La croissance vous rend malheureux… mais comment s’en passer? | Élucid Media Interview
In this interview with Olivier Berruyer for Élucid, Tim Jackson explores how capitalism has made growth and consumption central to our idea of happiness—while relying on permanent dissatisfaction to keep going. Leaving consumerism behind, he suggests, is not a step backwards, but an essential step towards a truly prosperous and sustainable society.
Cry of the Bittern | BBC radio drama series by Tim Jackson re-released as audiobook
This month sees the audiobook release of Tim Jackson’s environmental drama series Cry of the Bittern. Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the series has been re-released by Penguin and is now available on all major audiobook platforms. Set against the atmospheric backdrop of the Norfolk fens, the full-cast mystery explores the tensions between environmental protection and economic development.
Creating a Care Economy | The Deep Dive podcast
In this episode of The Deep Dive, host Phillip McKenzie speaks with Tim Jackson about his latest book, The Care Economy. The conversation examines how the pandemic and recent global conflicts have underscored care's critical importance, yet revealed its consistent neglect within current economic systems focused primarily on growth and profit.
Fit for whose future? The Mary Poppins moment is over
"Ask not what we can do for our health. Ask only what our healthcare can do for growth." In this searing critique, Tim Jackson exposes how the UK Government’s new 10-year-plan for NHS England trades public health for private profit, betraying Bevan’s vision in the name of growth.
A world that might just work | Free Forum podcast
In a wide-ranging and deeply reflective conversation with Terrence McNally on Free Forum: A World That Just Might Work, Tim Jackson explores the themes of his latest book, The Care Economy. Against a backdrop of global instability and the rise of authoritarianism, Jackson argues that now, more than ever, is the time to advocate for an economy built on care rather than growth.
Living in a Sick System | Fresh Ed podcast
In a thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation with Will Brehm, Tim Jackson explores the personal and political dimensions of The Care Economy, his latest book. Sparked by a surprising diabetes diagnosis, Jackson shares how a personal health crisis led him to question not only his own lifestyle but the broader systems that shape our wellbeing. His journey through nutrition, chronic illness, and the failings of modern medicine reveals how society has systematically undermined health by prioritising profit over care.
Why we need to adopt a Care Economy | C40 Cities podcast
Capitalism is an illness: it’s killing our planet, and by extension, us. Economic instability and environmental concerns are symptoms that can only be cured by redefining prosperity in terms of health and wellbeing, so that we can create sustainable, equitable societies. Tim Jackson joins Cities 1.5 to discuss his new book The Care Economy, arguing that redefining prosperity around care—not growth—offers a path to heal our economy, our healthcare systems, and the planet itself.
This is an act of care | Keynote by Tim Jackson at the #SCORAI 2025 conference
In his keynote for the SCORAI 2025 conference in Lund, Prof Tim Jackson presented insights from his new book The Care Economy, calling for a shift from growth-driven models to economies centred on health, care, and creativity. His keynote exposed the systemic harms of perpetual growth and argued that prioritising care is essential for a just and viable future.
Ökonomie der Fürsorge | Book discussion at Heinrich Böll Foundation, Berlin
To mark the launch of the German edition of The Care Economy, the Heinrich Böll Foundation hosted a special event in Berlin featuring Professor Tim Jackson in conversation with economist and historian Friederike Habermann. Together, they explored the book’s central themes, delving into its intellectual roots and discussing the urgent need to rethink our economic systems through the lens of care, wellbeing, and sustainability.
Bringing wellbeing back into our politics | Another Europe is Possible podcast
In an age of war and permanent crisis, is it all too easy to forget the fundamentals? How do we look after each other, care for one another and create economies that prioritise our human development? In this podcast, Seema Syeda and Zoe Williams welcome back Tim Jackson to talk about his new book, The Care Economy (Polity 2025).
Post-growth: the science of wellbeing within planetary boundaries | Journal Paper
A comprehensive new review by leading experts in the sustainability science field is challenging the long-held assumption that economic growth is necessary for societal progress. Published in The Lancet Planetary Health, this paper explores the rapidly advancing field of postgrowth research and presents a compelling case for prosperity without growth.
The False Economy of Big Food. And the case for a new food economy | Report
New analysis commissioned by the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission (FFCC) has found that the costs of Britain’s unhealthy food system amount to £268 billion every year – almost equivalent to the total annual UK healthcare spend. The report by Professor Tim Jackson provides the first comprehensive estimate of the food-related cost of chronic disease, caused by the current food system.
Growth dependency in the welfare state | Journal Paper
Modern economies rely on economic growth for stability and prosperity, but this dependence is ecologically unsustainable. Understanding growth dependency is crucial. This paper proposes a sector-led framework to transform these reliances and disrupt their inevitability.
NZ International Science Festival
The New Zealand International Science Festival hosted Prof Jackson this year with the support of the British Council New Zealand and the Pacific. He is joined by the Director of the Centre For Sustainability, Caroline Orchinson, for this evening talk.
Echoes of immortality: Art and the Wellbeing Economy
Sustainability is the art of living well within the ecological limits of a finite planet. Art is more than an instrument in this project. It’s the very nature of it.A talk delivered by Tim Jackson for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Ireland Hub, March 2023.
Degrowth can work—here’s how science can help | Nature Article
Wealthy countries can create prosperity while using less materials and energy if they abandon economic growth as an objective. This Nature comment piece together with Jason Hickel, Giorgos Kallis, Julia Steinberger and more is laying out the key challenges of a just post-growth transition.
Economic Growth—can we ever have enough? | BBC Radio 4 Analysis
As the twin storms of economic turmoil and worsening climate change grip the the world, BBC Radio 4 Analysis examines the future of economic growth. Does it offer a route out of economic malaise, or have its benefits reached a ceiling for developed countries?
Mum, Will the Planet Die Before I Do? | Climate parenting podcast series with CUSP
In an exciting new partnership with Corner Shop Media Productions, Parents for Future UK and Zero Carbon Guildford, CUSP is co-sponsoring a new weekly podcast series hosted by seasoned journalists Babita Sharma and Katy Glassborow. Mum, Will the Planet Die Before I Do? explores our role as parents and carers in tackling the climate crisis.
What happens when investment firms take over UK care homes | Report and Briefing Paper
Through a series of in-depth interviews with care workers Christine Corlet Walker et al explore the impact of investment firms on working conditions and quality of care in UK care homes. Combined with an analysis of care company accounts generating insights into the impacts of financialisation on the UK care sector, the report shows how investment firms are using extreme strategies to reduce staffing levels and cut costs in the name of profit, with appalling consequences for care.
Why UK’s ‘treasured free-market economy’ will not achieve net zero
Whatever the UK government says it’s doing—and not doing—one thing is clear, Tim Jackson writes, the “treasured free-market economy” is never going to compensate for our failure to insulate people’s homes against the cold, and the future against the ravages of climate change.
A critique of the marketisation of long-term residential and nursing home care | Journal Paper
Long-term care systems across countries within the OECD have undergone a progressive marketisation and financialisation in recent decades. In this Personal View, we argue that the accomapnying neoliberal market values make poor guiding principles for the care sector, identifying the dysfunctional dynamics that arise as a result, and reflecting on the clinical implications of each, with a focus on facility-based care.