates.</p>
<h2>Dreams of Davos past</h2>
<p>This isn’t how things were supposed to turn out.</p>
<p>In its glory days in the 1990s, the Davos forum was the driving force promoting the idea of <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/klaus-schwab-on-what-is-stakeholder-capitalism-history-relevance/">stakeholder capitalism</a> in which corporations controlled by shareholders were supposed to advance the interests of everyone who had a stake in their activities: workers, consumers, communities and the environment.</p>
<p>The Forum still <a href="https://www.weforum.org/about/world-economic-forum/">promotes the idea</a> on its website.</p>
<p>Back then, as communism collapsed, everything seemed possible. </p>
<p>Pundits like Thomas Friedman spoke of a <a href="http://www.herinst.org/BusinessManagedDemocracy/government/international/straitjacket.html">golden straitjacket</a> in which universal prosperity could be achieved if only the world embraced liberal capitalism, overseen by an <a href="https://www.thomaslfriedman.com/the-lexus-and-the-olive-tree/">electronic herd</a> of fund managers making investment decisions.</p>
<p>With appropriately-constrained policies, governments could ensure a rising economic tide lifted all boats. </p>
<p>In the UK and the US the so-called <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/third-way">Third Way</a> policies of Tony Blair and Bill Clinton were seen as delivering <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/jcorpciti.28.113">capitalism with a human face</a>.</p>
<p>Three decades on, that vision is looking increasingly threadbare.</p>
<p>From the left, there is increasing pressure for radical alternatives; from the right, there is increasing pushback against the Forum’s brand of “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/30/woke-capitalism-new-villain-of-the-right-only-way-forward">woke capitalism</a>”.</p>
<p>Financial managers remain as powerful as ever, but in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and multiple exposures of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/wall-street-criminal-enforcer-urges-whistleblowers-come-forward-2024-01-10/">criminal</a> <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2020/10/03/jpmorgan-chase-faces-a-fine-of-920m-for-market-manipulation">wrongdoing</a> by their firms, there is less and less faith in their beneficence and collective wisdom.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/brian-schmidt-my-five-days-in-davos-22154">Brian Schmidt: my five days in Davos </a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Billionaires are becoming the problem</h2>
<p>Billionaires were not important enough to be seen as a major problem back in the early 1990s. In 1991, as communism collapsed, Forbes Magazine assessed the total wealth of the world’s five richest people at less than <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/07/08/2-japanese-top-forbess-rich-list/88637f38-1b78-4525-ac1b-f6cd24906c58/">$US70 billion</a>.</p>
<p>And the most prominent billionaires at the time were relatively appealing figures like <a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/Bio">Bill Gates</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Warren-Edward-Buffett">Warren Buffett</a>.</p>
<p>But since then, while US prices have doubled, the wealth of the top five has climbed tenfold. And they have become less interested in the idea that others should benefit from the system that has benefited them. </p>
<p>A case in point is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/">Jeff Bezos</a> who is number three on the rich list with net wealth of US$114 billion and runs Amazon whose brutal working conditions and anti-union stance are detailed in the Oxfam report.</p>
<p>Another is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/">Elon Musk</a>, number two on the rich list with US$180 billion, who could once have been seen as merely eccentric, but his recent embrace of neo-Nazis goes further.</p>
<p>And, appropriately for what Oxfam calls the <a href="https://oi-files-d8-prod.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2024-01/Davos%202024%20Report-%20English.pdf">gilded age of division</a>, another is the very richest man in the world, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/">Bernard Arnault</a>, whose family owns luxury goods brands including Louis Vuitton and Sephora. </p>
<p>Arnault embodies the resurgence of what Thomas Piketty has called <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/the-coming-boom-in-inherited-wealth/">patrimonial society</a>. </p>
<p>He took over the management of his father’s business and intends to pass his business on to his sons.</p>
<p>All have benefited from what is sometimes called neoliberalism: the mix of ideas including privatisation, financial deregulation and tax cuts that was meant to deliver stakeholder capitalism.</p>
<p>What neoliberalism has given us instead is greater division – something the billionaires gathered at Davos ought to consider this week as they reminisce about forums past.</p>
<p>A reasonable set of fresh ideas would be that put forward by Oxfam: direct government intervention to reduce inequality including but not limited to reasserting the roles of governments as regulators and service providers abdicated on the advice of gatherings such as the one in Davos.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220876/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Quiggin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The World Economic Forum was once about spreading wealth. But in the past three years, the wealth of the world’s top five billionaires has more than doubled while 60% of humanity has grown poorer.John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2206162024-01-11T12:50:05Z2024-01-11T12:50:05ZInequality is dividing England. Is more devolution the answer?<p>Twenty-five years ago, when new institutions of national government were created in <a href="https://www.parliament.scot/about/history-of-the-scottish-parliament/the-scottish-parliament-reestablished#topOfNav">Scotland</a> and <a href="https://senedd.wales/how-we-work/history-of-devolution/">Wales</a>, they reflected the widely held view that the Welsh and Scots should have more control over their economies, aspects of welfare provision and key public services. Yet at that time, hardly anyone thought devolution might be applied to England – despite it being the largest, wealthiest and most populated part of the UK.</p>
<p>Today, things look rather different. The notion of English devolution has morphed from being of interest only to constitutional experts to being a preoccupation of Britain’s politicians as we approach the next general election – many of whom have lost confidence in the capacity of central government to tackle the country’s most deeply-rooted problems.</p>
<p>A historic <a href="https://www.sunderland.gov.uk/article/29488/4-2bn-North-East-devolution-deal-gets-local-approval">£4.2bn devolution deal</a>, which will bring together seven councils under an elected <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_North_East_mayoral_election">mayor of the North East</a> in May 2024, is the latest attempt to address some of the deep geographical inequalities that disfigure and disenfranchise large areas of England.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, much of English local government is experiencing immense financial pressures, with large councils such as <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-67053587">Birmingham</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/29/nottingham-city-council-wasnt-reckless-it-was-hollowed-out-by-austerity">Nottingham</a> declaring themselves at risk of bankruptcy while others <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/economic-growth/regional-development/2023/07/council-rescue-package-finance-bankruptcy">teeter on the edge of a financial cliff</a>. In many parts of England, it is <a href="https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/publications/devolving-english-government/">increasingly unclear</a> who local residents should hold accountable for public service provision – in part due to the amount of outsourcing to the private sector that has become routine.</p>
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<p><strong><em>This article is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> derived from interdisciplinary research. The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.</em></p>
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<p>“Take Back Control” was the slogan of the Vote Leave campaign leading up to the Brexit referendum of September 2016. It may not be a coincidence that the country which played the key arithmetical role in determining its outcome – England – was the only one where devolution had not been introduced, and where many non-metropolitan residents felt their views and interests counted for little in the citadels of democratic government. </p>
<p>Since then, more years of political turbulence, economic shocks intensified by the COVID pandemic, and the government’s <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/17/levelling-up-housing-and-communities-committee/news/195434/levelling-up-policy-will-fail-without-longterm-substantive-funding-for-councils-say-mps/">failure to “level up”</a> as pledged, have combined to erode the allegiance and goodwill of many of its citizens. What this means for the future of a UK union-state model that has rested, to a considerable degree, upon English assent is likely to become one of the key political – and constitutional – issues of our time.</p>
<h2>What is English devolution for?</h2>
<p>In fact, the idea of establishing a new layer of government between Whitehall and England’s complicated network of local councils has engaged the attention of successive governments since the 1960s. But questions about the form, scope and functions of this “middle” layer gradually turned into a party-political football, with governments of different colours inclined to reverse the arrangements put in place by their predecessor. And the wider democratic ambition hinted at by the term “devolution” was largely absent from these reforms.</p>
<p>Whereas in Scotland and Wales, devolution was long ago couched in terms of democratic advance and national self-determination, in England it was largely regarded as a mere extension of central government’s approach to regional policy-making – and even the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/5fe17864-ae02-11e4-919e-00144feab7de">advent of elected “metro mayors”</a> did little to change this view. But now, politicians from both main political parties have come to believe in a new, sub-national model that can be badged as England’s own version of devolution.</p>
<p>A spate of deals involving the voluntary combining of different councils were announced in 2022, including for <a href="https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/your-council/devolution">North Yorkshire</a>, the East Midlands and the North East, and again in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s 2023 <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/autumn-statement-2023-speech">autumn statement</a> for Lancashire, Greater Lincolnshire and <a href="https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/autumn-statement-devolution-for-hull-tax-cuts-for-unemployed-500m-for-innovation-centres-and-ai-but-weaker-growth-predicted/#:%7E:text=and%20Jeremy%20Hunt-,Autumn%20statement%3A%20Devolution%20for%20Hull%2C%20NI%20cuts%20for%20all%2C,AI%2C%20but%20weaker%20growth%20predicted&text=Hull%20City%20Council%20and%20East,Chancellor%20Jeremy%20Hunt's%20autumn%20statement.">East Yorkshire</a>. And a report by Labour’s <a href="https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Commission-on-the-UKs-Future.pdf">Commission on the UK’s Future</a>, chaired by former prime minister Gordon Brown, signalled that the party should <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/brown-commission-constitutional-reform">extend the current government’s programme</a> of English devolution.</p>
<p>This idea lay at the heart of Boris Johnson’s ambitious programme while he was prime minister for addressing the deep disparities in productivity and social outcomes that exist in England, to which he gave the grand but elusive title “levelling up”. This plan – set out in a <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62e7a429d3bf7f75af0923f3/Executive_Summary.pdf">lengthy white paper</a> in February 2022 – seems, for the most part, to have fallen by the wayside now that Johnson has left the political stage. But it still marked an important staging post in the journey of the once-niche idea of English devolution. Both main political parties have signed up to this principle and have indicated they will create more devolved authorities should they win the next general election.</p>
<p>Advocates sometimes point to an extensive – though hotly contested – body of research on the positive consequences for local economies of taking policy decisions at levels closer to the people they affect. One influential theoretical support for this idea highlights what economists call the “<a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Opportunities-for-tacit-knowledge-transfer-within-a-Moloney/f1a8daa5aea06468c03a1a7142c2122661a1a281">tacit knowledge</a>” about a place, which is often vital to understanding the particular policies and initiatives that are likely to yield most benefit there.</p>
<p>What can be said with more confidence is that a lot hinges on the quality of the institutions that are created, and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/00323217221136666">how well funded they are</a>.</p>
<p>Others argue that a more decentralised system of political authority is more likely to win the allegiance of, and secure more engagement from, people throughout England – in a context where <a href="https://www.ippr.org/blog/freefall-how-a-year-of-chaos-has-undermined-trust-in-politics">trust in the UK’s political class has plummeted</a>, where <a href="https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/publications/devolving-english-government/">MPs are less popular</a> than local councillors, and where there is widespread disenchantment with the perceived bias of central government towards London and the south-east. </p>
<p>However, to what extent does the record of England’s existing “<a href="https://www.centreforcities.org/publication/everything-need-know-metro-mayors/#whois">metro mayors</a>” support this case?</p>
<h2>‘King of the north’</h2>
<p>When the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, <a href="https://twitter.com/Femi_Sorry/status/1318576386949468164?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1318582661317824515%7Ctwgr%5Ed6e9e68efd3b3c853ef8fce56165ad44c52f62c3%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mirror.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Fking-north-andy-burnham-labelled-22878379">staged an impromptu press conference</a> in the street outside Manchester town hall to protest against the local lockdown that the UK government wanted to introduce in the north-west of England in October 2020, his stance received considerable local support – to the extent that he briefly <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/king-north-andy-burnham-labelled-22878379">acquired the nickname</a> “king of the north”. Since his election as mayor in May 2017, Burnham has led a number of high-profile initiatives on issues such as <a href="https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/news/mayor-hails-pioneering-housing-scheme-that-transformed-homelessness-response-in-greater-manchester-as-number-of-people-on-streets-falls-further/">homelessness</a>, and overseen the integration of health and local social care services.</p>
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<p>Similarly, it is unlikely that a backbench MP would have been able to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/04/tory-mayor-andy-street-considering-quitting-over-rishi-sunak-hs2-u-turn">wrest concessions</a> from a prime minister as did the Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, after he made public his <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/09/27/hs2-route-scaled-back-jeopardise-investment-andy-street/">opposition to Rishi Sunak’s decision to cancel the HS2 rail project</a> in September 2023.</p>
<p>While the responsibilities held by England’s metro mayors are, by international standards, pretty limited, they are at times able to deploy what political scientists term the “soft power” that comes from being the acknowledged leader of, and voice for, a locality. They also tend to be more independent of their own party machines than MPs are, going out of their way, when it suits them, to dissent from their parties’ London-based leaderships.</p>
<p>But it would be unwise to get too starry-eyed about a system that relies so heavily on soft power rather than the allocation of formal responsibilities. The absence of an elected legislature tasked with scrutinising and legitimating the work of these leaders – who are typically, and often not very effectively, held to account by local council leaders – is a significant further constraint on their ability to act as democratically legitimate changemakers.</p>
