A major five-year study – drawing on research with over 300 individuals across six Mexican states – finds that Indigenous students in higher education in Mexico face important institutional barriers to inclusion, as well as discrimination with regard to Indigenous languages and knowledge systems. Indigenous students' increasing access to universities is challenging the colonial and postcolonial legacies of higher education in Latin America. In particular, its monocultural and monolingual nature excludes the linguistic and cultural diversity that Indigenous students can contribute to campus life and academic learning. The findings offer important insights for national policy and highlight crucial changes that higher education institutions in Mexico need to make.

Over the last 15 years the UK has seen a downward trend in young people’s optimism about their futures, particularly among those living in England’s regions. The UK is already one of the most spatially imbalanced economies in the developed world, with large disparities in education and labour market outcomes between London and the South East and the rest of the country.

However, this research offers cause for hope. It shows that young people in areas that received support as part of the government’s Opportunity Areas programme – a £108 million intervention that targeted 12 social mobility ‘cold spots’ across England – have bucked the national downward trend and have shown increased optimism for future study and work since the programme’s introduction in 2017.

A major expansion of free childcare entitlement in England is currently underway. Dr Joanna Clifton-Sprigg, Professor Kerry Papps and Sara Linjawi draw on monthly price data from a large nursery chain to show how prices have changed over the first two phases of the reform, which took effect in April 2024 and September 2024. They also compare how these prices measure up against prices reported by the providers in the 2024 Childcare and Early Years Provider Survey, as well as those charged by other providers in the neighbouring areas.

They find that government funding is likely to cover the costs for children under two in most parts of England, but that funding for three- and four-year-olds fails to cover costs in many places. They find that after the second phase of the reforms, the prices charged for unfunded hours rose fastest at nurseries in local authorities with the least generous funding rates.

Implemented ten years ago in England, the Raising of the Participation Age (RPA) placed a duty on young people to remain in learning (although not confined to staying on at school) until their 18th birthday.

This report presents the findings and recommendations from a research project examining the design, implementation and impact of the RPA on participation, retention and achievements in post-16 learning and subsequent labour market outcomes. Going beyond pure impact evaluation, the researchers explore the design of the policy from conception through to implementation and assess the extent to which it has achieved its objectives.

Authors: Prof Matt Dickson, Prof Sue Maguire, Dr Maria Jose Ventura Alfaro (University of Bath), Dr Andrea Laczik, Dr Dana Dabbous, Olly Newton (Edge Foundation) and Dave Thompson (FFT Education Datalab).

This project was funded by the Nuffield Foundation.

When Universal Credit (UC) is fully rolled out in 2026, the proportion of claims with one or more self-employed earners is expected to reach around one in ten, equivalent to around 700,000 households. Self-employed people therefore represent an important subgroup of claimants. However, there is limited evidence about their experiences on UC. This matters because the regulations which apply to UC claimants who ‘work for themselves’ are quite different from those which apply to claimants who are employed. Eligibility criteria and conditionality rules are also much stricter than those which formerly applied to recipients of working tax credit (WTC).

To help fill the evidence gap, this report by Dr Rita Griffiths and Dr Marsha Wood synthesises findings from two qualitative, longitudinal research studies conducted between 2018 and 2024. Drawing on interviews with 16 self-employed participants, they investigate their understanding and experiences of UC policies. Findings provide valuable insights into the ways in which UC policies around self-employment are being experienced and responded to by this important but somewhat neglected group of claimants. Recommendations are made for improving support and outcomes for self-employed people on UC.

An accompanying policy brief summarises the key findings and recommendations.

The policy brief, written by Dr Joanna Clifton-Sprigg, Dr Alistair Hunt, Lily Zelezetskii and James Bailey, evaluates a reform to UK paternity leave, and finds that expanding paternity leave to six weeks (taken flexibly in the first year of child’s life) at 90% of average weekly earnings could deliver £12.8 billion in annual net social benefits.

Their cost-benefit analysis finds that better-paid, extended and flexible leave policy earmarked to fathers would yield substantial gains through increased maternal employment and improved parental wellbeing. With approximately 75% of eligible fathers expected to take up such leave, the economic and social benefits are significant. In contrast, lower-paid options see substantially reduced take-up and impact. Beyond direct economic effects, increased paternal involvement is linked to better child development, greater family stability, and improved workplace satisfaction.

The researchers recommend the introduction of six weeks’ paternity leave, paid at 90% of average weekly earnings and available from day one of employment. A weekly earnings cap could help contain costs while maintaining strong uptake.