The childcare system in England is broken. Our nurseries are among the most expensive in the world, but our childcare professionals are some of the lowest paid workers in society. For a long time, government policy on childcare has been badly thought out and severely underfunded. More recently, big international chains have moved into the sector. So, what should be done? How would we fix the childcare system? And what would it mean for families, and for the country, if we finally got it right? This week Ayeisha is joined by Helen Penn, Visiting Professor at the UCL Institute of Education, Amy Martin, Creative Director of Impact Hub Birmingham, and Lucie Stephens, Head of Co-production at NEF. ALSO: Last chance to register to vote! Register by 11.59pm on Tuesday 26 November: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote Register if you haven’t got a fixed or permanent address: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-to-vote-if-you-havent-got-a-fixed-or-permanent-address

Exploring the concept of Universal Basic Services for essential public services like transport, childcare, and social care. Discussing the historical evolution and importance of investing in UBS for equality and sustainability. Contrasting political parties' approaches to public spending and education models. Learning from successful international models in countries like Norway, France, and Denmark. Debating between Universal Basic Income and Universal Basic Services for societal solutions. Emphasizing the importance of high-quality public services universally through 'The Case for Universal Basic Services' publication.

How did the word immigrant become such a loaded term? How did the public conversation about immigration become so toxic? And is there another way forward – an alternative to the hostile environment? This week we're at SOAS, part of the University of London, with a live audience and Maya Goodfellow, author of the new book, ‘Hostile Environment: How immigrants became scapegoats’. https://www.versobooks.com/books/3064-hostile-environment Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

We're away this week recording our exciting live event with Maya Goodfellow for the podcast next week. In the meantime we're listening back to a live episode we recorded in April. Safiya Umoja Noble is an associate professor at UCLA and author of Algorithms of Oppression: How Algorithms Reinforce Racism. She joined Kirsty Styles for a revealing look at how all kinds of negative biases are embedded in the algorithms that increasingly shape our world. If you want to find out more about this topic, check out: Safiya Umoja Noble, Algorithms of Oppression nyupress.org/9781479837243/algo…hms-of-oppression/ Safiya Umoja Noble, Social Inequality Will not be Solved by an app www.wired.com/story/social-inequ…-solved-by-an-app/ Sarah Roberts, Behind the Screen yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300235…3/behind-screen Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/shos…1610395694/ Content warning: in this episode there is discussion of sexual content and pornography that some listeners might find offensive. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

Some common lines you’ll hear about the economy: we all put money in, or take it out. Some people pay their fair share, but others don’t. We can’t overspend – putting public spending on the national credit card would be irresponsible. But not all of those lines are strictly true and the way we talk about the economy affects the way we think about its future. This week on the podcast: what we’re really talking about when we talk about the economy. Ayeisha is joined by Anat Shenker-Osorio – communications expert, researcher and author of ‘Don’t Buy It: the trouble with talking nonsense about the economy’, and Ellie Mae O’Hagan – journalist and author of the forthcoming book on the collapse of the centre ground. Check out Anat's Brave New Words podcast at https://bravenewwordspod.com You can find the Framing the Economy report at https://neweconomics.org/2018/02/framing-the-economy-2 Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

It’s one of the most important inventions of the 20th century. But unlike the phone, the car, computers and indoor plumbing, the weekend is still stuck in the 1930s. As productivity increased, the promise of shorter working hours always seemed just out of reach. But now, there’s a campaign to make the 4-day week a reality within our lifetimes. Obviously many people would love to work less. But what would it mean for the economy? And what would it take to make it a reality? Back for a brand new series, Ayeisha is joined by Alfie Stirling, Head of Economics and Aidan Harper, Researcher at the New Economics Foundation. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

More and more of us are renting for longer – not by choice, but by necessity. In cities especially, more people are renting into their thirties, forties and beyond, sometimes raising children in rented flats with no long-term security. But what if we could do something about it? Could rent controls be the answer? With Hanna Wheatley and Eva Freeman. Donate to the New Economics Foundation: https://neweconomics.org/donate Rent controls report: https://neweconomics.org/2019/07/rent-control Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Music this week is by Chris Zabriskie and Podington Bear. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

It’s the story we’re all told when we’re growing up. Work hard at school so you can get into a good university. Work hard at university so you can get a good job. Get a masters degree – taking on more student debt – if you really want to mark yourself out. Work hard at the office so you can get ahead. But what if that’s not the real story? Social mobility in the UK is stagnating. Class privilege is entrenched. Boris Johnson is the twentieth prime minister to go to Eton. What if the idea of Britain as a meritocracy is a myth? To answer this question, Ayeisha is joined by Jo Littler, a reader in sociology at City University of London and author of ‘Against Meritocracy’, and Sam Friedman, associate sociology professor at LSE and author of ‘The Class Ceiling: Why It Pays To Be Privileged’. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Music this week is by Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

This week the UK got a new prime minister, and the Conservative party got a new leader. After nine years in government, will this be a pivotal moment in history, or a last gasp? Apart from a more hard-line stance on Brexit and a few Winston Churchill statuettes, what will the new PM be bringing to the job? Ayeisha discusses Boris Johnson and the future of Conservatism with Christine Berry, co-author of the book ‘People Get Ready’ and former director of policy and government here at NEF, and Andy Beckett, features writer at the Guardian. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org

If you’ve been listening to the Weekly Economics Podcast for a while, you’ll know that we think there’s much more to economics than GDP. But it still dominates the way politicians and much of the press talk about the economy. Now though, there are lots of new proposals for measuring what counts. So what should replace GDP? And how would it change society? Ayeisha Thomas-Smith discusses with Guardian economics correspondent Richard Partington and NEF fellow Annie Quick. Enjoying the show? Tweet us your comments and questions @NEF! Music this week is by Mr. Frisby's Beat Pocket and Podington Bear, used under Creative Commons licence. The award-winning Weekly Economics Podcast is brought to you by the New Economics Foundation – the UK's only people powered think tank. Find out more at www.neweconomics.org