<p>This is very different to the model established in London, which had its <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/explainer/mayor-london-and-london-assembly">own government restored</a> by the first government of Tony Blair in 1999 following a city-wide referendum. The Greater London Authority is made up of elected representatives whose job it is to scrutinise the elected mayor, currently Sadiq Khan, and his administration. </p>
<p>In contrast, metro mayors elsewhere in England – tasked with delivering policies and overseeing funding allocations in areas of priority set by central government – are typically frustrated by the limits imposed on their own agency. Nor do they have the fiscal tools, both in terms of raising revenue and borrowing against financial assets, that are typical of many city and regional governments outside the UK.</p>
<p>The idea of having mini-parliaments across England’s regions, on a par with the legislatures established in Scotland and Wales, was dealt a fatal blow in 2004. During the course of the Blair governments, his long-time deputy prime minister, John Prescott, had pressed for the gradual conversion of the English regional development agencies Labour had created into a form of elected regional administration. But this died a very public death when <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/nov/05/regionalgovernment.politics">voters in the north-east overwhelmingly rejected the idea</a> – despite having been selected as the region most likely to support it.</p>
<p>Twenty years on, the suite of new city-regional authorities being created risks deepening the existing cleavage between England’s major cities and those parts of the country without a large urban metropole. Indeed, some of the devolution agreements recently announced had been stalled for years by the unwillingness of particular authorities to participate in these initiatives. The deal encompassing the cities of the north-east, for example, was held up for years by the refusal of Durham County Council to join its larger urban neighbours.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/inspiring-the-devolution-generation-in-greater-manchester-75790">Inspiring the ‘devolution generation’ in Greater Manchester</a>
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<p>The idea that establishing leadership at the level of a large city and its surrounding hinterland can improve the quality of democratic life, and create a more responsive layer of government, remains appealing for many, despite the unsteady emergence of this model in England.</p>
<p>However, amid attempts by UK politicians and administrators to present this as equivalent to the clearer and more robust forms of governance introduced in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, another important question has emerged. Namely, whether the English have come to feel some jealousy and suspicion about these new forms of government established outside England – and less enthusiasm for the union as a whole.</p>
<h2>A national grievance?</h2>
<p>The idea that England and the English need to be recognised as a distinct national entities within a multi-national union has more popular resonance in an era when debates over sovereignty, national identity and self-determination have become integral to political life</p>
<p>For some, this imperative arises from the belief that changes associated with devolution elsewhere have served to put the English majority at a disadvantage. Some express this in financial terms, arguing that England’s taxpayers have been funding the <a href="https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/explainer/barnett-formula">more generous per-capita settlements</a> awarded to Northern Ireland and Scotland. Others see it as a reflection of the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-politics-of-english-nationhood-9780198778721?cc=gb&lang=en&">revealed preference of the British political establishment</a> to appease those living in these areas, by awarding their inhabitants additional political rights while neglecting the inhabitants of England’s non-metropolitan areas.</p>
<p>Following the establishment of new parliaments in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff, and the absence of any such model for England, the idea that these reforms have created an imbalance which <a href="https://www.democraticaudit.com/2013/08/15/unfinished-devolution-has-created-constitutional-imbalances-in-the-uk/">puts the largest part of the UK at a disadvantage</a> has become a familiar political sentiment. This was particularly salient when the ability of MPs sitting in Scottish and Welsh seats to vote on contentious legislative proposals that applied only to England became a <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/research/research-archive/nations-regions-archive/english-question">controversial political issue</a> – as in 2004, when the Blair government introduced <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/key-issues-for-the-new-parliament/value-for-money-in-public-services/funding-higher-education/#:%7E:text=As%20a%20result%20of%20the,2004%20Act%20was%20highly%20controversial.">controversial legislation</a> requiring students at English universities to pay some of their tuition costs.</p>
<p>The constitutional problem created by this imbalance had been aired in parliament by a number of MPs and members of the House of Lords when devolution was first introduced in the late 1990s. Some argued that one of the unintended effects of these changes might be to engender a feeling of national grievance – perhaps even a reactive nationalism – among the English. But for the most part, this prospect was ignored or scoffed at by politicians from both main political parties.</p>
<p>Soon after the new parliaments were established, however, the question of how reforms elsewhere would affect England – and whether it too needed a mechanism to signal the consent of its MPs to legislation that only affected England – moved into the political mainstream. Some campaigners and MPs suggested that only the <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/sites/constitution-unit/files/179-options-for-an-english-parliament.pdf">establishment of an equivalent English parliament</a> could address the profound imbalance created by the devolution granted to the other UK countries.</p>
<p>In 2015, the David Cameron-led Conservative government introduced a new set of rules for dealing with those parts of legislation that related to England only. Known by the acronym <a href="http://evel.uk/how-does-evel-work/">EVEL</a> (short for “English vote for English laws”), these reforms proved <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/sites/constitution-unit/files/EVEL_Report_A4_FINAL.pdf">immensely complicated to operate</a> and elicited little enthusiasm among MPs, while being almost unknown to the wider public. They were quietly abolished by Johnson’s Tory government in 2020.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tory-votes-for-tory-laws-camerons-evel-plan-to-cut-out-the-opposition-44246">Tory votes for Tory Laws? Cameron's EVEL plan to cut out the opposition</a>
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<p>While the idea of remaking the UK along federal lines, with each part of the state having its own parliament for domestic legislation, enjoys some support and may grow in appeal, Britain’s politicians and the vast majority of its constitutional experts remain decidedly cool towards this idea. They believe that pushing in this direction could lead to the dissolution of the UK given the preponderant size and wealth of England – meaning it would have a disproportionate amount of influence within a federated UK.</p>
<p>Such a reform is unwarranted on this view, because England is already the most powerful and important part of the UK governing system, with an overwhelming majority of MPs sitting in English seats. But once the question of how and where England sits within the UK’s increasingly discordant union was raised, it would never be easy to put it back into obscurity.</p>
<h2>‘When will we get a vote?’</h2>
<p>According to some <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/englishness-9780198870784?cc=gb&lang=en&">survey evidence</a>, the people in England most likely to believe their country is losing out in the UK’s current devolution settlement are those most inclined to feel that central government is too distant from – and neglectful of – their lives. They were also the most likely to vote to get the UK out of the EU in 2016.</p>
<p>This sentiment was already a sensitive political topic by the mid-2000s, when Conservative MPs became concerned about the implications of devolution elsewhere for the English, while their Labour counterparts typically preferred to hymn the virtues of regional devolution, particularly in northern England. But how the English and their political representatives felt about these issues took on new relevance during the Scottish independence referendum of 2014.</p>
<p>Towards the end of this contest, an announcement of further devolution to Scotland was made in the form of a <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/wales/update/2015-01-22/the-vow-to-scotlands-been-kept-claims-cameron/">much-trumpeted “vow”</a> endorsed by the leaders of the Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem parties. Whether this promise of new powers for the Scottish government made any difference to the outcome of this historic poll is highly debatable. But what was notable was the hostile reaction it elicited in different parts of England – including on the part of many Tory MPs towards their prime minister. Such was the level of annoyance it stirred, Cameron was compelled to hold a gathering at his country retreat, Chequers, to assuage the mutinous mood of these backbenchers.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.centreonconstitutionalchange.ac.uk/sites/default/files/migrated/news/Both%20England%20and%20Wales%20oppose%20Scottish%20Independence.pdf">Surveys have suggested</a> that a sizeable minority of the English held strong views about the outcome of the Scottish referendum – with about 20% of respondents happy for the Scots to go, and around the same number worried about the impact of Scotland leaving the UK. But another sentiment was palpable at this time. “When will we get a vote?” was a question I recall being put to me again and again by English audience members at various panel discussions over the summer of 2014. Behind it lay a sense of frustration that, in comparison with the Scots, the English were being left disenfranchised as their allegiance to the governing order was taken for granted.</p>
<p>The contrast between the narrow terms in which the “English question” was framed at Westminster and the growing appeal of powerful ideas about sovereignty, democratic control and national self-determination in this period is striking. And it formed an important prelude to the rebellion of the English majority in the Brexit referendum of 2016 when, finally, they were given a vote on an issue of constitutional importance, with profound economic and societal results.</p>
<p>Despite all that’s since been said about that Brexit vote and its impacts, the question of what happens when a national majority becomes more restive about the multinational arrangements in which it sits demands further consideration in this context. As I argue in my new book, <a href="https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/fractured-union/">Fractured Union</a>, the future prospects of the UK’s union may even depend on it.</p>
<h2>A lesson from history?</h2>
<p>One – perhaps slightly unexpected – international example worth considering here is Czechoslovakia, which split into the separate states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia on January 1 1993. Despite many differences in context – not least its long history of rule by the Communist party, and the centrifugal dynamics let loose by the party’s disintegration in 1989 – aspects of this story are highly relevant to the current situation facing the Anglo-Scottish Union in particular.</p>
<p>The break-up of Czechoslovakia did not emanate directly from nationalist demands among the populace, but was significantly determined by decisions made at the political level. Just six months prior to the vote, support for the option of splitting Czechoslovakia into two wholly independent states was as low as 16% in both parts of the country. And there is every chance that a referendum on this issue (which came close to happening) would have produced a majority for the continuation of the status quo.</p>
<p>Two decades earlier, in 1968, new legislation established to protect the Slovaks from being dominated by the Czech majority held that constitutional and other important laws had to be passed on the basis of “special majorities”. These provisions were the source of constant grumbling and some resentment on the Czech side, being perceived as anti-democratic checks upon the will of the majority.</p>
<p>Under the political control of the Communist party, these differences were overridden by the party’s interest in the preservation of the wider state. But once Communism ended and a democratic model was introduced, friction between ideas of Slovakian sovereignty and the imperatives of a federal state model accentuated the underlying tensions between these nations and the parliaments where they were represented. In some echo of the Anglo-Scottish situation, many Czechs resented a perceived imbalance at the scale of representation of the Slovaks within the federal government, and <a href="https://journals.akademicka.pl/politeja/article/view/903">questioned the disproportionate transfer of resources</a> to the poorer Slovakian territory.</p>
<p>Despite extended and fraught negotiations over the constitutional framework, the gulf in the constitutional outlooks of politicians from these territories was considerable, with both sets espousing entirely different constitutional perspectives. Agreement was finally reached on a new federal framework in November 1991, but this deal was voted down by the Slovak parliament. Its Czech equivalent thereafter declared that further negotiation with the Slovak side would be pointless.</p>
<p>At the parliamentary elections of June 1992, the main winners in both territories were the political parties least inclined to compromise with the other side. Having given up on negotiations, and with the prospect of a referendum in Slovakia on its future within the state having been abandoned too, the Czech government moved towards the idea of a <a href="https://journals.akademicka.pl/politeja/article/view/913">speedy and complete division</a>.</p>
<h2>Could it happen in the UK?</h2>
<p>Czechoslovakia’s split throws into relief the key role politicians can play in moments of constitutional crisis, as well as the corrosive effect of <a href="https://www.karlobasta.com/symbolic-state">feelings of neglect and unfairness among a national majority</a> that can build up over time. It highlights, too, the challenge of sustaining a union when politicians at central and sub-state levels hold irreconcilable constitutional worldviews, and are fishing for votes in different territorial ponds.</p>
<p>Is it conceivable that some British politicians could, at some point, seek advantage by mobilising an appeal to the English majority against the claims and complaints of the smaller nations in the UK? And might the emergence of public scepticism within parts of the Tory party towards the models of devolved government in Cardiff and Edinburgh be understood as the first signs of such a dynamic?</p>
<p>There have already been moments in the recent political past when the appeal to the defence of neglected English interests has been politically powerful – for instance, during the 2015 general election campaign when the Conservatives deployed images of Labour’s leader, Ed Miliband, sitting in the pocket of the SNP’s leader, Nicola Sturgeon. And this may well recur as a theme in future Westminster elections, particularly if the SNP is able to recover from its current downturn.</p>
<p>However, in the longer run, what will do most to determine how the disaffected inhabitants of “provincial” England feel about devolution – and the lure of greater recognition and protection for English interests – is the quality of governance, service provision and economic opportunity they experience.</p>
<p>In recent years, despite the introduction of metro mayors, there has been little success in closing the regional gaps which “levelling up” was designed to address, and there is a real prospect of yet more local authorities going bankrupt. It would be little wonder, then, if the calls for greater priority to be paid to the concerns of the English heartland grow louder in years to come.</p>
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
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<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/freedom-of-thought-is-being-threatened-by-states-big-tech-and-even-ourselves-heres-what-we-can-do-to-protect-it-220266?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Freedom of thought is being threatened by states, big tech and even ourselves. Here’s what we can do to protect it
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</a></em></p></li>
</ul>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Kenny receives funding from the British Academy and (previously) the Economic and Social Research Council. His latest book is Fractured Union: Politics, Sovereignty and the Fight to Save the UK (Hurst, January 2024).
