Public sector cuts have the potential to exacerbate growing geographical and generational divides in the UK

Research shows that in recent years university graduates have spread out across the country, with many heading north to take advantage of the greater number of public sector jobs (and many northern graduates taking advantage of the greater number of public sector jobs). Jonathan Wright of the The Work Foundation writes that the geographic effects of the coalition’s impending cuts to the public sector cannot be ignored. If the government does not act to promote more local growth, public sector cuts will hit young graduates hard, and this may lead to a talent flight from the North to the South of the UK.