The Telegraph headline here is plain wrong ("Majority of Britons think disability benefits are too high") As the article itself says, "Only 11 per cent of Britons believe that spending on disability benefits should be reduced" www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/06...

NEW: A coalition of anti-poverty, advice and disability organisations are asking MPs to vote against the UC & PIP Bill, which contains the biggest cuts to social security in a decade. A briefing from orgs inc Citizens Advice, Scope, Mind, JRF and Trussell available here www.ucpipbill.co.uk

Our latest @financialfairness.bsky.social Tracker is out today, and it shows that the cost-of-living crisis is far from over. We’ve seen an increase in households in serious difficulty and a decrease in those who are financially secure.

How we talk about our social security system matters. Words shape attitudes and attitudes shape policy. We can too easily inadvertently fuel misconceptions and shame. We're asking all MPs and journos to use @turn2us.org.uk's new 'talking about social security' guides, for a better conversation.

🔎 Dr Ryan Davey spent 18 months living on a housing estate to try to understand what life is like for people living with debt problems. Find out more about his brand-new book: cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2888205-cardiff-university-lecturer-publishes-first-full-length-ethnography-of-uk-debt-problems

Want a 3yr quali postdoc job leading the UK fieldwork for an amazing international project on how it feels to claim benefits? And also to do important work on benefits and mental health? Then see this job ad! Closing date being changed to 8th June www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/114985-...

Trying to establish if it's just coincidence that I've developed ear-ache while watching Eurovision! 😂🎶

NEW: The govt's migration plan once again leaves adult social care out in the cold There is strong rhetoric about improving pay, but the govt is steadfastly ignoring the elephant in the room: it will require spending more on local govt 🧵👇 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/comm...

Their fundamental strategic error from which so much else flows was their 2024 tax pledge. They've trapped themselves for no good reason.

Honestly infuriating that it's so hard to find any information online about the candidates standing in my local election. Only 1 in 5 seems to have any kind of biography! And the leaflets we receive only really tell you the party line. It shouldn't be this hard!

Bristol is the only big English city outside London to be more productive than the national average. It is one of the UK’s few clearly economically successful places - but it is still roughly the same size as it was decades ago. We need to make it bigger!

you can't spell "tariffs" without "FFS"

Some positive news 🌞

"Society's move to cashless payments may have had an unintended positive side effect, surgeons say - fewer children needing operations or procedures to remove swallowed coins." I did lot of work on cashlessness a few years back - never heard this before. Interesting! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The DWP equality impact assessment of its disability benefit cuts is out It predicts that in 29/30 there will be 3.2 million families – including current and future recipients - who will lose £1,720 a year on average from the cuts compared to inflation 3.8m families will gain on average £420 a yer

Seeing as we are barrelling towards A Major Fiscal Event I'm reposting some polling I recently did for @danneidle.bsky.social on the profound lack of understanding the public have about tax and spending. taxpolicy.org.uk/2024/10/26/t...

NEW: People are much kinder than we expect, according to findings published today (20 March) in World Happiness Report 2025. Read more 👉 worldhappiness.report/news/world-h...

Snowing a fair bit this morning here in Cheltenham (after t-shirt weather at the weekend)! Hoping the other horses manage to keep a bit warmer than this one!

Really nice, useful chart

What were the main nationalities of refugees to the UK in 2024? How about in 1989? The answers for some of these years might surprise you.

I wish we weren't in a situation where people feel they have to justify UK spending on foreign aid as being in the UK's self-interest, rather than just being the right thing to do for some of the world's most vulnerable people.

February temperatures have been fairly frosty, which means continued high spending for those on pre-payment meters. Pre-payment meter customers will need to spend nearly a third of income on energy during the winter months. Read more: https://buff.ly/4fqE8aW

While it's always great to see stereotypes being challenged, I look forward to the BBC and other media outlets now doing more to tackle other negative stereotypes, e.g. around benefit claimants, mental illness and immigration... 🤞 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I really liked this idea of using a histogram as a legend in a choropleth map (since land isn't unemployed; people are), so I made a little guide to doing it with #rstats, {ggplot2}, and {patchwork} www.andrewheiss.com/blog/2025/02...

