There is a thriving shadow economy in Britain – but migrants are not to blame | Emily Kenway Labour is desperately trying to mimic Reform’s line on the cash economy, says former policy adviser Emily Kenway

A new piece just out in the Guardian; it’d be natural to think our hidden economy is a question of migrants working illegally, based on govt attitude, but that’s not what the research says at all: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

@dempster2000.bsky.social hilarious au pair tv review, cackling as I read it 👏👏

New report by @emilykenway.bsky.social @jrf-uk.bsky.social reveals the daily life of carers, a complex web with inflexible employers, complex social care systems and a health care system that excludes them. We need to accept that care is a foundational part of our lives, economy and society. Link👇

‘Since being a carer myself, and subsequently writing a book about carers’ experiences, I have developed a keen sense for when a policymaker, politician or simply a member of the public has failed to understand the contribution of carers.’
@emilykenway.bsky.social echoes my own experience.

An annual 2% wealth tax on assets over £10m could raise £6.1bn from the top 20 billionaires on the Sunday Times Rich List alone. That’s enough to fully reverse cuts to winter fuel payments *and* PIP disability benefits 🤯

Genuinely terrified for what this will mean for the many unpaid carers I know who struggle to get paid support for their loved ones. I am all too aware that short-term visas are rly problematic for workers - the solution is visa reform, not the removal of a vital workforce.

Congrats :) Also it can be downloaded now from here: library.oapen.org/handle/20.50...

Oh! lol thank you for telling me :)

And for the academics out there, this is my first peer-reviewed publication! 🥳

Finally, if you're one of the groups/people I interviewed, I'll be in touch soon with a little online gathering invite.

And if you work on anti-trafficking and wonder how these groups fit the Ps framework, this is definitely the chapter for you.

The chapter has loads of great case studies of this, and shows how their position as sex workers makes them highly effective at these activities.

If you need to make the case for the importance of sex worker-led groups or if you need to secure funding, this chapter should be handy as a citation.

For my chapter, I wanted to conduct new empirical research showing the ways in which sex worker-founded/led organisations tackle harm and exploitation themselves in their industry. I interviewed people from these groups in 7 European countries.

Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation around the World Sex work is often called the oldest profession in the world. It manifests itself in a plethora of forms. A move to private locations is now taking place: contacts are established via the Internet and ...

📣 Friends interested in / affected by sex work and #trafficking policy, I have brand new research out in this new book from Amsterdam University Press. It'll be free to download once it's published! I'm grateful to have been commissioned to produce this new work.

www.aup.nl/en/book/9789...

Warfare not welfare? Making sense of increased military spending Join NEON & friends for a crucial discussion on the UK government's growth in military spending, its context, and how the left can respond.

If you're interested in the UK's increased military spending & what a better way fwd would look like, come to this event on Thurs eve (online) which I'm chairing. There are 3 deeply knowledgeable speakers: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/warfare-no...

Heart full to be at the launch of @carefull.bsky.social with kindred souls to think about care and a better future.

@emilykenway.bsky.social @autonomy-institute.bsky.social

"There is a stranglehold in our imagination on how we distribute care within society. We're allowed to own love and care and friendship. But we still need to break out of the nuclear family."

We need a frank conversation about the changing of who cares as well - @emilykenway.bsky.social

Hahaaaa

See you there next week! Very excited for Ruth and Hannah to launch this much-needed venture on care.

Just got an email from the Fulbright Association. As of right now, funding has been cut off to 12,500 US citizens currently abroad and and more than 7,400 foreigner scholars and students in the United States

🚨 One third of a million employees - earning between £123 - £146 per week - are now at risk of having their sick pay reduced.

Hear Amanda Walters, Director of the #SafeSickPay campaign, discuss on LBC radio why the Government must urgently change its wording in the Employment Rights Bill.👂⬇️

At Care Full we support the #SafeSickPay campaign from @progressivechange.bsky.social.

For unpaid carers the fear of becoming ill is acute; it not only affects the practical aspects of care but the financial too.

Our latest blog has more on the need for change carefulleconomy.co.uk/2025/02/07/c...

Homeless Britons say cost of addiction is forcing them into modern slavery – so why are they not being recognised as victims? I’ve met many homeless British people who have been exploited. It seems to be addiction, more than homelessness, that puts them in harm’s way.

About a year after it was commissioned, my piece for
@uk.theconversation.com is out! Find out (some of) what I've been up to for the past couple of years.

theconversation.com/homeless-bri...

What does #sociology have to say about #gender & #class in 2025?

Join renowned feminist sociologists Bev Skeggs, @jolittler.bsky.social & @michaelacbenson.bsky.social in the first of the Foundation’s new Conversation series.

📅 12 March 18.30–20.00 UTC #online #IWD2025
🎟️ https://buff.ly/4gOe3TB

NEON Social: The Rise of Reform and the Far Right Join us for a discussion on Reform's rise in popularity, and how movements can (continue to) effectively organise against the far right

London people, NEON has an interesting social event coming up next week: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/neon-socia...

First session is tomorrow! Tell us what YOU want at the Manchester drop-in. We would love to hear from our community.

Reach out and come along ☂️ Sex workers only

❗ATTENTION SOCIAL SCIENTISTS❗ The Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness is seeking nomination for the 2025 Book Prize. This awarded to the authors or editors of a book making a significant contribution to medical sociology 👀😱. Reward of £1,000 🤑 Apply here: shorturl.at/sHn0Z PLEASE RT!

what unpaid care means, its impacts on several domains of life, intersectional considerations and how policies do/don’t/could improve things, all using real life examples from my book & forthcoming research.

This morning I’m up early to give a guest lecture and workshop on unpaid care to Edinburgh Uni masters students studying inequalities. It’s the third year I’ve done it and it’s a real pleasure to bring this topic to their attention. We’re covering…

This book by @emilykenway.bsky.social was one of the best I’ve read all year and encouraged me to have some hard conversations with my ageing parents before it’s too late. Profoundly grateful I picked it up. It’s a hard read but a very, very necessary one and one I highly recommend to all.