</span></em></p>Years of political turbulence, economic shocks and the failure to ‘level up’ as pledged have turned English devolution into a key political and constitutional issueMichael Kenny, Professor of Public Policy, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2194122024-01-07T07:33:16Z2024-01-07T07:33:16ZTaxes on e-cigarettes: South Africa must strike a balance between economic arguments and health concerns<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564876/original/file-20231211-23-jkkpwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">ilkov_igor/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 21st century has seen a massive expansion in the ways that people can consume tobacco and nicotine. Innovative new products include electronic nicotine delivery systems (“ENDS” or e-cigarettes) and heat-not-burn (HnB) products. </p>
<p>One of the challenges this has thrown up is the tax rates on these products.</p>
<p>Combustible tobacco products like cigarettes and loose tobacco are generally taxed at similar rates since the harmful behaviour tied to these products – inhaling tobacco toxins released by burning – is the same. But e-cigarettes don’t contain tobacco and HnB devices do not burn tobacco. Nevertheless, they contain nicotine, <a href="https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/health-effects-tobacco-use/nicotine-why-tobacco-products-are-addictive">which is addictive</a>. </p>
<p>Given their differences to combustible tobacco, applying similar tax rates might not be appropriate.</p>
<p>Economists and health experts have different, and sometimes conflicting, views on how tax rates should be determined for nicotine products. </p>
<p>Economists tend to value economic outcomes and individual liberty. They generally rely on economic theory that dictates that tax rates should be set so that the tax-inclusive price of a nicotine product reflects all costs associated with the production and consumption of that product, reduced by the benefits of production and consumption of that product.</p>
<p>On the other hand, health experts tend to put health outcomes above economic outcomes. They sometimes argue for products to be banned, as seen in the <a href="https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789240019188#:%7E:text=This%20manual%20will%20guide%20readers,support%20for%20tax%20policy%20change.">World Health Organization’s Technical Manual on Tobacco Tax Policy and Administration</a>. More generally, they argue for high tax rates and regulations on nicotine products to eliminate or limit negative health consequences. </p>
<p>The tension between these two approaches is apparent in countries across the world. So too in South Africa, which is <a href="https://static.pmg.org.za/221115ANNEXURE_B_-_BATSA_-_Vaping_Excise.pdf">reconsidering</a> the design of its taxes on tobacco and nicotine. </p>
<p>To balance the perspective of economists and health experts, I argue <a href="https://www.up.ac.za/media/shared/223/Working%20Papers/wp-23-01-confronting-health-inequality-through-risk-based-taxation-in-south-africa.zp240931.pdf">in a recent paper</a> for risk-based tax rates on tobacco and nicotine. The idea of risk-based taxes is to set tax rates based on the risk to health of tobacco and nicotine by relying on scientific evidence. For instance, if the available scientific evidence indicates that a stick of cigarette poses twice the risk to health of a stick of HnB, the excise rate on the cigarette should be twice that of the stick of HnB. </p>
<p>I provide suggestive risk-based rates for tobacco and nicotine products, based on a review of the latest scientific evidence, and conclude that adopting risk-based tax rates may be appropriate in the South African context. Since tax policy is never one-size-fits-all, carefully considering context is essential in designing policies. </p>
<h2>The economists</h2>
<p>In terms of economic theory, if all the net costs of production and consumption of nicotine products are included in purchase prices, such prices would provide accurate information to consumers to base their decisions on. The price would represent the true costs of consumption and the consumer could decide whether they were willing to pay this cost.</p>
<p>Without taxes set this way, prices will, for instance, not include the future cost of health treatments of the consumer to the government. And the benefit in the form of savings to the government because of the probable premature death of the consumer. The price will, therefore, misinform the consumer as to the true costs of consumption. </p>
<p>The role of government, therefore, is to ensure that prices convey accurate information to consumers. But any further government interference that restricts consumer liberty may give rise to negative economic outcomes, such as decreased productivity and, consequently, lower economic growth.</p>
<p>The rationale for this view is that consumers tend to have better information on which to base decisions than a government. In other words, decisions taken by a government on behalf of the consumer may not be appropriate. </p>
<h2>The health experts</h2>
<p>In contrast with the economist, health experts argue, by and large, that tax rates on nicotine products should be set to deter consumption. Accurate information to consumers is generally not a consideration. </p>
<p>The World Health Organization, for instance, <a href="https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/368022/9789240042490-eng.pdf?sequence=1">argues</a> that tax rates on HnB products should be set at the same level as cigarettes. But it does so without providing scientific evidence that the net costs or health risks to society of these two products are equivalent, which would be required for tax rates to provide accurate information to consumers.</p>
<p>Health experts see the role of governments differently from economists; governments should limit negative health outcomes. Less attention tends to be given to consumer liberty than by economists. The rationale for this view is that consumers struggle to make – or cannot make – decisions in their best interest. Governments should therefore deter such decisions through bans, taxes and regulations.</p>
<p>This suggests that, for the health expert, if the decision by the consumer is not the healthiest decision it is also not the optimal decision. While for the economists, the unhealthy decision may be the optimal decision.</p>
<h2>The risk-based approach</h2>
<p>Governments face conflicting interests. </p>
<p>First, they need to collect sufficient tax revenues and limit negative health consequences, which generally calls for high tax rates. Second, they need positive economic and social outcomes, such as economic growth and social justice, which call for taxes that correctly allocate costs to products, are sufficient to fund government expenses and redistribution, and do not hamper domestic production and investment. </p>
<p>Third, in a democratic society, they need political acceptability, which often means lower taxes and valuing individual liberty. </p>
<p>Risk-based excise taxes are an attempt to balance the interest of economists, health experts and governments. </p>
<p>This approach takes into consideration the economists’ approach, since health costs form a large part of costs not included in product prices and differ between products. </p>
<p>It also considers the health expert, since the tax rates are based on the health consequences and excludes other costs and benefits that economists would want to take into consideration. </p>
<p>It represents government interests since it suggests high taxes on goods that carry high health risks, tax rates that approximate those required for positive economic and social outcomes, and lower taxes on low-risk substitutes.</p>
<p>Further, it aims to provide accurate information in the market by having prices reflect health costs and thereby improve individual decisions with limited constraint on individual liberty.</p>
<p>There is also a large body of scientific evidence which can be relied on to approximate relative health implications of tobacco and nicotine products. Especially the toxicological evidence, which indicates the toxins released during the consumption of different tobacco and nicotine products, allows for comparison between products.</p>
<h2>The case of South Africa</h2>
<p>South Africa represents an interesting case for applying risk-based taxes. It has the <a href="https://wid.world/">highest income and wealth inequality in the world</a> and an <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30537976/">under-performing public healthcare system</a>. Together these have resulted in a high prevalence of non-communicable diseases that <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315209005-9/racial-ethnic-differences-non-communicable-diseases-south-africa-eric-tenkorang">disproportionately affect low-income individuals</a>. Most of whom are victims of past institutionalised racial segregation. </p>
<p>It requires additional tax revenues to fund healthcare and redistribution, among others, while facing severe economic constraints, <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02112ndQuarter2023.pdf">such as an unemployment rate of over 30%</a>. </p>
<p>This profile suggests that the best route to take would be to adopt risk-based tax rates on tobacco and nicotine products.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219412/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marius van Oordt receives research funding and is affiliated with the International Tax and Investment Center, an independent, nonprofit research and education organization.</span></em></p>Risk-based taxes set tax rates based on the risk to health of tobacco and nicotine by relying on scientific evidence.Marius van Oordt, Associate professor, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2197942023-12-22T19:58:22Z2023-12-22T19:58:22ZCanadians are losing faith in the economy — and it’s affecting their perception of inequality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566104/original/file-20231215-31-vzv8dr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=389%2C214%2C4335%2C3009&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The gap between perceived and preferred equality is growing among Canadians.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canadians-are-losing-faith-in-the-economy-and-its-affecting-their-perception-of-inequality" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Nearly half of Canadian workers feel as though the <a href="https://workandhealth.ca/quality-of-economic-life/">economic conditions in Canada</a> are “poor,” according to our survey of 2,500 Canadian workers in September of 2023. And another 38 per cent said they believed economic conditions are “only fair.”</p>
<p>These findings are unsurprising, given the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/inflation-interest-rates-gdp-recession-1.6975814">poor state of the Canadian economy</a> and the <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/canadians-are-pessimistic-about-economy-survey-finds/article_51f01433-90f2-5f6e-8113-e4177c57d7c6.html">growing pessimism among Canadians toward it</a>. <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230628/dq230628b-eng.htm">Inflation</a> and <a href="https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2023/11/getting-used-to-higher-interest-rates/">interest rates both remain high</a>, and <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/10068567/statistics-canada-jobs-report-oct-2023/">job openings are struggling to keep up</a> with the growing labour force. </p>
<p>We have tracked perceived inequality since September of 2019, when we launched the first in a series of national surveys with the help of the <a href="https://www.angusreid.com/">Angus Reid Group</a>. </p>
<p>We subsequently fielded similar surveys each September from 2020 to 2023, with a total of 18,500 participants in our University of Toronto <a href="https://workandhealth.ca/2020/09/22/c-qwels/">Canadian Quality of Work and Economic Life Study</a>. One goal of our study is to track long-term trends in the economic life of Canadians.</p>
<h2>Canadians’ view of inequality</h2>
<p>Perceived inequality is difficult to measure, so we used a well-established method that <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2096095">researchers have used for decades</a> in the International Social Survey Programme’s <a href="https://www.gesis.org/en/issp/modules/issp-modules-by-topic/social-inequality">Social Inequality Module</a>. </p>
<p>This method includes showing survey participants images and descriptions of five types of societies that each represent different levels of inequality, and asking them which diagram they believe best represents their country. </p>
<p>In our survey, we showed respondents a diagram of the five types and asked them: “Which type of society is Canada today — which diagram comes closest?”</p>
<p>Type A represents the most extreme inequality, with a small elite at the top, few people in the middle and most people at the bottom. Between 1999 and 2019, the International Social Survey found no change in the share of respondents — 19 per cent — that believed Canada resembles Type A. But in our 2023 survey, 32 per cent believed it did.</p>
<p>The share that saw Canada as a middle-class society (Type D) plummeted from 29 per cent to 16 per cent. There has been a dramatic shift in the perception of increasing inequality, with 64 per cent seeing Canada as Type A or B.</p>
<p>When we asked participants what they think Canada <em>should</em> be like, 84 per cent prefer a Type D or E society, where most of society are middle- or upper-class. The difference between the stability in this preferred level of inequality compared to the volatility of the perceived reality is noteworthy. </p>
<h2>The cost of living and perceived inequality</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ecpo.12103">factors that shape perceived inequality</a> are complex, but its relationship to the perceived cost of living stands out. </p>
<p>To measure this relationship we asked participants: “How has your experience of the cost of living changed during the past few years?” The number of Canadian workers who said their experience was “much worse” jumped from 28 per cent in 2019 to 49 per cent in 2023.</p>
<p>“We’re so careful with our money,” a 31-year-old operations assistant told us. “Housing, food, utilities and fuel are becoming too astronomical to handle — we shouldn’t be suffering!”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An older man sits at a table with his head in his head as he reads a receipt" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566094/original/file-20231215-27-1vir9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=352%2C8%2C4652%2C3628&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566094/original/file-20231215-27-1vir9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566094/original/file-20231215-27-1vir9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566094/original/file-20231215-27-1vir9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566094/original/file-20231215-27-1vir9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566094/original/file-20231215-27-1vir9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566094/original/file-20231215-27-1vir9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Perceptions of extreme inequality undermine people’s belief that the economy is working for them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/anxiety-cost-of-living-canada-economic-data-1.5192401">Anxiety over the cost of living</a> can cause people to feel like economic inequality is worse than it actually is. In 2019, 27 per cent of respondents who believed Canada’s cost of living was worsening viewed the country as a Type A society with a small elite at the top and most people at the bottom. Now, a whopping 41 per cent do.</p>
<p>“Everyone I know has been cutting purchases,” a 59-year-old delivery worker said. “I haven’t purchased undergarments for five years, toiletries for three years, and I’m only able to eat one meal a day, not extras of anything.” </p>
<h2>Canadians are disillusioned</h2>
<p>Our discoveries support a recent report from Léger, a Canadian market research firm, that found two-thirds of Canadians feel like “<a href="https://leger360.com/surveys/is-canada-broken/">everything feels broken in this country right now</a>.” </p>
<p>As a 37-year-old mortgage administrator said: “The country’s system is rigged in favour of the few at the expense of the many.” A 36-year-old photographer similarly said: “Our broken tax system allows folks at the top to exploit the system.”</p>
<p>The economy relies on <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-06/american-worker-motivation-is-falling-this-year-new-data-shows?embedded-checkout=true">worker productivity</a>, and workers rely on the <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/202212/why-your-pay-raise-may-not-motivate-you">reciprocity of the economy</a>. It’s an exchange relationship that seems <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/workers-didn-t-cause-this-inflation-and-they-shouldn-t-have-to-pay-for-it/article_fdb5278c-2ebf-5545-87e2-f94c3516c4fb.html">increasingly compromised</a>, as workers are being hit hardest by inflation. </p>
<p>Perceptions of extreme inequality <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023120959547">undermine people’s belief that the economy is working</a> for them. This, in turn, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21369">dampens their aspirations to improve their economic lot</a> and weakens the hope that their efforts will translate into improved quality of life.</p>
<p>“Our leaders don’t do anything,” a 34-year-old personal trainer said. “I have zero faith in our political parties.” Similarly, a 47-year-old small farm owner said: “The elite of all parties rob, steal, and abuse power for personal benefit, leaving the working class to pay.”</p>
