New book! Housing Inequality in the 21st Century is now published.
The book explores how policy, markets and wider social change are reshaping housing inequality—and why this matters for wellbeing and justice.
policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/housing-ineq...
#Housing #Inequality #PublicPolicy
Cat in bag.
Morning 😂
Another paper showing that family poverty is more important than psychosocial adversities
Parental socioeconomic resources and adverse childhood experiences as predictors of not in education, employment, or training: a Finnish register-based longitudinal study: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Chart showing earnings gap 10 years after graduation, associated with having been in deep poverty at age 16, adjusted for demographic and university characteristics, and further adjusted for work characteristics: England
Child poverty isn't just bad, it results in an enduring earnings gap.
This gap between graduates who grew up in poverty and those who didn't persists even for people who go to the same university, get the same degree and work for the same firm ⤵️
buff.ly/5VfX2Fi
Translation:
"I started something I can't finish and broke something I can't fix so I'm going to walk away and pretend it's your fault"
This was standard primary school watching
Proto
What will it take to build a future where no one needs a food bank?
Our Social Change Advisor, @heather-buckingham.bsky.social asks this in her new book, A Taste for Change.
Available for pre-order now. From 17-20 Feb, Waterstones are offering 25% off with the code FEB26: https://bit.ly/4kKgc6r
Suella Braverman says Reform would scrap the Equality Act 2010.
Law prevents discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender, marital status, race, religion and sexual orientation.
Reform taking us back to Victorian era, removing hope.
Our predecessors fought hard for social rights.
1. UC will soon be fully rolled out Thirteen years aer its introduction in 2013, UC will be fully rolled out in April. At this point, just under half of all children in the UK (42 per cent) will be living in families recieving UC. But despite its huge role in modern life, UC remains a source of anxiety for many. The Government must improve the system, and rebuild trust with claimants.
2. key problems remain Despite its long period of implementation, problems remain, like the five-week-wait for support, inflexible assessment periods, and the confusing structure of its online portal. But, there are aordable and fair solutions to all of these problems.
But technical or structural improvements need to be complemented by a fundamental ‘culture reset’ that puts dignity and respect at the heart of UC. The Government should work directly with claimants to deliver this possibly via the co-production of a Charter of Rights and retraining of staff.
4. which needn’t break the bank The sixteen policy recommendations outlined in the Foundation’s analysis would cost an estimated £400 million in one-off costs, and between £700-900 million in additional benefit expenditure each year. This marginal increase in the year-on-year benefit spend would be worth it to transform claimants' day-to-day experiences of the system.
April 2026 will mark a true milestone for the UK benefits system: the end of the thirteen-year rollout of Universal Credit that has brought together all means-tested working-age benefits.
But there are still further improvements to be made ⤵️ buff.ly/TjrE4OW
Do homophobia and sexual prejudice still exist in tolerant societies?
In POQ, Ortega & Bosco's new study reveals how non-traditional relationships continue to be stigmatised in parenting contexts, even in seemingly liberal societies.
Read now: doi.org/10.1093/poq/...
8 hours apart ...
UK Universities cut 13,300 jobs, paid £300m+ in redundancy.
Economic contribution of the HE sector, £265bn.
Systematically destroyed by govts - foreign students not welcome, cut real-term grants, fees, students burdened with debts, low staff pay/morale.
Govt want skilled labour.
archive.ph/favYt
Rachel is very good and she is working well with Stephen. Harriet did something never done before so it probably doesn't compute for most people who rely on past games to get a sense of how to react
"Congratulations, we are cutting migration. But we have persistently high NHS waiting lists, a shortage of social care, collapsing universities, missed housebuilding targets, lower economic growth and higher taxes."
My new column for @theipaper.com
inews.co.uk/opinion/fall...
Trump orders special forces commanders to draw up a plan to invade Greenland.
This would deflect attention from the economic crisis and killing of citizens at home.
Europe won't resist. What next?
New age of imperial emperors will create insecurity. Europe must make new alliances.
It's perfect game play
It was beautiful
Well it's been working for 200 years
Christmas presents once again contribute to the ongoing success of parkrun. Only 15 runs this year and I think about 69 volunteer stints (5k and juniors).
Poorest Britons lose right to financial privacy.
The Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025 empowers the state to 24/7 snoop on the bank accounts of recipients of universal credit; employment and support allowance; state pension credit.
No court order needed. No right of appeal.
In our first paper on instrumental inclusion we showed that people update their views on LGBTQ+ rights in response to out-group threat.
Here we extend the theory to test diverse cases of selective inclusion
doi.org/10.1017/psrm...
NEW report from @nehaldavison.bsky.social and I.
Why have successive governments failed to tackle persistent inequalities in early years outcomes?
We set out 5 systemic policy making failures that lead to some children being 'left behind'.
🧵⬇️
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...
New on the Social Policy Blog:
"Amsterdam and the New Frontiers of Welfare State Change: How Cities are Shaping the Social Investment State” by David Bokhorst, Meike Bokhorst, and Tijn Croon.
socialpolicyblog.co.uk/2025/12/18/a...
Just 15 more sleeps until people stop calling it ‘sleeps’
Quote graphic Louise Murphy, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation said: “The recent reform of adult disability benefits in Scotland offers valuable lessons to policy makers in the rest of the UK. Although eligibility and rates of pay for this type of support are consistent across the UK, the new application process has been welcomed by claimants as granting them greater dignity than before. “After an initial ‘bedding-in’ period when applications and awards spiked, award rates are now slightly lower in Scotland than in England and Wales, as are the number of awards paid at a more generous enhanced level. “With the Timms Review due to recommend reforms to PIP in 2026, the recent changes in Scotland suggest that reforms which provide claimants with more dignity don’t necessarily result in significantly higher costs for Government
🚨New research published today🚨
Reforms to Scottish disability payments suggest that the system can be kinder without being costlier.
Full story 👉 buff.ly/OAMzq06
