Latest Publications

In this report we consider ways in which we can reduce stress and boost workplace engagement to help improve UK productivity.

This is the fourth briefing paper in the Global Perspectives series which is a collaboration between the Social Market Foundation and the University of Warwick’s Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE). This paper draws on experimental work linking happiness to productivity.

Why are some ethnic groups more likely to be self-employed? Is it a route to social mobility or a reflection of being locked out of other jobs? This paper looks at how self-employment compares, and has changed, across ethnic groups in the UK.

This short briefing provides a guide to interpreting the official Work Programme figures when they are released. We examine what the likely performance levels will be, based on past performance; explore the impact both of the economic context and the set-up of the scheme; and, draw broad conclusions about what the data release will and will not allow us to conclude about this flagship Coaltion programme.

This SMF briefing gives a background to what will change under Universal Credit, sets out who will be affected, and highlights future issues of concern.

In this paper, the SMF examines the viability of WP by forecasting the likely performance of the providers during the first three years, based on the actual performance achieved under the Flexible New Deal (FND), Labour's welfare to work scheme.

A range of experts - Alan Milburn, Sir Win Bischoff, Stephen Overell, David Johnston and Paul Collard – offer their thoughts on why social mobility is so low in the creative industries, and how policymakers and the industry can improve it.

SMF’s latest report "Vicious Cycles: Sustained employment and welfare reform for the next decade" focuses on the direction of welfare reform for the next decade.

This paper recommends that workless people be given a virtual budget - a personal employment account - instead of being enrolled in the current New Deal.