NatCen launches Centre for Children and Families

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) officially launches its new Centre for Children and Families on Monday 27 June 2022 with a conference focusing on inequality and education.

Led by Director Tina Haux and Deputy Director Gayle Munro, the new Centre builds on NatCen’s long track record of world-class research with parents and children, from the early years through to schools and post-16 education.

The new Centre brings a wealth of specialist knowledge and long-standing expertise in topics including children’s social care, family justice, early intervention and youth offending, with an active focus on engagement and impact.

It offers research methods expertise in areas such as qualitative, area-based and participatory approaches, survey design and data analysis. In addition, it further develops NatCen’s expertise in delivering high quality evaluations in this field.

The conference, ‘Inequality and Education: taking stock and finding solutions’, is free to attend and will bring together researchers and policy stakeholders working on this topic, a key area of focus for the new Centre.

Hosted at City, University of London, the conference will feature a keynote speech from Juliette Cammaerts, Director of Policy and Planning at the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England and a plenary discussion chaired by Branwen Jeffreys, BBC Education Editor.

The one-day event will assess the challenges posed by the diverse effects of the pandemic on young people and explore new research into language development, attainment, social mobility and reducing disadvantage.

Tina Haux, Director of the NatCen Centre for Children and Families, said:

“We are delighted to officially launch our Centre for Children and Families and to further strengthen NatCen’s expertise in this field. Our team has a long track record in the area, and the new Centre is well placed to make a significant contribution to policy making and public understanding of key contemporary issues for children and families.”

“Our upcoming conference provides an exciting opportunity to explore policy interventions that can provide a better start in the UK and around the world. The programme reflects some of the core aims of the Centre, to address key policy challenges and generate evidence-led solutions that improve young people’s lives.”