Working for the public sector is good for fertility, according to new Economic and Social Research Council funded research at the University of Oxford.

The Government's Skills for Life initiative has not significantly improved literacy or the economic performance of participating companies, despite what policymakers believe.

Children as young as 12 have a strong sense of their personal futures and can reflect thoughtfully on what life might hold for them, according to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and led by Professor Paul Croll of Reading University and Professor Gaynor Attwood of the University of the West of England.

Performance assessment schemes aimed at making local authorities into more effective organisations are having the desired effect, according to new research released by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Britain has now been in recession for over a year. How can policymakers respond most effectively, on a global scale as well as nationally?

The most ambitious independent policy review in the UK for over a decade is published this week and makes challenging reading for both Government and Opposition.

Assumptions that the United Kingdom will be able to remain a globally competitive, high-wage economy provided it has a sufficiently skilled workforce will be challenged at a seminar organised as part of the Economic and Social Research Council's forthcoming Festival of Social Science (6-15 March).