<p>Those in power <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/bidenomics-economic-pessimism/674701">should be concerned about the growing gap</a> between perceived and preferred inequality. For instance, many Canadians have lost faith in the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-cabinet-retreat-inflation-housing-wherry-analysis-1.6940959">Liberal party’s campaign promise to grow the middle class</a>. This loss of confidence <a href="https://beta.ctvnews.ca/national/politics/2023/11/16/1_6648263.amp.html">poses a threat to the Liberal party’s chances of re-election</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219794/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott Schieman receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Wilson receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jiarui Liang does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Perceptions of extreme inequality undermine peoples’ belief that the economy is working for them. This, in turn, dampens their aspirations to improve their economic lot.Scott Schieman, Professor of Sociology and Canada Research Chair, University of TorontoAlexander Wilson, PhD Student, Department of Sociology, University of TorontoJiarui Liang, Master's Student, Department of Sociology, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2199662023-12-21T21:54:53Z2023-12-21T21:54:53ZIt’s not just housing: the ‘bank of mum and dad’ is increasingly helping fund the lives of young Australians<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566790/original/file-20231220-15-irhy2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C8%2C5955%2C3979&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/child-congratulations-graduates-business-man-house-713443921">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Much has been made of the increasing presence of the “bank of mum and dad” in the lives of Australians. </p>
<p>We know financial support from parents to adult children is increasingly used for entering the <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/395">housing market</a>. </p>
<p>But our new <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/14407833231210956">research</a> shows parents are also helping their young adult children in other ways, including with meeting everyday expenses. We’ve gained new insights into who is receiving support from parents and what it’s used for.</p>
<p>So what does this look like in practice, and what does it mean for intergenerational inequality in Australia?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-housing-made-rich-australians-50-richer-leaving-renters-and-the-young-behind-and-how-to-fix-it-195189">How housing made rich Australians 50% richer, leaving renters and the young behind – and how to fix it</a>
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<h2>Parental financial support becoming commonplace</h2>
<p>We have surveyed a diverse group of young Australians for almost <a href="https://education.unimelb.edu.au/life-patterns">18 years</a>, since they were in year 12 in 2006. This has allowed us to follow the trajectory of a cohort of millennials as they have transitioned to adulthood. </p>
<p>One of the areas we ask about is their sources of financial support. This includes their own income, savings and investments, and government support, but also gifts, loans and other transfers from their family. </p>
<p>Our findings show that financial support from family – typically parents – has become important for this generation well into young adulthood. </p>
<p>This support from family was very common for our participants when they were in their late teens. Perhaps more surprisingly, for many this support continued into their 20s and, for a significant minority, into their late 20s and beyond. </p>
<p><iframe id="C64so" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/C64so/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>So is it only rich parents providing this assistance? Turns out, not really. Our results show young adults from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds get financial help. </p>
<p>Surprisingly, the educational level and occupation status of their parents did not predict whether our participants were receiving support. Parents with higher education and in managerial or professional careers are providing financial help. But so too are parents of more modest means, even if the amount of support they can provide clearly differs.</p>
<h2>It’s not just about houses</h2>
<p>Our participants are using this support to pay basic expenses. </p>
<p>One in five 32-year-olds in our study report struggling to pay for three or more basic expenses (we ask about food, rent or mortgage repayments, house bills and healthcare costs). These young adults are three times more likely than those not facing this struggle to report receiving financial support from their family. </p>
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<p>These gifts and loans are also used to support parenting, and to support those working part-time out of choice or necessity.</p>
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<p>Some of our participants working part-time in their late 20s and early 30s are not in such a precarious position. They are receiving parental support while they pursue graduate study in medicine or law, for example. </p>
<p>So while some are using support to meet day-to-day needs, we also see parents helping their children “get ahead”. </p>
<p>Financial support is also used to pursue extended education and manage a period of insecure and poorly paid employment on the way to more secure and well-paid careers in medicine, academia or journalism.</p>
<p>This intergenerational support has social ramifications that go beyond buying property. Our research suggests it also shapes education pathways, employment, parenting, and potentially general wellbeing. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-well-off-you-are-depends-on-who-you-are-comparing-the-lives-of-australias-millennials-gen-xers-and-baby-boomers-172064">How well off you are depends on who you are. Comparing the lives of Australia's Millennials, Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers</a>
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</p>
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<h2>An outsized role for the bank of mum and dad</h2>
<p>Our results are an example of just how much life has changed in Australia. The growing challenges of cost of living and the effects of a booming housing market over many decades are changing the dynamics of inequality.</p>
<p>Most of the parents’ generation of the young people we have tracked are part of the Baby Boomer cohort. While there is substantial economic inequality within it, overall, this group benefited from the housing and other <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2022.2058718">asset</a> booms over recent decades. </p>
<p>Many parents are using this foundation to help their children well beyond their teenage years. Of course, wealthy parents might find it easier to provide this support but are not the only parents providing it. For less wealthy parents, this might potentially change their plans for their own future and retirement. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-how-policies-favouring-rich-older-people-make-young-australians-generation-f-d-199403">Friday essay: how policies favouring rich, older people make young Australians Generation F-d</a>
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<p>Previous research has highlighted that the bank of mum and dad is becoming crucial for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2020.1754347">buying</a> a house and that this might exacerbate and entrench <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1600910X.2020.1752275">inequality</a> for future generations.</p>
<p>Our work suggests it goes beyond housing. Parents are helping combat financial insecurity for their young adult children across the board. Our data shows this widespread insecurity emerged before the current cost-of-living crisis, but current conditions are going to exacerbate it. </p>
<p>So we need to ask whether we want the bank of mum and dad to continue to play an ever-growing role in life chances in Australia. Based on our research, that change is already underway.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219966/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Woodman receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julia Cook receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Quentin Maire does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointments.</span></em></p>It’s now common knowledge loans and gifts from family are a large part of breaking into the housing market. But how is parental financial support being used in other areas?Dan Woodman, TR Ashworth Professor in Sociology, The University of MelbourneJulia Cook, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of NewcastleQuentin Maire, Senior Research Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2173272023-12-19T16:53:50Z2023-12-19T16:53:50ZHow a programme giving millions to residents to improve their neighbourhoods also risks entrenching inequality<p>Over the past quarter century, the idea has taken hold among politicians across the spectrum that one of the best ways to address inequality is to give local communities the resources to do the work themselves. Provide them with funding and they can spend it on the projects that their communities really need. But our research has shown that while many of these projects can be very positive, they can also entrench existing inequalities.</p>
<p>The UK’s largest community empowerment programme, the National Lottery-funded <a href="https://localtrust.org.uk/big-local/about-big-local/">Big Local</a> is a prime example of this thinking. Launched in 2010, it supports resident-led partnerships in 150 relatively disadvantaged areas across England. Each receives at least £1 million to improve their neighbourhood.</p>
<p>With colleagues from six universities, we’ve been examining the impact of Big Local on social and health inequalities since 2014. The achievements are impressive but <a href="https://doi.org/10.3310/GRMA6711">our findings</a> reveal something else, too.</p>
<p>Differences in power between individuals and groups in the communities, as well as with professionals and organisations, meant some residents benefited far more than others. Power differentials also limit the extent to which Big Local can deliver lasting change in social and health inequalities.</p>
<h2>Positive impacts</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/phr/GRMA6711#/s3">Our research</a> used data from surveys and public services to assess benefits among the residents involved in the 150 partnerships and the people living in their local areas. Interviews and observations in 15 areas provided more detail on these experiences. </p>
<p>The improvements delivered by these communities are many and varied. They have set up football clubs, built sports facilities, created community gardens, opened community hubs, increased work-related skills and improved public transport, deepening community cohesion along the way. </p>
<p>One partnership in south-west England employed a chef to provide free meals for children during school holidays. Another, in the north-east, supported an open-door mental health group after it lost its funding. As one resident put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For me, the stuff that Big Local does that has a lot of value is actually more of the quieter stuff.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our findings concur with the resident who described involvement in Big Local as “uplifting”. Until COVID hit in 2020, <a href="https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/phr/GRMA6711/#/s6">mental wellbeing among residents</a> on Big Local partnerships was improving. Levels of anxiety <a href="https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/phr/GRMA6711/#/s5">in Big Local populations</a> had reduced compared to other areas. </p>
<p>And our <a href="https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/phr/GRMA6711/#/s9">cost-benefit analysis</a> suggests Big Local is good value for money. We put a monetary value on the increase in residents life satisfaction and it was £60 million more than the cost of the programme.</p>
<h2>Burdensome responsibilities</h2>
<p>But it’s not all positive. Among residents on Big Local partnerships, those with higher educational qualifications (a measure of higher socio-economic position) <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdac073">reported</a> improved mental wellbeing but those with no formal qualifications did not. And, at least initially, men were more likely to report improved mental wellbeing than women.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/phr/GRMA6711/#/s8">Residents’ stories</a> help explain these inequalities. Some spoke about being burnt out from the volume of work. A resident in north-west England said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I went through a period about 18 months ago where I was completely frazzled by the whole thing. As the partnerships mature, they take on more responsibility and one of the areas where we took on that responsibility was employing people. Yet as a partnership board we had no legal constitution; we had no procedures to speak of.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Difficult relationships also contributed. As a resident in north-west England explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The negative was when the board was divided. Just grinding me down. It was just like the same thing over and over; the same argument, and it was draining.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Residents were very committed but combining Big Local and family responsibilities was too much for this interviewee in Yorkshire:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The gala I found very stressful this year because it were down to me to organise it all. Then you just think, all this hassle; you’ve got your mum and dad who are getting older and poorly. Two sisters who are disabled. So, your family comes first. That’s why what I said is “I’ll step back”.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>When community power isn’t enough</h2>
<p>While <a href="https://www.dannykruger.org.uk/files/2020-09/Kruger%202.0%20Levelling%20Up%20Our%20Communities.pdf">Conservative</a> and <a href="https://www.newlocal.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/A-Labour-Vision-for-Community-Power-compressed.pdf">Labour</a> politicians support the idea of community power, giving communities responsibility for improving conditions in their neighbourhoods takes a heavy toll.</p>
<p>If agencies work alongside communities as equals, invest long term and use resources flexibly it could reduce the burden. But the way power is distributed and exercised also needs to change.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113176">The £1 million</a> changed power dynamics in communities. Residents said just having money in their back pocket gave them more influence with local agencies. </p>
<p>Big Local also built other forms of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/heapro/advance-article/doi/10.1093/heapro/daaa019/6056665">community power</a>. People felt confident in their ability to act together and started to understand how to build and sustain alliances within their community and with external agencies. They collected skills and knowledge to create conditions conducive to change.</p>
<p>But these powers were unequally distributed. Surviving poverty and discrimination is hard work at the best of times so the more people were focusing on that, the less they were able to get involved in Big Local. This, combined with gendered inequalities in power, contributed to the unequal distribution of benefits.</p>
<p>The power wielded by organisations such as <a href="https://www.journalslibrary.nihr.ac.uk/phr/GRMA6711#/s7">local councils</a> could also constrain Big Local communities. For example, some resident-led partnerships were expected to navigate complex legal processes, such as buying and managing community assets (like land or buildings) with little or no expertise or professional support.</p>
<p>Those involved in community initiatives need to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daaa133">map how power dynamics</a> affect community action, how they create inequalities in the benefits of involvement and how they need to change.</p>
<p>But however good they are, community empowerment initiatives like Big Local can only ever be one part of the solution to social and health inequalities. The main drivers of social and health inequalities lie outside the control of communities living in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. </p>
<p>For example, from 2010, as Big Local was launched, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0141076813501101">austerity</a> began to decimate public services, hitting disadvantaged areas <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f4208">hardest</a>. Also from 2010, tighter eligibility rules and reduced welfare benefits further impoverished some residents and negatively affected their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.11.009">mental health</a>. Significant as they are, Big Local’s achievements could not compensate for what was lost as a result of these cuts.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.newlocal.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Community-Power-The-Evidence.pdf">Research</a> shows that communities are uniquely able to identify and prioritise problems that need solving. But that does not mean they should be left to solve them. So-called “community power” will become a form of DIY welfare if communities are expected to carry all the responsibility.</p>
<p>The result would be to further disadvantage those already bearing the heaviest burden and leave inequalities untouched. Community power can contribute to action for greater equity but only if disadvantaged communities use their power to build alliances beyond their neighbourhoods, locally, nationally and internationally to achieve transformational change.</p>
<p><em>In response to the issues raised in this article, Local Trust chief executive Matt Leach said: “Trusting local people to make key decisions about how to improve their neighbourhoods has to be at the heart of plans to address deprivation and regenerate communities that have missed out. For over a decade Local Trust has demonstrated how this can work in practice, working to support residents of 150 neighbourhoods across the country in the biggest ever Lottery-funded investment in community-led change.</em></p>
<p><em>"Many of the biggest disparities in outcome and opportunity are most profound at a neighbourhood level. This report, ten years into the Big Local programme, shows just how much can be achieved by putting local people in the lead, providing a strong evidence base that government and other funders can draw on when seeking to address disadvantage and deprivation, rebuild social infrastructure and transform our most left behind neighbourhoods.”</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217327/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennie Popay receives funding from the national Institute for Health Research Public Health Programme and from the NIHR School for Public Health Research.
