Research notes

Browse some of the latest studies on the social impacts of (and responses to) COVID-19

The International Public Policy Observatory holds weekly ‘newsroom’ meetings at which all of our UK and global partner organisations can highlight notable new research relating to the social impacts of, and policy responses to, COVID-19. A selection of these ‘research notes’ can be browsed below.

And if you are an academic working on COVID-related social sciences research that spans any of our broad topic areas (education, mental health, Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, vulnerable communities, housing, care and online life), we’re equally keen to hear about your work. Simply fill in this form and we will be in touch soon.

1. 

   Changes in political trust in Britain during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: integrated public opinion evidence and implications

   December 17, 2021

   • Social capital

   Davies et al, Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (December 2021) In this paper, we document changes in political trust in the UK throughout 2020 so as to consider wider implications for the ongoing handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. We analysed data from 18 survey organisations with measures on political trust (general, leadership, and COVID-19-related) spanning the period December 2019–October 2020. We examined the percentage of trust and distrust across time, identifying where significant changes coincide with national events. Levels of political trust were low following the 2019 UK General Election. They rose…

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2. 

   COVID-19 prevalence amongst people experiencing homelessness in Wales, UK, now lower than in general population

   December 8, 2021

   • Homelessness

   • vulnerable communities

   A population level study of SARS-CoV-2 prevalence amongst people experiencing homelessness in Wales, UK Ian Thomas and Peter Mackie, Cardiff University (International Journal of Population Data Science, 2/12/21) Introduction Prior research into the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection amongst people experiencing homelessness (PEH) largely relates to people in communal forms of temporary accommodation in contexts where this type of accommodation remained a major part of the response to homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 amongst PEH more broadly, and in a policy and practice context that…

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3. 

   Children’s perspectives and experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and UK public health measures

   December 2, 2021

   • Children

   • education

   Jill Thompson, Grace Spencer and Penny Curtis have explored children’s perspectives on the pandemic (Health Expectations, Dec. 2021) Background The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound impacts on how we live our lives; yet, the implications for children and the effects on children’s everyday lives have been relatively underacknowledged. Understanding children’s views on COVID-19 and related restrictions on their lives provides an important opportunity to understand how children have responded to the pandemic, including the impacts on their social and emotional well-being. Objective This study explored the experiences and perspectives of children in…

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4. 

   The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England, 2021

   November 29, 2021

   • Social Care

   Skills For Care’s Workforce Intelligence Team (the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England) This report provides information about the adult social care sector, including its size and structure, employment information, recruitment and retention issues, workforce demographics, pay, qualification rates, and future workforce forecasts. Adult social care is a growing sector that, in 2020/21, comprised around 17,700 organisations across 39,000 care-providing locations, with a workforce of around 1.67 million jobs. The number of full-time equivalent jobs was estimated at 1.19 million and the number of people working…

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