Ludi Simpson

Currently working independently on a variety of research projects, my previous employment was as Research Fellow and then Professor of Population Studies at the University of Manchester, where I retain an honorary post. From 1981 to 2003 I worked in Bradford and other local authorities on census and demographic analysis within local planning, representing local authorities to central government in the CLIP population statistics group and working within the Local Authorities Research and Intelligence Association. The POPGROUP demographic software has been a continuing commitment since its beginnings in 1999. Other long-term interests are the measurement of migration, Latin American demography, ethnicity and demography, and the relationships between government, statistics, authority, democracy and material needs. I can be most easily contacted by email [email protected] or by telephone on 01274-591935.

Employment history

2008-current: Professor of Population Studies, University of Manchester (honorary post); research and advice for academic and government projects

2003-2008: Reader in Social Statistics, then Professor of Population Studies, University of Manchester

1992-2003: Lecturer and Research Fellow, University of Manchester, part time.

1997-1998: Research Fellow, University of Southampton, part-time.

1981-2003: Research officer with Bradford and Calderdale Councils, and Sheffield Polytechnic Centre for Educational Management and Administration.

Current research projects:

Demographic projections, modelling and planning in the UK

• Population projections for small areas, for example in Scotland.
• POPGROUP (University legacy website) and POPGROUP at EdgeAnalytics (demographic projections and modelling software with support to local planning
• Whither household projections? (TCPA article) How Can Demographic Forecasting Help Plan for Housing? (blog for OpenPop)
• The accuracy of local projections (Australian collaborative research begining 2015 with Tom Wilson)
• Manual of demographic forecasting for local planning, RTPI Wales

Establishing and interpreting subnational demographic trends in Latin America

• British Academy International Partnership and Mobility award 2015-2018, with Leandro Gonzalez (Argentina), Brenda Yepez (Venezuela) and ALAP (project pages) and e-book ¿Convergencia demográfica? Análisis comparativo de las tendencias demográficas subnacionales en América Latina y el Caribe

Ethnic identities and inequalities in Britain, the dynamics of diversity

• Census Briefings supported by JRF and CoDE
• Census local area profilers supported by JRF and CoDE
• Book edited with Stephen Jivraj. Publication by Policy Press May 2015

Other research interests:

Census practice. The conduct, quality and output from Censuses; Race and statistics: Anti-racism and the racialisation of statistics; Making population statistics: Population estimates and forecasts, especially for sub-national areas; Look-up tables to link geographies: Conversion of data files between sub-national geographies in the UK.

Key past publications:

Demographic convergence? / ¿Convergencia demográfica? Book with Spanish and Portuguese contributions, edited with Leandro Gonzalez, 2018, published by the Asociación Latinoamericana de Población, supported by the British Academy.

National and Local Labour Force Projections, Ludi Simpson, first published in Local Economy 2017

Pupil number projections A common computer system Ludi Simpson report to North Ayrshire 14th Oct 2011

'Sleepwalking to Segregation'?, book with Nissa Finney, 2009, Policy Press: the link gives an extract with cover, contents and summary chapter.

(list in progress)