This piece draws on the final report of the Communities in Control Study. The authors wish to acknowledge the wider team who produced that report and are based at the Universities of Newcastle and Liverpool and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine. The CIC team also thanks Local Trust, members of the Big Local partnerships and other local stakeholders for their support for the research.
Phases 1 and 2 of the Communities in Control study was funded by the National Institute for Health and Social Care Research (NIHR) School for Public Health Research and Phase 3 by the NIHR Public Health Research Programme. The views expressed in this piece are the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health & Social Care.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Halliday receives funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) including the NIHR Public Health Research Programme; NIHR School for Public Health Research and NIHR Public Health Intervention Responsive Studies Teams (PHIRST)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Mead receives funding from the national Institute for Health Research Public Health Programme and from the NIHR School for Public Health Research.</span></em></p>A nine-year study shows local projects to tackle inequality can themselves cause inequalities among the people who get involved.Jennie Popay, Professor of Sociology and Public Health, Lancaster UniversityEmma Halliday, Senior Research Fellow in Health and Medecine, Lancaster UniversityRebecca Mead, Senior Research Associate in Public Health Policy, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2178202023-12-10T19:07:43Z2023-12-10T19:07:43ZAustralia has one of the weakest tax systems for redistribution among industrial nations – the Stage 3 tax cuts will make it worse<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564169/original/file-20231207-27-l6900w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=390%2C649%2C1474%2C615&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the chief purposes of government payments and taxes is to redistribute income, which is why tax rates are higher on taxpayers with higher incomes and payments tend to get directed to people on lower incomes.</p>
<p>Australia’s tax rates range from a low of zero cents in the dollar to a high of 45 cents, and payments including JobSeeker, the age pension, and child benefits which are limited to recipients whose income is below certain thresholds.</p>
<p>In this way, every nation’s tax and transfer system cuts inequality, some more than others.</p>
<p>Which is why I was surprised when I used the latest Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data to calculate <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=IDD#">how much</a>.</p>
<p>The OECD measures inequality using what’s known as a <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/what-is-the-gini-coefficient">gini coefficient</a>. This is a number on a scale between zero and 1 where zero represents complete equality (everyone receives the same income) and 1 represents complete inequality (one person has all the income).</p>
<p>The higher the number, the higher the higher the inequality.</p>
<p>Australia is far from the most equal of OECD nations – it is 21st out of the 37 countries for which the OECD collects data, but what really interested me is what Australia’s tax and transfer system does to equalise things.</p>
<p>And the answer is: surprisingly little compared to other OECD countries.</p>
<h2>Australia’s system does little to temper inequality</h2>
<p>The graph below displays the number of points by which each country’s tax and transfer system reduces its gini coefficient. The ranking indicates the extent to which the system equalises incomes.</p>
<p>The OECD country whose system most strongly redistributes incomes is Finland, whose tax and transfer rules cut its gini coefficient by 0.25 points. </p>
<p>The country with the weakest redistribution of incomes is Mexico which only cuts inequality by 0.02 points.</p>
<p>Australia is the 8th weakest, cutting inequality by only 0.12 points.</p>
<p>Apart from Mexico, among OECD members only Chile, Costa Rica, Korea, Switzerland, Türkiye and Iceland do a worse job of redistributing incomes.</p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="3xRB4" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/3xRB4/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<p>What is really odd is that, before redistribution, Australia’s income distribution is pretty good compared to other OECD countries – the tenth best. </p>
<p>It’s not that Australia’s systems don’t reduce inequality, it’s that other country’s systems do it more.</p>
<p>Of the OECD members who do less than Australia, four are <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/emergingmarketeconomy.asp">emerging economies</a>: Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Türkiye. Like most developing countries, they have low taxes, weak social protections and poor tax-gathering systems.</p>
<p>Indeed, in Chile and Mexico, taxes and transfers do almost nothing to moderate extreme inequality. </p>
<p>The other three countries ranked below Australia – Iceland, Switzerland, and South Korea – boast unusually equal distributions of market incomes. Each is among the four most equal OECD countries by market income, and each is considerably more equal than Australia. </p>
<h2>Australia ‘less developed’ when it comes to redistribution</h2>
<p>This makes Australia’s weak redistribution system more typical of a low-income emerging economy than an advanced industrial democracy. </p>
<p>Even Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand do a better job of redistributing income than Australia.</p>
<p>This new data enhances concerns about the impact of planned Stage 3 tax cuts. By returning <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Stage-3-Better-Fairer-Tax-Cuts-For-More-Australians.pdf">proportionately more</a> to high earners than low earners these will further erode the redistributive impact of Australia’s tax system.</p>
<p>It also highlights the consequences of Australia’s relatively weak payments programs, including JobSeeker which on one measure is the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-50-boost-to-jobseeker-will-take-australias-payment-from-the-lowest-in-the-oecd-to-the-second-lowest-after-greece-155739">second-weakest</a> in the OECD. It’s an understatement to say we’ve room for improvement.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-could-make-most-australians-richer-and-still-save-billions-its-not-too-late-to-fix-the-stage-3-tax-cuts-217560">We could make most Australians richer and still save billions – it’s not too late to fix the Stage 3 tax cuts</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217820/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jim Stanford is a member of the Australian Services Union.</span></em></p>Australia’s tax and transfer systems do less to redistribute income than those in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.Jim Stanford, Economist and Director, Centre for Future Work, Australia Institute; Honorary Professor of Political Economy, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2183082023-12-01T12:27:24Z2023-12-01T12:27:24ZEmissions inequality is getting worse – here’s how to end the reign of the ultra-polluters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562478/original/file-20231129-17-c0wtki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C2167%2C6838%2C3161&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/shadow-plane-on-agricultural-field-concept-2270822133">Scharfsinn/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Climate change is overwhelmingly a problem of wealthy people. The wealthiest 1% of humanity produce <a href="https://www.iea.org/commentaries/the-world-s-top-1-of-emitters-produce-over-1000-times-more-co2-than-the-bottom-1">over 1,000 times</a> the emissions of the poorest 1%. In fact, these <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/richest-1-emit-much-planet-heating-pollution-two-thirds-humanity">77 million people are responsible</a> for more climate-changing emissions than the poorest 66% (5 billion people) of humanity. </p>
<p>Since 1990, the personal emissions of the world’s wealthiest have exploded. They are now 77 times larger than the level that would be compatible with a 1.5°C warming limit – a threshold beyond which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/10/ipcc-report-shows-possible-loss-of-entire-countries-within-the-century">whole island nations will possibly disappear</a>.</p>
<p>If we are to keep future climate change to under 2°C then we must find a way to massively reduce economic inequality and redistribute both economic power and wealth.</p>
<p>Oxfam and the Stockholm Environment Institute have recently set out the scale of global carbon inequality. Carbon inequality is a measure of the difference in carbon pollution across society. It measures the degree to which someone is responsible for generating climate change through their consumption and control over social and economic resources.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/richest-1-emit-much-planet-heating-pollution-two-thirds-humanity">report</a> sets out the vast scale of the disparity between the super-wealthy and the rest, arguing it would take approximately 1,500 years for someone in the bottom 99% to produce as much carbon as a single billionaire does in a year. </p>
<h2>The great carbon divide</h2>
<p>The wealthiest 10% of humanity are responsible for half of all emissions. And the poorest 50% are responsible for just 8% – a decrease of 2% from the previous report in 2019, meaning carbon inequality has worsened over the past four years.</p>
<p>Who are these super-polluters? The richest 1% are billionaires, millionaires and people earning over US$140,000 (£110,000). The <a href="https://theconversation.com/top-1-of-eu-households-have-carbon-footprints-22-times-larger-than-climate-targets-allow-142357">threshold to join</a> the rarefied club of the top 10% is US$41,000 (£32,000), including most of the middle class in wealthier countries.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Elon Musk looking directly at the camera." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562486/original/file-20231129-25-oglsdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562486/original/file-20231129-25-oglsdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562486/original/file-20231129-25-oglsdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562486/original/file-20231129-25-oglsdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562486/original/file-20231129-25-oglsdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562486/original/file-20231129-25-oglsdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562486/original/file-20231129-25-oglsdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">South African billionaire, Elon Musk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/paris-france-june-16-2023-elon-2318800323">Frederic Legrand - COMEO/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>But these figures can be misleading. They don’t really tell us what the average person in these groups earns (the average person in the top 10% earns US$90,000 per year), nor do they tell us where they live or why their emissions are so high.</p>
<p>Most of the 10% live in a <a href="https://www.iea.org/commentaries/the-world-s-top-1-of-emitters-produce-over-1000-times-more-co2-than-the-bottom-1">small number of countries</a> – Australia, Canada, the EU, US, UK, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and China. One-third of the emissions of the richest 1% come from the US, while 40% from the richest 10% come from the US and the EU. Another 20% come from individuals in China and India. </p>
<p>But as stark are the inequalities within countries. In fact, over the past 30 years, there has been a <a href="https://wid.world/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/CBV2023-ClimateInequalityReport1.pdf">major shift</a> from carbon inequality primarily being a consequence of differences in emissions between countries (62% in 1990) to differences within countries (64% in 2019). </p>
<p>The wealthiest 10% in most countries now produce five times the emissions of the average person, and vastly more than the poorest. As inequality between countries has decreased (although it is still significant), inequality within them has increased.</p>
<h2>What causes this extreme level of pollution?</h2>
<p>Being rich is essentially about having more stuff in general, including bigger houses. For the remaining 10% this also holds true. For example, if SUVs had not become widely adopted largely as a status symbol for the global middle classes, emissions from transport would have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/24/motor-emissions-could-have-fallen-without-suv-trend-report">fallen by 30%</a> over the past ten years. </p>
<p>For the largest class of SUVs, <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2273696-most-fuel-hungry-suvs-in-the-uk-are-bought-by-people-in-cities/">six of the ten</a> areas of the UK registering the most sales were affluent London boroughs like Kensington and Chelsea. </p>
<p>A similar pattern holds for air travel. The richest people in the UK produce <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/richest-people-in-uk-use-more-energy-flying-than-poorest-do-overall/">more carbon emissions from air travel</a> than the poorest do through every aspect of their lives.</p>
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<img alt="Range Rover parked in front of apartment buildings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562485/original/file-20231129-17-6r026w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562485/original/file-20231129-17-6r026w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562485/original/file-20231129-17-6r026w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562485/original/file-20231129-17-6r026w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562485/original/file-20231129-17-6r026w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562485/original/file-20231129-17-6r026w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562485/original/file-20231129-17-6r026w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">SUVs have become a status symbol for the global middle classes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-united-kingdom-england-january-4-2102244055">Vadi Fuoco/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>But the super-rich are responsible for climate change well beyond consumption-based emissions. The super-rich, by and large, run major companies, direct investments and shape national and international laws. They have an oversized and controlling impact on our media and public opinion, including through advertising and ownership of media outlets. And they directly shape policy through lobbying and paid-for influence.</p>
<p>While their money and power make them overwhelmingly responsible for climate change, they are also insulated from the worst impacts. They are less affected by increased food prices and climate disasters, can afford insurance and to move from one place to another, and have greater resources to draw on in times of crisis. </p>
<p>It is the poorest – those least responsible for climate changing emissions – who <a href="https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/climate-equality-a-planet-for-the-99-621551/">suffer the most</a>. They suffer higher losses, live in the most impacted regions, and have little to no access to savings, public support or welfare when crisis strikes. They are also least able to exercise their rights as they are the least powerful and less well represented politically.</p>
<h2>What can we do?</h2>
<p>There are two things we can do to address global carbon inequity. The first is to institute wealth and income taxes to reduce damaging social inequality and the carbon pollution of the super rich. </p>
<p>Oxfam’s report found that a 60% tax on the richest 1% could <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/richest-1-emit-much-planet-heating-pollution-two-thirds-humanity">cut the equivalent</a> of the total emissions of the UK. We could go <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-billionaire-climate-philanthropists-will-always-be-part-of-the-problem-132383">further still</a> and introduce a progressive land and inheritance tax as well as introduce maximum wages in industries to further reduce inequality.</p>
<p>The second is to curb high-polluting forms of extreme consumption, from SUVs to short-haul air travel, as well as excessive meat and dairy consumption. For this to not be regressive, it would have to be accompanied by massive investment in public services and provisioning, as well as action on insulation and fuel poverty.</p>
<p>Ultimately it is not just the consumption of the super-rich that needs to be massively reduced. Control over major industries and sectors needs to be moved out of private hands into public ownership. An economy run for the benefit of a wealthy minority will never be socially or environmentally just. </p>
<p>In order to close the great carbon divide we must transform private excess into public control and wealth.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 20,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218308/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Beuret does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Society’s wealthiest are responsible for generating climate change – but who are these people, and why are their emissions so high?Nicholas Beuret, Lecturer in Management and Ecological Sustainability, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2178412023-11-27T12:16:08Z2023-11-27T12:16:08ZHaving a single parent doesn’t determine your life chances – the data shows poverty is far more important<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560401/original/file-20231120-19-5r5dhv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=580%2C0%2C3150%2C2144&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mother-rides-child-bicycle-sunset-happy-2292524307">Valery Zotev/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Numerous research studies have suggested that children from a single-parent family are worse off than those who have two parents at home. These findings chime with decades of stigma that have painted coming from a single-parent home as undesirable. </p>
