Education, Skills and Employment

The UK is the host of this year’s G7. In recognition of this, the British Academy has convened a virtual forum of SSH7 – social science and humanities representative bodies of every country in the G7. Our world-leading humanities and social sciences sectors across the G7 are coming together to provide a global platform for this research excellence and for the vital contribution these disciplines can bring to major societal, behavioural and environmental challenges of today. We have agreed a series of statements on one of the greatest challenges we face, namely the COVID-19 pandemic and our recovery from its impacts.

This statement on education, skills and employment focuses on responses in and beyond the pandemic for education, work and employment.

It outlines some of the key insights from across our collective work as the representative bodies for the humanities and social sciences in our respective countries on how COVID-19 has had significant and unequal effects on access to education, employment prospects and experiences, and individual and household incomes. These effects have been differentially experienced, depending on where people live, their qualification level, their socioeconomic status, and their health status. Wider issues around economic, education and social security infrastructures have compounded these impacts, pushing many more people into poverty. In the immediate term, poverty affects the likelihood of contracting and surviving COVID-19. In the longer term, poverty will make it harder to weather the economic effects of the pandemic and lockdowns, as it is linked to worsening health and social outcomes.