University of Liverpool researchers have been awarded £1.2M funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) for a project aimed at identifying ways to support economic activity in areas with high rates of ill-health, disability and informal caring in the region.
The Liverpool Economic Activity Framework (LEAF) project is the only grant to be awarded from UKRI's Creating Opportunities: Rethinking place-based economic (in)activity fund, aimed at supporting a project that offers an interdisciplinary approach to tackling these issues.
With an economic inactivity rate higher than the national average, the Liverpool City Region (LCR) is among the areas with the poorest health outcomes across the country, which further exacerbates economic inactivity and is a substantial contributor to LCR's productivity gap compared to England.
The project complements prior initiatives to reduce economic inactivity in the region, including boosting access to employment opportunities (such as Ways to Work, Households into Work) and health improvement initiatives (Citizens Advice on Prescriptions, Life Rooms), LEAF presents a new comprehensive, community-focused approach to harnessing insights from these past efforts.
It combines collective insights from local communities, policymakers and employers with academic research to understand barriers to employment and co-develop tailored solutions to support inactive individuals returning to work that reflect the realities of those most affected.
The project brings together an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, to work alongside local stakeholders to reimagine economic inactivity using large-scale joined-up thinking.
These include the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Liverpool City Council, Cheshire and Merseyside NHS Integrated Care Board and community organisations, such as Torus Foundation, South Liverpool Homes and the Breckfield and North Everton Neighbourhood Council.
Experts from the University's Management School, the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place and the Institute of Population Health are involved in the project.
The research team's goal is to blend perspectives from economics, sociology, public health, and public policy and administration, using mixed-methods to leverage methodological strengths and conduct world-leading research through interdisciplinary approaches.
Professor Ian Burn, Professor of Economics and LEAF Project Lead, said: "The economic inactivity rate in Liverpool has been persistently higher than the national average. It's crucial to learn the lessons from past efforts to reduce inequality. LEAF's community-driven, interdisciplinary approach will support joined-up action by stakeholders across the city-region to address the root causes of inactivity. Together, we will co-create a future research agenda to drive long-run change and improve rates of economic activity in communities across the UK."
Dr Philip McHale, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Public Health and LEAF Project Co-Lead, said: "Economic inactivity is a major issue both locally and nationally and acts as a significant barrier to a thriving economy. This is both an economic and a public health issue. Understanding the causes and consequences of economic inactivity, and effective ways to deal with it, are integral to the policy response."
Sue Jarvis, Heseltine Institute of Public Policy and Place Co-Director and LEAF Project Co-Lead, said: "Achieving the Government's ambition of an 80% employment rate by 2035 is a major policy challenge that demands a whole-system approach to reverse current trends. The insights generated by LEAF will be critical in shaping the next phase of local and national policy."