<p>Understandably, <a href="https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/about-us/news/single-parents-are-more-risk-anxiety">you may find this worrying</a> if you are a single parent – or if you’re thinking of embarking on parenthood alone. But it’s worth looking at the detail behind the stats. I reviewed the most up-to-date evidence for my book <a href="https://pinterandmartin.com/products/why-single-parents-matter">Why Single Parents Matter</a>, and found that conclusions that suggest significant negative outcomes as a result of coming from a single-parent family are often not supported by strong data.</p>
<p>For example, a 1991 <a href="https://slatestarcodex.com/Stuff/divorce_paper.pdf">meta analysis</a> – a research paper that reviews the findings of numerous scholarly studies – is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4240051/">often cited as evidence</a> of a negative impact. However, the study <a href="https://slatestarcodex.com/Stuff/divorce_paper.pdf">concludes that</a> the “effects are generally weak, with methodologically sophisticated studies and more recent studies tending to find even smaller differences between groups”.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/should-i-have-children-148388?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=InArticleTop&utm_campaign=Parenting2023">Should I have children?</a> The pieces in this series will help you answer this tough question – exploring fertility, climate change, the cost of living and social pressure.</em></p>
<p><em>We’ll keep the discussion going at a live event in London on November 30. <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/events/the-conversation-should-i-have-children/london-tottenham-court-road">Click here</a> for more information and tickets.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>Small differences</h2>
<p>Other studies report differences that are unlikely to have any significant real-life impact. For example, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4201193/#:%7E:text=Mean%C2%B1SD%20of%20self,respectively%20(P%3D0.034).">one study concluded</a> that “adolescents’ self-esteem in single-parent families was lower than that in the two-parent nuclear families”. The average score for children from two-parent families was 39 and for those from one-parent families 37.5 – but a score of 25 and above indicated high self-esteem. </p>
<p>Other research has found small differences in rare outcomes such as <a href="https://jech.bmj.com/content/jech/59/2/152.full.pdf">school expulsion</a>, which do not affect the majority of children regardless of family structure. Further <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X15001118?casa_token=4T8kUVlO1joAAAAA:no7QZyv8E3WIL7CzK7LbV5bwroOZ7HJYKZJG2BV13esmJPrco-INdg5aXFhdiwf2Rd948V7XOg">research</a> finds no differences in children’s educational achievement at all. </p>
<p>What’s more, when research takes into consideration important factors such as poverty, the differences often disappear. </p>
<p>For example, the <a href="https://jech.bmj.com/content/67/2/181.short">Millennium Cohort Study</a> looked at differences in the health and wellbeing of over 13,000 seven-year-olds. It found almost all children were healthy: 0.4% of children living in two-parent households had poor health, compared with 0.9% in single-parent households. Other small differences were found for mental health, obesity and asthma. However, once poverty was taken into consideration, almost all significant differences disappeared. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="group of happy children outside" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560808/original/file-20231121-17-sgp640.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560808/original/file-20231121-17-sgp640.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560808/original/file-20231121-17-sgp640.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560808/original/file-20231121-17-sgp640.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560808/original/file-20231121-17-sgp640.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560808/original/file-20231121-17-sgp640.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560808/original/file-20231121-17-sgp640.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The differences between children from one- and two-parent household are smaller than research conclusions might suggest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/kids-playing-cheerful-park-outdoors-concept-419185651">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is a critical finding because single-parent families are far more likely to be living in poverty than two-parent families (62.7% versus 17.8% in the study). And data from other countries shows us that this issue should be fixable. One global study found small differences in educational outcomes for children from single-parent families. However, these almost all disappeared in countries that had <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2003.00681.x">more supportive social policies</a>, such as family and child allowances and parental leave. </p>
<p>Another angle that illustrates how context matters is research focused on mothers who become single parents by choice through IVF or adoption. These mothers tend to be older, have a higher income and feel ready for parenthood. Reflecting this, one study found <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1037/0002-9432.75.2.242">no difference in bonding between mother and baby</a> for single and married women who had IVF treatment.</p>
<p>Furthermore, when the researchers <a href="https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/20/6/1655/748804">followed these families up</a> when the children were two years old, the single mothers showed greater joy and lower levels of anger towards their children, and their children had fewer emotional and behavioural problems. </p>
<p>It’s also important to note that factors within a two-parent household can affect child outcomes. One study found no differences in the quality of parenting that children from one- or two-parent families experienced – except that when <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9586218/">parent conflict in two-parent homes was high</a>, or parents in a two-parent household had “lower levels of love for each other”, children were more likely to have behavioural problems. </p>
<h2>Stereotyping and wellbeing</h2>
<p>Differences are sometimes found between single parents and those with a partner when it comes to maternal wellbeing. Single mothers are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00127-006-0125-4">more likely to experience depression</a> compared with mothers with a partner, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0886260515591278">exacerbated by</a> financial pressures, challenging relationships with ex-partners, and a lack of social support. </p>
<p>While single fathers may <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4175544/Heartwarming-photographs-single-dads-children.html">often be praised</a>, there are many <a href="https://theconversation.com/one-in-four-children-grow-up-in-a-single-parent-family-so-why-is-there-still-a-stigma-126562">stigmatising sterotypes</a> of single mothers. These often perpetuate the image of a younger mother, instead of considering the broad range of <a href="https://www.gingerbread.org.uk/our-work/single-parents-facts-and-figures/">single-parent family set-ups</a> in the UK today. </p>
<p>Historically, in the UK, pregnancy outside marriage was <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/4862?login=false">viewed as shameful</a>. Women and girls were thrown out of families, forced into workhouses, or made to give their baby <a href="https://www.ulster.ac.uk/news/2021/january/report-on-mother-and-baby-homes-and-magdalene-laundries-in-northern-ireland">up for adoption</a>. Although financial support for single mothers was eventually introduced, governments were anxious that this might <a href="https://www.gingerbread.org.uk/your-community/stories/single-parent-history-the-history-of-gingerbread/">encourage single motherhood</a>. </p>
<p>I do not wish to downplay the challenges and difficult emotions that children can experience during or after separation. But this is different to claiming that single parenthood directly harms children in the long term. Any differences are fixable by ensuring <a href="https://www.gingerbread.org.uk/">better support</a> for <a href="http://www.familylives.org.uk/">single families</a>, rather than exacerbating harmful stigma.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217841/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Brown has received funding from the ESRC, MRC, NIHR, HEFCW, UKRI, Infant feeding charities and Public Health Wales</span></em></p>Single parents need support, not stigma.Amy Brown, Professor of Child Public Health, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2165022023-11-05T09:27:29Z2023-11-05T09:27:29ZSouth Africa’s wage gap is huge: why companies should report what CEOs and workers earn<p>Inequality in South Africa is high, whether measured <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-cant-crack-the-inequality-curse-why-and-what-can-be-done-213132">by income or wealth</a>. One of the results is that there’s acute public scrutiny of executive compensation.</p>
<p>This is understandable given that the skew in rewards for executives compared with wages of workers is one of the key drivers of rising inequality – in South Africa and across the globe.</p>
<p>Drawing on recent publicly available data, we undertook <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/media/wits-university/faculties-and-schools/commerce-law-and-management/research-entities/scis/documents/companies-act-submission-to-parliament2023.pdf">a preliminary analysis</a> comparing chief executive officer (CEO) pay with average monthly pay ratios in the country. In our analysis CEO pay included a base salary and a variety of benefits. We then compared the CEO’s pay to the overall average monthly earning provided by the country’s statistics agency, StatsSA. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/Report-02-11-02/Report-02-11-022021.pdf">StatsSA estimates</a> show that the average monthly pay for all workers, regardless of their sector of employment, was R23,640 (about US$1,280). We acknowledge this number is a high figure, no doubt driven up by the <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/content/paper/5kmms0t7p1ms-en?site=fr">dynamics</a> of South Africa’s labour market – high unemployment levels and high income inequality. The high figure had the effect of lowering the pay ratios, making them look better than they might actually be.</p>
<p>Using a sample of companies across various sectors of the economy our analysis showed that CEOs earn between 150 and 949 times more than the average pay of all South African workers. </p>
<p>Our findings are important because they shed light on inequality within firms – a key component of inequality in society in general.</p>
<p>We submitted our findings to hearings in parliament on two bills <a href="https://www.parliament.gov.za/bill/2314485">tabled earlier this year</a> – the Companies Amendment Bill and the Companies Second Amendment Bill. If passed, the bills would make it compulsory for companies to disclose their pay gap ratios. The aim is to encourage adequate disclosure so that all stakeholders have sufficient data to make informed decisions. </p>
<p>We are in favour of the bills because it will mean that companies can’t go on ignoring inequalities in earnings and wealth in South Africa. Disclosures will also provide other social actors with evidence to question inequalities within firms, and demand changes. </p>
<p>Our analysis differs from previous work. For example, one analysis focused only on pay ratios of companies in <a href="https://open.uct.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/36640f3c-5b95-4a98-875b-35a8d859cfd4/content">consumer products and services</a> and another only on <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.4102/sajhrm.v16i0.983">state-owned entities</a>. There’s also a study that describes <a href="https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/27027/dissertation.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">the relationship between corporate performance and CEO pay</a>.</p>
<p>We saw a divergence between the earnings of CEOs employed at locally owned compared to transnational firms. There was also a difference between CEOs in privately owned companies and those at the helm of state-owned entities. We also found differences in earnings across and within sectors. </p>
<p>And we found there was a weak correlation between the CEO’s pay and their sector’s overall contribution to economic growth and employment share. For example, the remuneration gap in the mining sector is high yet the sector’s contribution to GDP and employment share has declined in the post-1994 period.</p>
<h2>Changes to the law</h2>
<p>The purpose of the bills tabled by trade and industry minister Ebrahim Patel is to improve the ease of doing business, clarify uncertainty and reduce bureaucratic red tape. </p>
<p>The changes also include clauses that would make remuneration disclosures mandatory for public companies and state-owned entities. </p>
<p>If the bills are passed, companies will be required to list the remuneration and total benefits received by the highest earning individual and the lowest earning employee. </p>
<p>Additionally, companies will be required to calculate a remuneration gap, defined as the ratio between the total remuneration of the top 5% highest paid individuals and that of the lowest paid 5%. This must be calculated at both the median and mean to avoid any distortion by outliers. </p>
<h2>What’s missing</h2>
<p>Based on our findings and the research we’re involved in, we argue that the bills don’t go far enough. There are gaps that need to be plugged for them to be truly effective.</p>
<p>The law should require firms to report the wages of the lowest paid person regardless of whether they are employed internally or outsourced. This isn’t the case at the moment.</p>
<p>This is important because employment growth in South Africa over the past 30 years has largely been in <a href="https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/13cfa66a-b328-4ac8-91ce-f828db83fa6a/content">temporary employment services</a>.</p>
<p>Pay disclosures in the US allow for both categories of workers by recommending that firms with more than 100 employees hired through a labour contractor should file two separate reports, one for individuals paid via the firm’s payroll and a separate one to include outsourced workers. South Africa should adopt a similar threshold.</p>
<p>Secondly, the current version of the amendment is a missed opportunity to legislate reporting on <a href="https://www.nbi.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/NBI-GPG-Long-Paper-Outline_March-2021-FINAL1.pdf">gender pay gaps</a> at the firm level. This is already in place in Germany, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.</p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346397261_Gender_and_Work_in_South_Africa">an increase in female participation rates</a> in the labour markets, female workers continue to face discrimination. <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=12930#:%7E:text=Female%20workers%20earn%20approximately%2030,the%20South%20African%20labour%20market">Female workers earn</a> R70 on average for every R100 earned by male workers. These pay disparities along gender lines persist even when we account for worker characteristics by including age, educational attainment levels, experience, sector or industry and occupational characteristics. </p>
<p>We recommend the inclusion of payment disclosures along gender lines. </p>
<p>Thirdly, it is important to include the base pay made to the highest and lowest earning individual together with any short- and long-term benefits. This is because in some industries the base pay is low relative to the total package earned by executives. </p>
<p>While it is important to include both base pay and other short- and long-term benefits, we believe that the listed payments are not exhaustive. We propose the inclusion of the following:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>any tax-deductible expenses paid by the company on behalf of the highest and lowest paid individuals</p></li>
