It’s time to put care at the centre of our economics courses

Alex BushEconomics, Education, Influencing

The UK government’s Francis Review of the English school curriculum is an unprecedented chance to shift the national and global conversation on economics education: let’s not miss it, say Alex Bush and Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann. They explain why we need to change an economics curriculum which perpetuates narratives that are bad for people and planet and erase care work.

Five good reasons for the UK to back a global plan to fairly tax the super-rich at the G20

Claire Arthur-LusbyIn the news, Inequality, Influencing

Brazil wants world leaders to work together on fair taxes for the super-rich. With inequality skyrocketing and the escalating climate crisis, Britain should seize its chance to support that, says Claire Arthur-Lusby.

Why are care workers missing from the conversation about the gig economy in the UK?

Veronica DeutschGender, Research, Women's Economic Empowerment

Debates about workers on digital platforms too often focus on male-dominated sectors such as deliveries and ride-hailing. In a blog for the International Day Of Care, Veronica Deutsch explains how care workers, overwhelmingly women, are now central to the precarious UK gig economy – and sets out what campaigners, researchers, employers and policy makers can do to support them.

Guest speakers are not enough: this Black History Month, we need to ask where NGOs go from here on racial justice 

Rhaea Russell-CartwrightPower Shifts, Racial justice, Rights

Oxfam GB racial justice lead Rhaea Russell-Cartwright reflects on how far Oxfam and similar UK-based organisations have come and what they should think about next to deliver on racial justice – including the implications of racist riots in Britain, the need for solidarity across borders and ensuring that celebrations of this month centre the experiences of our Black staff.  It’s …

Vetoing humanity: How a few powerful nations hijacked global peace

Marc CohenConflict, Governance, Research

Marc J. Cohen, Amy Croome and Elise Nalbandian introduce a new Oxfam report that sets out how the veto power of a few countries at the UN Security Council has been catastrophic for humanity. Ahead of next week’s landmark Summit of the Future, they demand four changes to reform a UN system that is simply no longer up to the challenge of maintaining international peace and security.

My mum’s death makes me want a care revolution

Ruth HannanInfluencing, Poverty in the UK, Women's Economic Empowerment

Carers don’t want to be ‘saints’ or ‘angels’, says Ruth Hannan: they just want the same opportunities as everyone else. In a blog for Carers Week in the UK, she says we need to look way beyond sticking-plaster solutions such as respite breaks to radical measures that deliver real economic justice.

‘Be more Norway’: a model policy report on the UK’s international future

Duncan GreenGovernance, Influencing, Research

It’s time for the country to accept it is now an ‘offshore mid-sized power’, say the experienced ‘insider’ authors of radical proposals to reset the UK’s approach to international affairs. Duncan Green on key insights from The World in 2040: Renewing the UK’s Approach to International Affairs.

Inadequate climate action helped fuel Scotland’s political turmoil: here’s how credibility can be rebuilt

Jamie LivingstoneClimate Change, In the news, Influencing

Ditching a supposedly legally binding emissions reduction target helped to drive Scotland’s First Minister out of office. Whoever is in charge next must rekindle the leadership that, just two years ago, saw Scotland become the first nation to commit funds to address losses and damages caused by climate change, says Jamie Livingstone.

Across Britain, paid and unpaid care work remains undervalued and ignored: here are six ways governments can change that

Silvia GalandiniPoverty in the UK, Research, Women's Economic Empowerment

Being a parent, unpaid carer or paid care worker in Wales, Scotland or England too often means being forced into hardship. Silvia Galandini and Claire Spoors introduce Oxfam’s new paper, which sets out how to break the link between care and poverty.