Eviction and Poverty in American Cities

More than two million U.S. households have an eviction case filed against them each year. Policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels are increasingly pursuing policies to reduce the number of evictions, citing harm to tenants and high public expenditures related to homelessness. We study the consequences of eviction for tenants using newly linked administrative data from two large cities. We document that prior to housing court, tenants experience declines in earnings and employment and increases in financial distress and hospital visits. These pre-trends are more pronounced for tenants who are evicted, which poses a challenge for disentangling correlation and causation. To address this problem, we use an instrumental variables approach based on cases randomly assigned to judges of varying leniency. We find that an eviction order increases homelessness, and reduces earnings, durable consumption, and access to credit. Effects on housing and labor market outcomes are driven by impacts for female and Black tenants

STEM Assets in the West Midlands Innovation Landscape:Tysley Energy Park

In this policy briefing, Robert Lynam, Chloe Billing and Simon Collinson look at the Tyseley Energy Park, University of Birmingham and explore the extent to which it is being leveraged to improve economic performance and social inequality in our region

STEM assets in the West Midlands innovation landscape:The Manufacturing Technology Centre

This policy briefing looks at the Manufacturing Technology Centre and explore the extent to which it is being leveraged to improve economic performance and social inequality in our region

STEM assets in the West Midlands innovation landscape:Warwick Manufacturing Group

In this policy briefing, Robert Lynam, Dr Chloe Billing and Professor Simon Collinson outline the publicly available information about Warwick Manufacturing Group’s (WMG) capabilities and impact, as well as identifying any gaps. This basic scoping work was conducted via internet searches and has a particular focus on what is known about WMG’s governance structure, size, scale, facilities, employment, funding structures, turnover, and growth

STEM assets in the West Midlands innovation landscape:The Manufacturing Technology Centre

This policy briefing looks at the Manufacturing Technology Centre and explore the extent to which it is being leveraged to improve economic performance and social inequality in our region

STEM assets in the West Midlands innovation landscape:Warwick Manufacturing Group

In this policy briefing, Robert Lynam, Dr Chloe Billing and Professor Simon Collinson outline the publicly available information about Warwick Manufacturing Group’s (WMG) capabilities and impact, as well as identifying any gaps. This basic scoping work was conducted via internet searches and has a particular focus on what is known about WMG’s governance structure, size, scale, facilities, employment, funding structures, turnover, and growth

‘At least you got to see people when you went out for a walk’: older adults’ lived, embodied experiences during COVID-19 times in the United Kingdom

The COVID-19 pandemic presented myriad global challenges, placing unprecedented pressure on health services. Currently, there is limited qualitative research exploring the ‘felt’ impact of the pandemic on older adults’ health experiences and wider social life. Here, we report on the embodied experiences of older adults (65 and above), before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in the UK, to chart the physical, social, and mental-health challenges. A figurational sociological lens was adopted to examine data from semi-structured interviews with 18 older adults, face-to-face or via telephone/video call. Notes from follow-up conversations were also recorded. Combined data were analysed thematically. Salient themes cohered around: physical activity engagement; health experiences; the role of family, friends, and community; and the role of modern technology. Our results highlight how older adults reported the felt benefits of increased PA during lockdowns, but also the negative impacts of treatment delays on experiences of hospital services. Participants also recounted how new social community connections were forged during lockdowns. Saliently, we identified a need to support older adults with modern technology so as to capture its potential to modernise, expand, and personalise healthcare within UK health services

The Endurance Rocket Mission

NASA’s Endurance sounding rocket (yard No. 47.001) will launch from Ny Ålesund, Svalbard in May 2022 on a solid fueled Oriole III-A launch vehicle. Its ~19 minute flight will carry it to an altitude of ~ 780 km above Earth’s sunlit polar cap. Its objective is to make the first measurement of the weak “ambipolar” electric field generated by Earth’s ionosphere. This field is thought to play a critical role in the upwelling and escape of ionospheric ions, and thus potentially in the evolution of Earth’s atmosphere. The results will enable us to determine the importance to ion escape of this previously unmeasured fundamental property of our planet, which will aid in a better understanding of what makes Earth habitable. Endurance will carry six science instruments (with 16 sensors) that will measure the total electrical potential drop below the spacecraft, and the physical parameters required to understand the physics of what generates the ambipolar field. The mission will be supported by simultaneous observations of solar and geomagnetic activity