<li><p>compensation for loss of office paid to or received by any individual together with any other payments relating to termination of services.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The proposed amendments do not specifically state whether in addition an individual remuneration gap will be calculated between the highest and lowest earning individuals. We recommend that this calculation is specifically included.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216502/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Imraan Valodia and the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies receive funding from a number of local and international foundations that support academic research.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arabo K. Ewinyu and the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies receive funding from a number of local and international foundations that support academic research.</span></em></p>Changes in the law will ensure that companies can’t go on ignoring inequalities in earnings and wealth in South Africa.Imraan Valodia, Pro Vice-Chancellor: Climate, Sustainability and Inequality and Director: Southern Centre for Inequality Studies., University of the WitwatersrandArabo K. Ewinyu, Researcher, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2076332023-10-30T01:29:31Z2023-10-30T01:29:31ZWomen and low-income earners miss out in a superannuation system most Australians think is unfair<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555736/original/file-20231025-19-kmjy2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=304%2C95%2C3890%2C2507&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/coins-stack-calcuator-piggy-save-money-1688272144">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most Australians think the superannuation system is unfair, with only one in three agreeing the retirement savings scheme is fair for most Australians, according to a survey conducted for the University of Melbourne.</p>
<p>In fact, only about half of those <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/publications/research-insights/search/result?paper=4630688">surveyed</a> agreed superannuation works well for them. </p>
<p>These results contradict a conventional view based on earlier studies and held by academics and many in the personal finance sector, that Australians give little thought to superannuation.</p>
<p>A 2013 survey found Australians have <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/INFORMIT.285049750322819">poor knowledge</a> of how the superannuation system works, while another study in 2022 highlighted <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/4382057/HILDA_Statistical_Report_2022.pdf">low financial literacy</a> in general.</p>
<p>Australians also showed <a href="https://behaviouraleconomics.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/projects/retirement-planning-saving-attitudes_0_0.pdf">little interest in superannuation</a>, according to a 2020 Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet survey, with few Australians showing interest in reading their superannuation statements, choosing their fund or making voluntary contributions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555738/original/file-20231025-17-iffp70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large pile of unopened letter on a desk top" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555738/original/file-20231025-17-iffp70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555738/original/file-20231025-17-iffp70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555738/original/file-20231025-17-iffp70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555738/original/file-20231025-17-iffp70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555738/original/file-20231025-17-iffp70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555738/original/file-20231025-17-iffp70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555738/original/file-20231025-17-iffp70.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 2020 survey found many Australians were not interested in reading their superannuation statements.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stack-open-unopened-envelopes-desk-organizer-1697028028">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With Australian households seen as uninformed and uninterested, their opinions tend to be left out of the public debate. We hear much about the gender pension gap, for example, but little about what women actually think about superannuation.</p>
<p>Similarly, the distribution of tax advantage in superannuation is hotly debated by economists but survey data tends to refrain from asking households what they think about equity in the superannuation system.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/super-has-become-a-taxpayer-funded-inheritance-scheme-for-the-rich-heres-how-to-fix-it-and-save-billions-202948">Super has become a taxpayer-funded inheritance scheme for the rich. Here's how to fix it – and save billions</a>
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<p>The University of Melbourne survey of 1,003 Australians was undertaken by Roy Morgan Research in April.</p>
<p>Its results show women and low-income households are widely seen as disadvantaged in the superannuation system.</p>
<p>In fact, only one in five Australians see the superannuation system as well suited to the needs of women and of low-income households, while 70% believe super favours wealthy households.</p>
<p><iframe id="5VX3K" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/5VX3K/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>This suggests although Australians may show little interest in the management of their super accounts and may report they find the system confusing or even <a href="https://www.professionalplanner.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Attitudes-to-Super-Report-May-2016.pdf">boring</a>, they are surprisingly aware of how superannuation is distributed.</p>
<h2>Women, singles and low-income earners miss out</h2>
<p>The federal government’s 2020 <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/publication/p2020-100554">Retirement Income Review</a> documents these gaps. Renters, women, uncoupled households and those on low-incomes fare poorly in the retirement income system.</p>
<p>With little super to supplement the public pension, these groups are vastly over-represented in elderly poverty statistics, which are among the <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/d76e4fad-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/d76e4fad-en">highest in the OECD</a>.</p>
<p>Mirroring the gaps in the superannuation system reported by the review, the University of Melbourne survey shows that it is outright homeowners and those who are married who believe the superannuation system works well.</p>
<p>Concerns the system works poorly for women and low-income households are strongest among women and low-income households. Only one in three renters believe the superannuation system meets their needs. </p>
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<p>This suggests individuals’ concerns about fairness in the superannuation system are driven by their own experiences of disadvantage, regardless of financial literacy.</p>
<p>This is consistent with my own <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13563467.2023.2195159">research</a> into household attitudes to superannuation, which showed some resentment among women who were well aware their male partners had substantially higher superannuation balances than them.</p>
<p>This all matters for policymakers.</p>
<h2>Why public perceptions are important</h2>
<p>In the short term, these results suggest public support for making super fairer is likely to be stronger than previously thought. Recent government changes to tax concessions on large balances, for example, could have gone much further without losing support from the 70% of households that think the system favours the wealthy.</p>
<p>But it matters for the longer term too.</p>
<p>Public perceptions of fairness, effectiveness and efficiency are crucial to policy sustainability. This is well established in the academic literature from <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/spol.12683">B Ebbinghaus</a>, 2021 and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1911-3838.12171">H Chung et al.</a>, and accepted by the Retirement Income Review.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/age-pension-cost-to-ease-by-2060s-but-super-tax-breaks-to-swell-intergenerational-report-212012">Age pension cost to ease by 2060s but super tax breaks to swell: Intergenerational report</a>
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<p>The review assessed the public’s confidence in the system to both “deliver an adequate retirement income for them(selves) and (to) generate adequate outcomes across society”.</p>
<p>As the review makes clear, the system must avoid a loss of public confidence from perceptions of unfairness. </p>
<p>Yet perceptions of unfairness are exactly what the University of Melbourne results suggest. This would have been clearer to policymakers if they asked earlier.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207633/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Antonia Settle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new study discredits the belief that most Australians have little understanding or interest in their superannuation.Antonia Settle, Academic (McKenzie Postdoctoral Research Fellow), The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2163212023-10-27T14:27:50Z2023-10-27T14:27:50ZHow to redesign social media algorithms to bridge divides<p>Social media platforms have been implicated in conflicts of all scales, from <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/09/jarell-jackson-shahjahan-mccaskill-killed-philadelphia-social-media/674760/">urban gun violence</a> to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/01/17/jan6-committee-report-social-media/">storming of the US Capitol building</a> on January 6 and <a href="https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N16/350/68/PDF/N1635068.pdf?OpenElement">civil war in South Sudan</a>. Scientifically, it is <a href="https://theconversation.com/misinformation-why-it-may-not-necessarily-lead-to-bad-behaviour-199123">difficult to tell</a> how much social media can be blamed for one-off incidents. </p>
<p>But in much the way that climate change increases the risk of extreme weather, evidence suggests that current algorithms (which mostly <a href="https://medium.com/understanding-recommenders/how-platform-recommenders-work-15e260d9a15a">optimise for engagement</a>) raise the political “temperature” by disproportionately surfacing inflammatory content. This <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.16941">may make people angrier</a>, increasing the risk that social differences <a href="https://knightcolumbia.org/content/the-algorithmic-management-of-polarization-and-violence-on-social-media">escalate to violence</a>.</p>
<p>But what if we redesigned social media to bridge divides? “<a href="https://www.belfercenter.org/publication/bridging-based-ranking">Bridging-based ranking</a>” is an alternative kind of algorithm for ranking content in social media feeds that explicitly aims to build mutual understanding and trust across differing perspectives.</p>
<p>The core logic of bridging-based ranking has already been used on <a href="https://bridging.systems/facebook-papers/">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://communitynotes.twitter.com/guide/en/about/introduction">X</a> (formerly known as Twitter), albeit not in the main feed. It is also used in <a href="https://pol.is/home">Polis</a>, an online platform for collecting public input, used by several governments to inform policymaking on polarised topics. </p>
<p>There are many open questions, but evidence from existing uses of bridging-based ranking suggests that changes to algorithms may <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.13912">reduce partisan animosity</a> and <a href="https://bridging.systems/facebook-papers/">improve the quality and inclusiveness</a> of online interactions.</p>
<p>People are increasingly looking for alternative algorithms. Regulators <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/25/quiet-qutting-ai/">in the EU</a> and new platforms <a href="https://blueskyweb.xyz/blog/3-30-2023-algorithmic-choice">such as Bluesky</a> are giving users choice regarding which algorithm determines what they see, and recent <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/does-social-media-polarize-voters-unprecedented-experiments-facebook-users-reveal">large-scale experiments on Facebook</a> have tested different options.</p>
<p>If we care about social cohesion, then during this period of “shopping around” we need to seriously consider alternatives such as bridging.</p>
<h2>How it works</h2>
<p>Current <a href="https://medium.com/understanding-recommenders/how-platform-recommenders-work-15e260d9a15a">engagement-based algorithms</a> make predictions about which posts are most likely to generate clicks, likes, shares or views – and use these predictions to rank the most engaging content at the top of your feed. This tends to amplify the most polarising voices, because divisive perspectives are very engaging.</p>
<p><a href="https://bridging.systems/">Bridging-based ranking</a> uses a different set of signals to determine which content gets ranked highly. One approach is to increase the rank of content that receives positive feedback from people who normally disagree. This creates an incentive for content producers to be mindful of how their content will land with “the other side”.</p>
<p>Among the <a href="https://bridging.systems/facebook-papers/">internal Facebook documents</a> leaked by whistleblower Frances Haugen in 2021, there is evidence that Facebook tested this approach for ranking comments. </p>
<p>Comments with positive engagement from diverse audiences were found to be of higher quality, and “much less likely” to be reported for bullying, hate or inciting violence. A similar strategy is used in <a href="https://communitynotes.twitter.com/guide/en/about/introduction">Community Notes</a>, a crowd-sourced fact checking feature on X, to identify notes that are helpful to people on both sides of politics.</p>
<p>This pattern of “diverse positive feedback” is the most widely implemented approach to bridging. Others include <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.13912">lowering the ranking</a> of content that promotes partisan violence, or using surveys to shape algorithms so that they increase the ranking of content according to <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/platforms-engagement-research-meta/">how it makes users feel in the long term</a>, rather than the short term.</p>
<p>Conflict is an important part of society, and in many cases, a key driver of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/586859">political and social change</a>. The goal of bridging is not to eliminate conflict or disagreement, but to promote constructive forms of conflict.</p>
<p>This is known as <a href="https://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/transformation">conflict transformation</a>. Professional mediators, facilitators and “peacebuilders”, who work with opposing groups, have a detailed understanding of <a href="https://knightcolumbia.org/content/the-algorithmic-management-of-polarization-and-violence-on-social-media">how conflicts escalate</a>. They also know how to structure communication between opposing groups in ways that build mutual understanding and trust.</p>
<p>Research on bridging-based ranking can draw on this, taking insights from conflict management in the physical world and <a href="https://scripties.uba.uva.nl/search?id=record_24357">translating</a> them <a href="https://howtobuildup.medium.com/archetypes-of-polarization-on-social-media-d56d4374fb25">into digital systems</a>. </p>
<p>For example, facilitating contact between people from rival groups in “opt in”, non-threatening settings <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.03.001">can reduce prejudice</a>, and we <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2311627120">can</a> <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01655-0">design</a> social platforms to create these conditions online.</p>
<h2>Why should big tech adopt this?</h2>
<p>Firms such as Meta have built their fortune on the “attention economy” and content which promotes short-term engagement, and hence revenue.</p>
<p>We simply don’t yet know the extent to which the goals of bridging and engagement are in tension. If you talk to people who work at social media platforms, they will tell you that when well-intended changes to the algorithm are tested, user engagement sometimes drops initially, but then slowly rebounds over time, ultimately ending up with more engagement.</p>
<p>The problem is, platforms normally get cold feet and cancel experiments before they can observe such long-term benefits. Evidence we <em>do</em> have from <a href="https://bridging.systems/facebook-papers/">leaked Facebook papers</a> suggests that incorporating bridging <a href="https://youtu.be/ePh_DVi3dMM">improves the user experience</a>.</p>
<p>Bridging-based ranking might also have benefits beyond engagement. By reducing <a href="https://lukethorburn.com/files/BridgingBasedRanking-PluralitySpringSymposium.pdf#page=13">toxicity</a> and content that <a href="https://bridging.systems/facebook-papers/">violates community guidelines</a>, it would likely reduce the need for costly content moderation.</p>
<p>Demonstrating a willingness to make their algorithms less divisive would also build goodwill among regulators, reducing the risk of reputational and legal damage. For example, Facebook has been heavily criticised for allegedly facilitating incitements to violence in <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-46105934">Myanmar</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/07/sri-lanka-blocks-social-media-as-deadly-violence-continues-buddhist-temple-anti-muslim-riots-kandy">Sri Lanka</a>, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/14/meta-faces-lawsuit-over-facebook-posts-inciting-violence-in-tigray-war">Ethiopia</a>. </p>
<p>It has subsequently faced lawsuits from victims and communities, who have sought <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/dec/06/rohingya-sue-facebook-myanmar-genocide-us-uk-legal-action-social-media-violence">up to £150 billion</a> in damages.</p>
<h2>Questions and challenges</h2>
