Carys Roberts (2008, PPE), Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), has co-written a report titled, “The Covid shift: Working time in manufacturing, engineering, shipbuilding and aerospace.” She has also contributed to a new ABI and Fabian Society policy report, “Better Off: Recovery and Reform in the Post-Coronavirus Economy.”

The “Covid shift” report argues that it is a pivotal moment for work and an opportunity to examine the way we work, particularly in sectors (like manufacturing) where flexible working is less commonplace. It makes five recommendations including extending the Job Retention Scheme, investigating flexible working further and introducing a new Bank Holiday in recognition of the contribution of key workers.

The “Better Off” report examines key economic policy priorities for the left after the COVID-19 crisis and ensuing recession and explores how these policies should be designed to reshape the British economy in the long term. Carys’s essay discusses what a progressive tax system after COVID-19 should look like. The report also includes contributions from Will Hutton, Seema Malhotra MP and Huw Evans.

Prior to becoming Director of IPPR earlier this year, Carys was IPPR’s chief economist and head of the organisation’s Centre for Economic Justice. She worked on much of the policy research and analysis that informed the IPPR Commission on Economic Justice, and its final report Prosperity and Justice: A plan for the new economy, published in September 2018.

Carys was featured in the second instalment of the Young Univ Gallery, celebrating the diversity of careers pursued by young Univ alumni, and can also be found on Twitter.

Published: 4 September 2020

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