Important work from Tom & @lalithatry.bsky.social. Council tax arrears are such a common form of debt in low income households, contributing to poor mental health but also undermining their relationship with the local authority & the potential for positive engagement with other services

Successful rollout of solar panels could lift 1.2 million people in UK out of fuel poverty, & help decarbonise the UK’s electricity system In fuel-poor households savings from rooftop solar panels could reduce energy bills by 24% say @resfoundation.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

This weekend, Robert Colvile decided low paid workers don't contribute. This is @mrhenrymorris.bsky.social's rebuttal - detailing his experience as a health care assistant, something Colvile could never manage to do. mrhenrymorris.substack.com/p/genuinely-...

This is remarkable. "After one year of the zone, which is the second largest in England, GP visits for respiratory illnesses were down by a quarter." www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Disappointing to see the BBC headline this with the comment about people on benefits 'taking the mickey' when the research actually shows it's the benefit system that is 'letting down people with mental health conditions who want to work'. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

We find a general worsening of financial wellbeing among older households - mostly among more financially secure households - but I do think there are reasons to be concerned about lower-income pensioners in light of the changes to Winter Fuel Payment. Notable increase in worry about energy bills...

We're 100% faithful to Alexander after hearing his story about his brother with a learning disability 🙌 Alexander Dragonetti for the win on #TraitorsFinale tonight! 🎥 BBC iPlayer #TheTraitors #AlexanderDragonetti

Pleased that our latest Financial Fairness Tracker has been published. Overall financial wellbeing is improved compared to a year ago but slightly worse than last summer. However, over 3 million more households are 'struggling' or 'in serious difficulties' than in 2021.

Enjoyed attending this really positive event yesterday. Great to see the work being done in the community by @stepchange.bsky.social @nea-ukcharity.bsky.social Ovo and others to ensure more people are able to access advice and support this winter: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The UK is an ageing population, but the ageing is uneven. Cities stay young, small towns and villages have aged quickly. Interesting stuff from @resfoundation.bsky.social

I’m entering the final stages of data collection on research I’m doing into disability employment. If you have a physical disability and are UK based, I’d be especially grateful to hear from you. The survey is at: cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_... #AcademicSky #Disability

Lovely example of how weird real-world data is. I put all 55 million points in Overture maps into a Nomic Atlas map. Lots of points spuriously appearing in the ocean. But the 1° square around 'null island' (0° lat, 0° long) is suspiciously clear -- someone has cleared out bad data just there.

I know the feeling! 😂

I’d missed that the ONS was publishing the monthly direct debit failure rate. Data here: www.ons.gov.uk/economy/econ... This feels a decent indicator of consumer financial stress.

I'm not going to sit here and pretend our data shows that voters were wildly enthusiastic about the Government's recent tax-raising budget, but it does show that there is some awareness of the need for investment in public services and the trade-offs inherent in policymaking...

As mentioned in Ofgem's consultation released today, we're working with them and StepChange Debt Charity to explore best practices in referring from energy companies to advice on debt or income maximisation. As always, keen to hear all views. www.ofgem.gov.uk/consultation...

Interesting to see the Lib Dems fare best with fans of Muppets Christmas Carol. Feel like there should be a joke here somewhere about the ghosts of coalitions past...!

Prof Sir Chris Whitty's great talk at the MLTC Cross-NIHR Collaboration ( #MLTCCNC ) launch suggested it’s important to also carry out research where need is greatest. This is one of the strengths of our 15 regional Applied Research Collaborations (ARCs). 📍Find YOUR local ARC linktr.ee/nihrarcs

The hill I will die on is that as a pedestrian I'll always wave to thank drivers for stopping at zebra crossings. It's not about being grateful for not being run over, sometimes it's just nice to be nice. Number who don't astounds me!

One of the research interviews I did that stuck with me was a disabled woman who had left her part-time job and claimed UC because her employer wouldn't let her have toilet breaks. Better working conditions and greater flexibility mean more people are able to take part (which many want to do).

‘There’s 3 million people that struggle in the overlap between living on the lowest incomes but also living in the least energy efficient homes.’ Our Director of Policy Peter Smith told @yahoonews.bsky.social. t.co/hF3eu9JWeo

Check out our write up of the @NESTInsight event from last week on their Fluctuation Nation report, which shows the impact of having a volatile income and what can be done about it.

Pleased to see our paper (with the fab @caitrobin.bsky.social and @sarad99.bsky.social) exploring if energy inefficiency could be considered a 'poverty premium' has now been published: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

I'm volunteering to take part in a research study & the participant information sheet informs me that in order to take part in the study I must: "be willing to taste and rate chocolate chip cookies and salted kettle chips". 😋 It's a hard life!! I don't think they'll struggle with recruiting people!