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COVID-19 and its consequences raise enormous questions about the economy, work and unemployment, mental health, education, social isolation and much more. ESRC is the major public funder of social science in the UK and is working to ensure that excellent research across our disciplines helps decision makers and the public to understand and respond to these questions.

We are grateful to all who are contributing to this endeavour, including the research community bringing their skills to bear, those across government who are working to make informed decisions about pressing issues, ESRC staff and panels without whom this would not be possible.

An overview of projects funded by the ESRC/UKRI in response to COVID-19 can be found below, and will be regularly updated.

Professor Diane Coyle, Senior Independent Member for the Economic and Social Research Council, said:

“With the possibility of huge numbers of people facing unemployment in the recession and subsequent long-term scarring effects, the pressing need to tackle the educational losses likely incurred by children and young people, and the challenge of how our £850bn public services budget can most effectively respond to the pandemic, I am proud to be a part of this initiative from UKRI and the ESRC funding these projects. The disciplines that form the social sciences are stepping up at pace to help the nation weather the challenges, to prepare for and help build our recovery.”

ESRC COVID-19 activity (PDF, 89Kb)