There is no doubt that the impacts of the pandemic have been felt very unevenly - hitting some ethnic minorities and places particularly hard, penalising people in crowded accommodation and risky jobs, and generally hitting women harder than men. Many children have fallen badly behind - but others have hardly been affected at all.

As the UK opens up, attention is now turning to what needs to be done during a period of recovery. The International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO) was set up to provide decision-makers in government at all levels with access to the best available evidence on the social impacts of the pandemic and the effectiveness of policy responses, covering policy areas from education and care to mental health and housing - with particular emphasis on the UK's most vulnerable communities.

We’ve already hosted many roundtable discussions and published reviews of evidence and policy action notes in fields ranging from care for the elderly to homelessness, school catch-ups to the stresses on NHS frontline staff. You can find out much more on our website here.

On Tuesday 15th June (10am-1pm), we will bring together policymakers and researchers, business and civil society, from across the UK to look at what’s known - and what now needs to be done - with regard to the many socioeconomic inequalities that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. How can the direct and indirect scars of COVID-19 best be healed? Where are the priorities for action clear – and where do we urgently need more research?

We will hear from key thinkers and decision makers, before splitting into working groups to focus on key themes including specific impacts on the diversity of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, women, and those affected by issues relating to job insecurity and precariousness.

Speakers include:

Professor Alison Park (ESRC interim Executive chair)
Will Hutton (President of the Academy of Social Sciences)
Danny Dorling (Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography, Univ. of Oxford)
Talat Yaqoob (Commentator, consultant and equality campaigner)
Hetan Shah (Chief Executive of the British Academy)

Please direct any queries to the team by emailing  ippo@ucl.ac.uk . You will receive the joining instructions and information a week before the meeting. Please note we will use the information you provide in the Eventbrite form to contact you about this event.

We hope very much that you can join us.

Action On Inequalities: What should be in post-COVID recovery plans?