Society Watch 2023: The Price We Pay - the social impact of the cost of living crisis
Event
Society Watch 2024: Understanding the new generation of voters
The Society Watch series provides a snapshot of what life is like for people in Britain today.
Register
The Society Watch series provides a snapshot of what life is like for people in Britain today, focused around a particularly timely societal issue. This year’s report focuses on the complexities of societal issues and explores the nuances of generational attitudes.
Do generations even matter? Do our attitudes from a younger age carry through to older age, or are there distinct attitudinal differences between generations? And what does this mean for UK politics? How do we engage the next generation of voters?
In 2020, Gen Z represented just 9% of electorate, but they are expected to make up 25% of the electorate by 2030, and to remain at 25% until the 2060s. Our research will provide an overview of how attitudes differ between generations and why understanding these differences is crucial for shaping policies, bridging generational gaps, and predicting future social changes.
Society Watch 2024 will explore the impact of generation effects and age effects on attitudes, shedding light on how life stages shape individuals' views. From exploring Gen Z's perspectives on law and order to analysing their stance on social care and aspirations for home ownership, this event will showcase the latest research on generational attitudes and foster insightful discussion among policy-makers, NGOs, charities, researchers, academia, and other relevant stakeholders.
Speakers
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Lovisa Moller VallgardaDirector of Analysis National Centre for Social Research
Lovisa is the Director of Analysis at NatCen. She has over a decade of experience in designing and delivering quantitative research to inform and influence policy. Lovisa’s work spans across a wide range of policy areas, including health, social care, gender, market regulation, ESG, quality of government, and human rights. Lovisa is passionate about ensuring that recent breakthroughs in data science are used to make lives better.
Before NatCen, Lovisa was Head of Analysis at Engage Britain, where she set up the analytical function focused on public opinion research, deliberation and co-design. Prior to this, Lovisa was the lead advisor on business and human rights for ActionAid International, delivered high-profile analysis of the IMF’s track-record on gender and carried out statistical modelling of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute’s (RNLI’s) UK-wide rescue operations.
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Professor Bobby DuffyDirector of the Policy Institute King's College LondonBobby Duffy is Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute. He has worked across most public policy areas in his career of 30 years in policy research and evaluation, including being seconded to the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit. Bobby sits on several advisory boards, including chairing both the Campaign for Social Science and the CLOSER Advisory Board, and is a member of the Executive of the Academy of Social Sciences, a trustee of British Future and a Senior Fellow of the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto.
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Ann BerringtonProfessor of Demography and Social Statistics University of SouthamptonAnn Berrington is Professor of Demography and Social Statistics at the University of Southampton and leads the Fertility and Family strand of the Centre for Population Change (CPC) at Southampton. Her research interests concern transitions to adulthood, partnership and family formation and dissolution, and how these are associated with socio-economic inequalities across the life course. She is currently PI for an ESRC-funded CPC-Connecting Generations project examining Transitions To Adulthood and Intergenerational Support, and Co-I on the ESRC-funded UK Generations and Gender Survey which collects data about changes in demographic behaviour across generations in the UK. Ann is a member of the Office for National Statistics Expert Group for National Population Projections and member of the ESRC Expert Group on Data, Methods and Infrastructure. She was recently appointed to the UK Statistics Authority Research Accreditation Panel.
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Molly BroomeEconomist Resolution FoundationMolly Broome joined the Resolution Foundation as an Economist in 2022. Her work at the Foundation focuses on intergenerational fairness and wealth inequality. Before joining the Foundation, Molly worked at an economic consultancy where she provided research, analysis, and advice on local economic development and innovation policy.
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Sam BidwellDirector of the Next Generation Centre Adam Smith InstituteSam Bidwell is the Director of the Next Generation Centre at the Adam Smith Institute. The Centre works to develop market-oriented policy solutions to the issue of intergenerational inequality, and to advocate for the interests of younger votes. Alongside his work at the Centre, Sam works as a Parliamentary Researcher, consultant, and freelance journalist.
Chair
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Laura HoodSenior Politics Editor, Assistant Editor The ConversationLaura Hood worked for more than five years as a reporter and news editor for Research Fortnight, a specialist publication focusing on science, technology and higher education policy. She also worked as a reporter for Research Europe, covering French higher education policy and European policy in areas including space and innovation.