<p>Important questions around bridging-based ranking remain, and we set out many of these in a <a href="https://knightcolumbia.org/content/bridging-systems">recent paper</a> published with the Knight First Amendment Institute, which publishes original scholarship and policy papers relating to the defence of freedoms of speech and the press in the digital age. </p>
<p>Which divides should be bridged? Are there unintended consequences – for example, amplifying mainstream views at the expense of minority viewpoints? How can decisions about the design of mass communication technologies be made democratically?</p>
<p>Bridging is not a panacea. There is only so much algorithmic changes can do to address societal conflict, which is a result of complex factors such as inequality. But by recognising that digital platforms are reshaping society, we have an obligation to guide that process in an ethical, humanistic direction that brings out the best in us.</p>
<p>It falls to both the tech companies that built these systems and an engaged public to create technologies designed for social cohesion. With care, wisdom and democratic oversight, we can foster online communities that reflect our better sides. But we have to make that choice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216321/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aviv Ovadya is affiliated with the the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard, the AI & Democracy Foundation, the newDemocracy Foundation, and the Centre for Governance of AI. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luke Thorburn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Algorithms have been blamed for dividing society. What if they could support social cohesion instead?Luke Thorburn, PhD Candidate in Safe and Trusted AI, King's College LondonAviv Ovadya, Affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2149982023-10-23T14:03:22Z2023-10-23T14:03:22ZLeadership in a crisis: how President Ramaphosa’s COVID speeches drew on Mandela’s ideas of South African unity<p>In times of crisis, leaders wield more than just political power. They harness the art of rhetoric in a bid to unite their nations towards a common goal. South Africa, with a tumultuous history marked by apartheid, has seen leaders employ persuasive communication to navigate challenges. </p>
<p>For instance, in the 1990s then-president <a href="https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/read-nelson-mandelas-inauguration-speech-president-sa">Nelson Mandela</a> appealed to patriotic sentiments. He often used reconciliatory rhetoric to help smooth the transition from centuries of colonial and apartheid oppression to democracy for South Africans. </p>
<p>In 2020, at the outbreak of the <a href="https://www.nicd.ac.za/first-case-of-covid-19-coronavirus-reported-in-sa/">COVID-19 pandemic</a>, President Cyril Ramaphosa faced the challenge of steering the country through one of its biggest crises since democracy in 1994.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nelson-mandelas-legacy-is-taking-a-battering-because-of-the-dismal-state-of-south-africa-209883">Nelson Mandela's legacy is taking a battering because of the dismal state of South Africa</a>
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<p>I’ve been a <a href="https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?user=YVmxkJ0AAAAJ&hl=en">media and rhetoric scholar</a> for a decade. My colleague and I examined Ramaphosa’s communicative approaches during the pandemic. Our <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/ejc-aar_rhetoric_v15_n1_a6">paper</a> on his speeches looked at how leaders use their speeches to unify citizens amid turmoil and uncertainty.</p>
<p>In his regular televised addresses, commonly known as <a href="https://www.702.co.za/articles/433374/president-cyril-ramaphosa-calls-a-family-meeting-tonight-at-8pm">family meetings</a>, Ramaphosa tried to promote nation-building. The pandemic had exposed the nation’s deeply entrenched <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-south-africas-social-divide-and-economic-woes-exposed/a-53739914">economic and social divisions</a>. Fostering social cohesion and unity was <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/south-africas-bold-response-covid-19-pandemic">vital to improving the overall response</a> to the pandemic.</p>
<p>A unified and socially cohesive society was more likely to adhere to health guidelines, cooperate in efforts to control the virus, and ensure that vulnerable populations had access to necessary resources and support. </p>
<h2>Rallying cry</h2>
<p>We analysed the four speeches Ramaphosa delivered in the early stages of the pandemic – between March 24 and April 21. These speeches, when COVID-19 cases were still relatively low, but uncertainty loomed large, provide a critical window into Ramaphosa’s leadership and persuasive techniques.</p>
<p>We observed that Ramaphosa’s communication style bore distinct traits of what has been “Mandelaism” by some academics to rally South Africans behind a common cause. So-called after the iconic statesman, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02564718.2017.1403706">Mandelaism</a> refers to rhetoric that appeals to patriotism to promote national unity and reconciliation. It is </p>
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<p>based on mythologising Nelson Mandela, and imagining a South African nation characterised by ‘harmony, peace, reconciliation, and success, denying the significance of informational disturbances that contradict these narratives.</p>
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<p>Additionally, </p>
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<p><a href="https://unisapressjournals.co.za/index.php/jls/article/view/11861">Mandelaism perpetuates a narrative of forgetting that overlooks the realities of apartheid oppression</a>. </p>
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<p>This rhetorical approach tends to discourage dissent, underpinning the belief that all South Africans share the same goals.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/mandela-was-a-flawed-icon-but-without-him-south-africa-would-be-a-sadder-place-142826">Mandela was a flawed icon. But without him South Africa would be a sadder place</a>
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<p>Our analysis of Ramaphosa’s rhetoric and its parallels with Mandelaism provides a case study of leadership and communication in times of crisis. It offers lessons for current leaders and scholars, highlighting the enduring influence of historical figures like Nelson Mandela on the rhetoric and leadership styles of their successors. </p>
<h2>Ramaphosa’s rhetoric</h2>
<p>Little scholarship exists on Ramaphosa’s political-ideological convictions and philosophy or describes his approach to persuasion. The historian <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tom-lodge-1256885">Tom Lodge</a> has <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40209320">observed</a> that</p>
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<p>Cyril Ramaphosa gives many interviews, but he keeps his personal philosophy to himself. </p>
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<p>The COVID-19 crisis forced Ramaphosa to communicate continuously. It provided an opportunity for rhetorical critics and scholars to consider how he used persuasive techniques, and how these might point to his ideas about the South African nation.</p>
<p>Ramaphosa frequently began his addresses with the inclusive greeting, <a href="https://www.dirco.gov.za/message-by-president-cyril-ramaphosa-on-covid-19-pandemic-30-march-2020/">“My fellow South Africans”</a>. This sought to invoke a sense of belonging and unity. As a linguistic technique it primed citizens to connect with the ideals of togetherness, inclusivity and reconciliation. These are all critical components of Mandelaism. </p>
<p>Ramaphosa’s rhetoric also emphasised reconciliation. He urged citizens to remember past hardships they had overcome together. This appeal to historical resilience reinforced the idea that South Africans unite in moments of great crisis. It echoed Mandela’s ability to unify a nation divided by apartheid. For example, in a speech delivered on <a href="https://www.dirco.gov.za/message-by-president-cyril-ramaphosa-on-covid-19-pandemic-thursday-9-april-2020/">9 April 2020</a> Ramaphosa said:</p>
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<p>I wish to thank you for reaffirming to each other and to the world that we South Africans are a people who come together … Our ability to come together in a crisis, and our commitment to each other and our common future.</p>
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<p>He downplayed the diverse perspectives and experiences of South Africans to promote the unity narrative.</p>
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<p>And then there is each of you, the 58 million South African citizens and residents who are standing together to <a href="https://www.dirco.gov.za/message-by-president-cyril-ramaphosa-on-covid-19-pandemic-30-march-2020/">confront this national health emergency</a>.</p>
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<p>A significant aspect of Mandelaism is its close association with corporate entities that fund Mandela-related projects. Ramaphosa also incorporated business as a force for good in his speeches. He portrayed business as <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/speeches/statement-president-cyril-ramaphosa-escalation-measures-combat-covid-19-epidemic%2C-union">integral</a> to the fabric of a reconciled South Africa.</p>
<h2>Lessons for uniting nations</h2>
<p>South Africa’s journey from apartheid to democracy and its response to the COVID-19 pandemic provide rich examples of the role of political rhetoric. These historical instances serve as invaluable lessons for leaders worldwide facing the daunting task of uniting their nations during times of uncertainty and turmoil. </p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sikelelwa-dlanga-380a5123/?originalSubdomain=za">Sikelelwa Dlanga</a>, an independent communications specialist, worked with the author on the research and this article</em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214998/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sisanda Nkoala has previously been awarded an AW Mellon-UCT Graduate Scholarship in Rhetoric and received funding from the National Research Foundation. For this study, however, there are no funders to declare.
</span></em></p>President Cyril Ramaphosa tried to foster social cohesion in his speeches during a pandemic that had exposed the nation’s divisions.Sisanda Nkoala, Senior Lecturer, University of South AfricaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2156332023-10-16T11:15:57Z2023-10-16T11:15:57ZHow we’re using evidence to tackle net zero, slow economy and new hybrid working – sign up for partnership events and reports from The Conversation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/553703/original/file-20231013-24-nytgwn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-close-photo-wind-turbine-providing-1590844660">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Civil servants around the world are wrestling with a vast web of incredibly complex social problems.</p>
<p>From meeting net zero targets in cash-strapped economies, with often low levels of political support, to managing ageing populations, sluggish productivity levels and handling the repercussions of soaring inequality, there are no easy answers.</p>
<p>But a growing body of detailed academic research can help. The biggest challenge is assessing and then effectively communicating this research to governments so they can use it to inform and shape policy.</p>
<p>In December 2020, as the UK was about to enter its third pandemic lockdown, The Conversation partnered on the £2 million, ESRC-funded <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/">International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO)</a>, a collaboration of UK academic institutions – including UCL, the Welsh Centre for Public Policy (<a href="https://www.wcpp.org.uk/">WCPP</a>), <a href="https://www.qub.ac.uk/">Queen’s University Belfast</a>, and the <a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/">University of Glasgow</a> – and the International Network for Government Science Advice (<a href="https://ingsa.org/">INGSA</a>) to help make sense of the flood of COVID-related evidence and then report it usefully to policymakers across the UK.</p>
<p>Three years later, IPPO is now a third of the way through its second two-year phase, and has extended its focus to include the challenges of net zero, socio-economic inequalities, place and spatial inequality and COVID-19 recovery.</p>
<p>It has also been engaging with national and local policymakers to find out what kinds of evidence would be of most use to them. After all, to provide impactful answers, researchers need to know what questions people are asking.</p>
<h2>What’s coming up?</h2>
<p>Since June 2023, our team has been reviewing the new normal of hybrid and remote work, and how these changes are affecting workers with <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/hybrid-working-and-disabilities-where-the-policy-landscape-is-now/">disabilities and long-term health conditions</a>. In our next report, we’ll look at what policymakers can do to ensure that potential gains from more flexible working conditions are embedded into work spaces.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sunak-should-be-wary-of-backtracking-on-net-zero-what-history-tells-us-about-flip-flopping-on-the-environment-214009">Sunak should be wary of backtracking on net zero – what history tells us about flip-flopping on the environment</a>
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<p>IPPO has also focused its attention on the challenges posed by net zero goals, and highlighted <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/systems-maps/">the pathways and barriers to change</a> when it comes to people making their homes more energy efficient. It has also suggested the novel idea of <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/the-case-for-home-upgrade-agencies-mobilising-data-for-net-zero/">home upgrade agencies</a> to offer bespoke, data-driven advice to households and help everyone make a positive difference.</p>
<p>This month, the team is holding a public event on the best ways to engage society in <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-run-society-wide-conversations-on-routes-and-choices-for-net-zero-tickets-714710507367">how we meet net zero goals</a>, as countries across the world face increased opposition to green policies.</p>
<p>In Northern Ireland and Scotland, the team has also been exploring policy interventions to reduce high levels of <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/policy-interventions-needed-to-reduce-economic-inactivity-in-northern-ireland/">economic inactivity</a>. It now intends to expand this research to look at what different geographic areas around the UK can learn from one another.</p>
<h2>Innovations in evidence</h2>
<p>As part of its remit to challenge and improve how evidence is gathered and used, IPPO recently launched a new <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/innovations-in-making-evidence-useful-ippo-event-series/">series of public, online events</a> on new methods for mobilising evidence for greatest impact, to guide researchers, policymakers and intermediaries.</p>
<p>Our next events on <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-commission-rapid-evidence-assessments-for-policy-tickets-726702475667">“How to Commission Rapid Evidence Assessments for Policy”</a> and <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/systems-mapping-best-approaches-and-what-works-for-policy-design-tickets-699579199217">“Systems Mapping: Best Approaches and What Works for Policy Design”</a> will bring together experts in evidence and policy to discuss best practice for evidence-informed decision making.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-uks-four-day-working-week-pilot-was-a-success-heres-what-should-happen-next-200502">The UK's four-day working week pilot was a success – here's what should happen next</a>
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<p>We’ll also be welcoming David Halpern, chief executive of the behavioural insights team at Nesta, to discuss how to gauge whether an approach that works in one place and time, will work in others, during a <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transferability-of-understanding-it-might-work-but-not-for-everyone-tickets-715929744137">public, online event</a>. </p>
<h2>Unlocking potential in a crisis</h2>
<p>On November 21, IPPO will launch its first evidence review of 2023 looking at how local authorities can accelerate policy change under pressure.</p>
<p>Over the last four months, IPPO and its partner <a href="https://www.rapidresearchandevaluation.com/">RREAL</a> have looked at the COVID-19 recovery plans developed by local authorities across the country.</p>
<p>During our launch event, the report’s authors will discuss key takeaways from their research, reveal what mechanisms help unlock and deliver progressive policies, and share in-depth case studies of the experiences of those involved in the design and implementation of recovery plans at the local authority level. You can sign up <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-local-authorities-can-accelerate-policy-change-under-pressure-tickets-737091800417">here</a>.</p>
<p><em>For more information about IPPO, its events and upcoming work, please click <a href="https://theippo.co.uk/">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215633/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
With its IPPO partners, The Conversation is addressing some of the biggest policy challenges.Sarah O'Meara, IPPO/Communications and Engagement ManagerLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.