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"The Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) Skills Conditionality Pilot was launched in April 2010 with the aim of exploring the labour market effects of mandating participation in training. The pilot targeted JSA claimants entering stage 3 of the Jobseeker’s Regime and Flexible New Deal (JRFND) who had an identified skills need. It was based on a random assignment design whereby the requirement to participate would be imposed on the basis of National Insurance number (NINO) to half of those referred to training. If carried out effectively, differences revealed through a comparison of outcomes post-randomisation can be viewed as being caused by the conditionality. This report presents the findings from two parallel studies of the pilot. The quantitative analysis used administrative data to provide details on the implementation of the pilot and whether it could be used to provide valid estimates of the impact of mandation. The qualitative analysis explored the experiences and views of participants in the pilots: principally mandated claimants and Jobcentre Plus advisers, but also training providers" -- page 1.

The prospect of Brexit has already made the UK a less attractive option for new EU migrants, according to the latest statistics. What is set to make the country an even less attractive destination is the government’s new immigration policy, writes Heather Rolfe.

Last week NIESR published new research for the Cavendish Coalition on the implications of Brexit for the health and social care sector. Their conclusions are stark: Brexit is likely to lead to a substantial shortfall in nurses and doctors which needs to be urgently addressed by new immigration policy, writes Heather Rolfe (NIESR). However, while the implications of any future immigration restrictions are very serious for the NHS, the much-neglected social care sector is likely to be an even greater casualty if workable immigration policies are not put in place.

Research shows consistently high levels of concern among people in the UK over the scale of immigration and its impact on jobs and services. Drawing on new research on how people use and understand information about the economic impacts of immigration, Heather Rolfe writes there is a tendency to rely on personal accounts rather than on economic statistics.

Heather Rolfe argues that, while investment in technology is undoubtedly needed as part of the UK’s recovery strategy, the pandemic has highlighted our reliance on people and their skills. The government should therefore also be focusing on how to get people back into better and more sustainable work.

With millions facing unemployment, we need to get people into better, more fulfilling, and sustainable work, writes Heather Rolfe

Because care work requires no formal qualifications, the immigration proposals will make it virtually impossible to recruit care workers from abroad. The sector is underfunded and undervalued, says Heather Rolfe (Demos), and struggles to attract British staff.

While the government's immigration proposals are highly restrictive, research suggests that the public would accept a more liberal regime, writes Heather Rolfe. This makes it both possible and desirable for the government to change approach.

Many students still leave school without a good grasp of basic literacy, despite the negative implications for future educational and labour market outcomes. We evaluate how resources may be used within classrooms to reinforce the teaching of literacy. Specifically, teaching assistants are trained to deliver a tightly structured package of materials to groups of young children aged 5-6. The training is randomly allocated between and within schools. Within schools, teaching assistants are randomly assigned to receive training in either computer-aided instruction or the paper equivalent. Both interventions have a short-term impact on children’s reading scores, although the effect is bigger for the paper intervention and more enduring in the subsequent year. This paper shows how teaching assistants can be used to better effect within schools, and at a low cost.

Many students still leave school without a good grasp of basic literacy, despite the negative implications for future educational and labour market outcomes. We evaluate a programme that involves changing how resources are used within classrooms to reinforce the teaching of literacy. Specifically, the programme involves training teaching assistants to deliver a tightly structured package of materials to groups of young children. Further, we compare the effectiveness of computer-aided instruction using available software with the paper equivalent. We implement the experiment in the context of a Randomised Control Trial in English schools. Both interventions have a short-term impact on children’s reading scores, although the effect is bigger for the paper intervention and more enduring in the subsequent year. This paper shows how teaching assistants can be used to better effect within schools, and at a low cost.

Migrants are now 11 per cent of the workforce and one in 20 workers is from the EU, writes Heather Rolfe of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). Their presence in low skilled work is particularly marked. We asked employers in low skilled sectors what free movement means to them and what they would do if the supply of migrants dried up as a result of Brexit. Such is the dependence of some employers on EU migrants that one brewery and hotel manager said he would simply ‘panic’. But most level-headed employers see a range of possibilities and in fact had put many of them into action. Here’s our guide to their options – the pros, the cons and the reality.

Why do recruiters hire eastern European migrants? The answer is not that they have a better work ethic, writes Heather Rolfe. The employers surveyed by the NIESR say they are seeking flexibility and want to recruit people on temporary and zero-hour contracts, which British workers are often unwilling or unable to accept. But this flexibility enables businesses to grow and prosper in a way that would otherwise be impossible.