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Pay for nurses and other NHS staff in England will have fallen in real terms by more than 7% since 2010, even if they accept the latest offer from the government, according to new analysis that will fuel rising anger about public sector pay deals.

Figures produced by the TUC show that remuneration for nurses, community nurses, medical secretaries, speech therapists, physiotherapists, paramedics and radiographers will have dropped by between 7.3% and 7.6% in real terms in just over a decade, even after factoring in the 3% rise offered last week.

Ethnic minorities, the self-employed and low-income families in Britain suffered greater deprivation levels during the coronavirus pandemic despite "surprisingly positive" living standards figures, a report published Thursday found.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank's annual report on living standards, poverty and inequality identified these groups as the hardest hit, even as unprecedented state support mitigated the worst effects of the crisis.

The furlough scheme and the universal credit increase had an 'astonishing' impact on Covid-19 poverty but some found themselves excluded

The stock of household wealth in the UK swelled by £900bn to £16.5 trillion over the course of the Covid pandemic, according to new figures published today.

Research carried out by the Resolution Foundation shows middle-wealth families have experienced the biggest relative wealth rises of each household group, up 9 per cent, or £7,800, taking their average total wealth to £80,500 per adult.

Apprenticeships are failing to reach their social mobility “potential” and must be better targeted at the most disadvantaged, the Social Mobility Commission has said.

In its state of the nation report for 2021, published today, the commission says government should do this by using the levy to incentivise employers to provide more traineeships and level 2 to 4 apprenticeships, while also moving higher level apprenticeships into social mobility coldspots.

Youth unemployment increased faster between Spring and Autumn 2020 than at any point since the financial crisis in 2008

BORIS Johnson’s speech on levelling up last week looks even more of a missed opportunity in the wake of the Social Mobility Commission’s ‘state of the nation’ report.

Education urgently needs clarity about the longer-term recovery plan and the solutions are evident. Government delay will only set social mobility back further, says Sammy Wright

For all the unprecedented events of the past few years – from Brexit to the pandemic, exam cancellations to the devastating (and still escalating) loss of learning – the problems we outline in our state of the nation report are the same as those we identified in my first in 2018.

Anne Robinson is, as she says herself, the oldest woman on television not judging cakes.

But age has hardly mellowed her. Like the canny pro she is, the 76-year-old former Queen of Mean toned it down a bit for her somewhat unlikely new gig hosting the gentle teatime TV quiz show Countdown, but the pre-launch interviews were as sharp and punchy as ever. After this long in the business, she knows her shtick. And love it or loathe it, there is something rather thrilling about her determination not to be put out to grass.

REPORTS of racial hate crime increased by more than 50 per cent across Dorset in the four years before the coronavirus pandemic.

Home Office data reveals a record number of race hate crimes were recorded by police forces in England and Wales in 2019-20 – the latest available figures.

Fraud has reached record levels during the pandemic as Which? analysis of Action Fraud data shows.

There were 413,553 reports made to Action Fraud, the fraud and cybercrime reporting centre for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, between April 2020 and March 2021 – up 33% year on year. More than £2.3bn was lost by victims as a result

In early 2021, unemployment, real earnings growth, arrears on household bills, and food-bank use were all at similar overall levels to pre-pandemic. This is an astonishing outcome given the scale of economic disruption and loss of national income over the last 15 months. It highlights the huge impact of the government’s interventions to support household incomes during the pandemic, including £20 per week uplift in Universal Credit and (especially) the furlough scheme.

But this masks groups who have seen clear increases in hardship – particularly the self-employed, people from ethnic minority groups, and families already in in-work poverty before the pandemic hit.

Ethnic minorities, the self-employed and low-income families in Britain suffered greater deprivation levels during the coronavirus pandemic despite "surprisingly positive" living standards figures, a report published Thursday found.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies [IFS] think tank's annual report on living standards, poverty and inequality identified these groups as the hardest-hit, even as unprecedented state support mitigated the worst effects of the crisis.

As much of the nation focused with growing trepidation on “freedom day” last week, an eye-opening report on the unequal economics of Covid went slightly under the radar. Looking at a range of indicators, researchers from the Resolution Foundation thinktank did the maths on how 16 months of lockdown had affected households’ wealth. The stark conclusion was that the pandemic had “turbo-charged” the already yawning gap between the rich and the poor.

The government’s social mobility advisers have called for a £14bn overhaul of the UK benefits system, including scrapping the two-child limit on benefits and raising child benefit by £10 a week, to cut poverty and narrow the growing gulf between rich and poor.

The eye-catching recommendation on benefits is part of a wider set of Social Mobility Commission (SMC) proposals to put disadvantaged youngsters at the heart of the UK’s pandemic recovery, and comes a fortnight after ministers confirmed they would end the £20 a week universal credit top-up in the autumn.

Professional jobs are on the up, but the lack of diversity is stalling progression in professional services. Hybrid and flexible working could provide an opportunity to change the current status quo in the legal profession, according to the Law Society of England and Wales. 

The Social Mobility Commission’s state of the nation report 2021 found that since 2012, 75% of the UK’s job growth has been in professional jobs. In 2020, 49% of UK jobs were professional, while less than 30% were blue-collar jobs.

Children experiencing poor mental health are three times less likely than their peers to pass five GCSEs including maths and English, according to a study.

Virtual contact during the pandemic made many over-60s feel lonelier and more depressed than no contact at all, new research has found.

Many older people stayed in touch with family and friends during lockdown using the phone, video calls, and other forms of virtual contact. Zoom choirs, online book clubs and virtual bedtime stories with grandchildren helped many stave off isolation.

Police and Crime Commissioner Jonathan Evison and Humberside Police hosted a conference this week to discuss putting a stop to violence against women and girls.