Fair Comment

Prodding Britain with a fairness stick

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In our first year (starting in January 2022), we published Fair Comment directly on our website, and you can read these posts in our archive section below. From January 2023 we are exclusively publishing Fair Comment on Substack (our posts from 2022 also appear there).

Read Fair Comment on Substack

Intergenerational inequality and solidarity

September 18, 2023

Young people are likely to be worse off than their parents, says the Social Mobility Commission; meanwhile, family ties mean older people support policies that prioritise their younger relatives

Social contract killers

September 11, 2023

Politicians from all parties admit that Britain's social contract is broken; we need to rebuild it if we want a stronger economy and a healthier society

Ask me anything with Baroness Ruth Lister

September 4, 2023

The renowned social scientist and Labour Peer answers your questions about poverty and social security in the UK

Please send us your questions for Baroness Ruth Lister

July 31, 2023

The renowned social scientist and Labour Peer is ready to answer your questions about poverty and social security in the UK

Walking the tightrope isn't the same as treading water

July 24, 2023

On environmental issues, delivering fairness for different groups is a delicate balancing act that can only be achieved while making sustained and rapid progress

Can we build a fairer society without reforming our democracy?

July 17, 2023

Our system allows those with the most socio-economic resources to exercise undue influence on politics. Do we need to sever this link before we can expect to make any progress on fairness?

Do people care more about inequality or unfairness?

July 10, 2023

Evidence suggests that the vast majority of Britons are worried about inequality, but often they are even more exercised about unfairness

Fairly United: What Britons think about fairness and equality

July 3, 2023

Most Britons want equal opportunities but worry about inequality

Why doesn't the private sector talk more about socio-economic inequality?

June 26, 2023

Enlightened businesses recognise their opportunity to lobby governments to tackle inequalities, as well as behaving responsibly. But few seem willing to speak out about socio-economic inequalities...

Towards the manifestos

June 19, 2023

What's the agenda for fixing poverty and tackling inequalities? You're invited to a conference at the House of Commons on 6 July

Three Tory Tribes?

June 12, 2023

Our new report on the attitudes of 2019 Conservative voters to wealth finds that almost all are concerned about the reality or the impacts of wealth inequality

Child poverty is an affront to fairness

June 5, 2023

Shocking new statistics published today by the End Child Poverty Coalition put paid to the notion that Britain is a meritocracy

A house, a home

May 30, 2023

Professor Jo Richardson answers your questions about social housing, homelessness and the meaning of home

Espousing housing

May 22, 2023

Professor Jo Richardson is ready to answer your questions about social housing, homelessness and the meaning of home. And a reminder of our webinar tomorrow on public attitudes to wealth.

National Wealth Surplus

May 18, 2023

The results of our wealth polling are in. 8 in 10 Brits are concerned that the wealthy don’t contribute their fair share of taxes. People are most positive about entrepreneurs, followed by landlords.

It's wealth inequality, stupid

May 10, 2023

A fair society will never be within reach unless and until we take action to share wealth more equitably across society

Why aren't people more exercised about health inequalities?

May 2, 2023

'Social determinants' like housing and wealth have a huge impact on health outcomes, and poor health in turn leads to worse economic outcomes. Why is the British public not more concerned about this?

Ask me anything with Danny Dorling (the answers)

April 24, 2023

The well-known geographer and author answers your questions

Ask me anything with Danny Dorling

April 17, 2023

The well-known geographer and author is ready to answer your questions about class and social justice in the UK (or anything else, within reason)

Rewriting the Rawls of the game

April 10, 2023

A new book, 'Free and Equal', reassesses how we can use the principles set out by the philosopher John Rawls to build a fairer society. It's a book whose time has come.

Thoughts on childcare reform and societal collapse

March 20, 2023

Last week's widening of early years provision was welcome, but is the wider system too stretched to accommodate it? And what might the implications be of a broader unravelling of our social fabric?

Eight in 10 Britons think early years workers’ pay is too low

March 13, 2023

Our new polling shows that people believe that paying early years workers more fairly would benefit everyone, but also underestimate how expensive UK childcare is compared to other OECD countries

Guaranteeing the fair essentials

March 6, 2023

A new campaign is calling on the government to peg benefits to a minimum acceptable standard of living. The fairness arguments for this are hard to disagree with.

Are Brits more progressive than we think?

February 27, 2023

A recent survey has shown that Britons have some of the most positive attitudes to immigration in the world. Do we underestimate the progressiveness of the public?

Inherited inequality clogs up society's arteries

February 20, 2023

Unearned wealth is becoming more important relative to earned income in determining life chances and outcomes. We need to level the playing field before we find ourselves back in the Edwardian era.

Building a fairness argument is child's play

February 13, 2023

Revisiting the Fairness Index to look at a live issue shows that it remains a useful tool to explore and explain the nature, causes and consequences of key inequalities

Fragmentation nation

February 6, 2023

Inequality and meritocratic myths feed off each other, undermining concern about inequality and support for action to tackle it

Our new polling on attitudes to fairness and the strikes

February 1, 2023

Two in three people in Britain agree with the key fairness arguments in favour of the strikes

The tipping points for a fair society

January 23, 2023

Inequalities feed off each other, creating vicious cycles. But the opposite is also true. Progress is nonlinear. Can we set up a virtuous cycle of fairness tipping points?

A forum for civilised irrelevance

January 16, 2023

This week's annual Davos jamboree feels ever more disconnected from the real world. It's a shame, because corporate types are often more alive to the dangers of inequality than many political leaders.

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