Media highlights

TV, radio and podcasting

1 Professor Jane Falkingham took part in an episode of BBC News’ Talking Business, commenting on themes including life expectancy, ageing societies, and the demographic transition. Professor Falkingham also appeared on BBC News to discuss the release of the initial Census 2021 results, and on TRT World News discussing the world population reaching 8 billion. She was also a guest on the BBC Science Focus Instant Genius podcast discussing the world’s ageing population.

2 Molly Broome was interviewed about intergenerational fairness for BBC Newsnight, Good Morning Britain, and LBC Radio. Research from the Intergenerational Audits also featured in major outlets including The Guardian, The Telegraph, Money Week, and The Independent

3 Professor David Bell featured in a two-part BBC Scotland programme on ‘Who lives in Scotland?’ discussing Scotland’s changing population, including issues surrounding unpaid carers and the costs of dementia care. He also featured on the podcast ‘Constitutionally Sound’ discussing migration challenges after Covid and Brexit.

4 Dr David McCollum was interviewed about the Scottish Census results for BBC Reporting Scotland TV News. Dr McCollum was also interviewed by BBC Radio Scotland’s Mornings show and BBC Radio Scotland’s Lunchtime Live programme about net migration figures, and featured on BBC Radio Nottingham discussing his research on working from home and the pandemic.

5 Professor Melinda Mills was interviewed on LBC Radio about rising childlessness in younger generations, and featured on The Why Wait Agenda podcast discussing delayed parenthood. She discussed her research on lifetime childlessness for the BBC World Service Newsday radio programme, as well as discussing the world population reaching 8 billion on BBC Radio 4. She featured in a profile article for the Big Challenge series in Front Line Genomics, discussing the challenges in demography and population health, highlighting the issues surrounding data sharing and working in an interdisciplinary way.

6 Professor Jackie Wahba and Dr Valentina Di Iasio published the article ‘Hotels and employment aren’t major ‘pull factors’ for refugees – here’s what really draws people to move’ in The Conversation, and Dr Di Iasio also took part in The Conversation Weekly podcast ‘Debunking migration myths: the real reasons people move, and why most migration happens in the global south’.

Fertility research

Our fertility research, particularly on declining birthrates, has appeared in numerous media outlets either as research references or researcher interviews, including The Financial Times, The Scotsman, TES Magazine, The Observer, The Telegraph, and The Times

Sleep research

Research by Professor Falkingham et al. on how sleep was affected during the pandemic received widespread coverage between 2021-2023, including in Women’s Health Magazine, The Times, The Sun, and The Express.

The war in Ukraine

Professor Jakub Bijak was quoted in international media about the importance of accurately recording civilian deaths in times of war. Research from the MigrantLife project team was referenced in The Economist on Ukraine’s shrinking population, and Dr Sarah Christison was interviewed for the Wall Street Journal on Ukraine’s demographic collapse. Professor Kulu was interviewed on BBC Good Morning Scotland on 17 March 2022 about the effect of the war on Ukraine’s population.

Economic affairs in the UK

Professor David Bell has been prolific across the media commenting on economic affairs, particularly in Scotland but also nationally, as well as migration, population change, ageing and social care, and university student places in Scotland. Articles and comment pieces have been published in The Financial Times, The Times, The Herald, BBC News, and The New Statesman.