Title: HIGHLIGHT CPC- Connecting Generations Centre
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Abstract: The overarching goal of the Connecting Generations (CG) Centre is to increase our understanding of the connections and inequalities between and within generations so that policy measures and resources can be efficiently and fairly allocated, thereby supporting and strengthening intergenerational solidarity and reducing inequalities. To achieve this the Centre's key objectives are to: 1. Conduct cutting-edge interdisciplinary research that improves our understanding of the changing nature of the connections between generations and the intergenerational transmission of economic and social resources. 2. Actively engage with a range of stakeholders throughout the research journey, maximising the relevance and impact of the research. 3. Strengthen the evidence base for policies aimed at addressing the challenges of generational fairness, intergenerational solidarity and justice and the 'levelling up' agenda. 4. Produce new resources for the study of intergenerational relations, including novel population projections that explicitly incorporate kinship structures and how these may vary by education, income and geography. 5. Exploit new forms of data social media, genealogical and genetic data and add value through data linkage to new and existing longitudinal datasets. 6. Advance methodology for the study of changing populations and intergenerational relations, through innovation in qualitative and quantitative research designs and in mixed-methods approaches. 7. Enhance the future capacity of UK- based researchers to undertake top class research into 'Changing populations' across the fields of demography, economics, geography, gerontology, sociology and related social science disciplines. 8. Use a range of media to communicate the research findings to a diverse range of audiences including academic peers, national and local policy makers, journalists and the interested general public. 9. Reset the public discourse around intergenerational relations and fairness by providing trusted and accessible evidence. In doing so we will i) deliver a clear picture of how living standards are changing for people in different generations and how social and economic shocks - such as recession, job insecurity, Brexit and COVID-19 - impact the generational groups differently; ii) provide in-depth analysis of how different generations support each other at different stages of the life course including: transitions to adulthood; reproductive strategies, families and intergenerational exchange; work-life balance, employment and caring responsibilities in mid-life; intergenerational flows of support in later life and long-term care; iii) shed new light on key issues including migration, social and spatial mobility, community resilience and social coherence and intergenerational transmission of health and socio-economic inequalities.

Lay abstract: The Connecting Generations Centre (CGC) will examine the ways different generations are connected and how these connections shape, and are shaped by, social, demographic and economic change. Society benefits when different generations combine and help each other. With this in mind, the overall aim of the Centre is to improve society now and in the future by paying close attention to the role that intergenerational activity plays. To improve society, we need a clear picture of how living standards are changing for people in different generations. We need to understand how social and economic shocks, such as recession, job insecurity, Brexit and COVID-19, impact the generational groups differently. We also need to know how the generations support each other by, for example, exchanging wealth, knowledge, time, and housing, and understand their relative political and social influence. By increasing our knowledge, we can identify the groups that are most likely to need support. Different generations provide financial, emotional and practical support to each other across the different stages of their lives. This support is usually given at different times of people's lives: when leaving home, moving in with or separating from a partner, having children, entering and leaving work, continuing to live independently in the community, or moving into residential care. These major life events do not happen in isolation; they are affected by, and have an impact on, our health, economic living standards, social networks and personal resilience. They can vary by our migrant status, ethnicity and where we live or come from. Research within the CG Centre will focus on all these areas, and our findings can be used to form efficient and effective social policy, and aid commercial innovation. The CG Centre comes at a crucial time in the history of our society. Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic make the Centre's work of understanding existing and foreseeing emerging inequalities even more urgent. The wider global issues of environmental degradation and climate change add to our concerns about what we leave behind for future generations and how they might manage in altered environmental conditions. The current government's 'levelling up' agenda made a promise to spread prosperity and opportunities. Brexit and the restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic have affected, and will continue to impact on, different generations and groups in various ways. The outcomes of these 'shocks' to our social and economic function could make it increasingly difficult for levelling-up aspirations to be fulfilled. We will need to implement targeted, evidence-based policies. To provide this crucial research evidence, the new CG Centre will bring together experts from the Centre for Population Change (Universities of Southampton, St Andrews and Stirling), the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science (University of Oxford) and the Intergenerational Centre at the Resolution Foundation. The multi-disciplinary team are world-leading experts in demography, gerontology, economics, geography, political science, social policy, sociology, computer science and statistics. Our research will be put into action through our strong partnerships with the Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Deal and by working with national and local government, POST, third sector organisations and business contacts. By directly addressing government areas of research interest, including the Ageing Grand Challenge, our work will offer answers to the critical questions of the day. Our vision is for the CGC to have a positive impact on intergenerational relations. Our hope is that by looking closely at how the young, old and those in mid-life are getting on in our society, we can bolster intergenerational solidarity and fairness at a critical moment, positively influencing all our future prospects.

Research activity codes: 2.6 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (AETIOLOGY)
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE