⚕️ 2025 Inequality Landscape Report Launch 📝 Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=a45p... We suggest there have been modest gains in some living-standards, but this is set against persistent, and in places deepening, structural inequalities that continue to drive poor health.

I wanted to note the passing of David Gow. For me, and others at the FAI, he has been a champion of our work and generously offered support to me as a relatively younger economist working in Scotland. Always kind and generous and never patronising. He will be sadly missed.

Interesting new report from Carnegie UK on public perceptions of the UK tax system: carnegieuk.org/publication/...

See coverage of today's report from SHERU on how younger adult men, at risk of deaths from drugs, alcohol and suicide, are a 'policy blindspot': www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/policy-...

1/7 This morning we launched our 2025 Inequality Landscape report at the Fraser of Allander Institute 50th Anniversary conference #FAI50

Do out-of-work benefits tell us who is out of work? In short: no. A great blog from our new colleague at FAI, Spencer Thompson explains it all.

1/7 New stats from @NatRecordsScot show 1017 drug misuse deaths in Scotland in 2024. That’s down 13% from 2023 - the lowest level since 2017. A welcome shift but drug deaths remain far higher in Scotland than elsewhere in Europe & are deeply tied to poverty and inequality.

This edition looks at Responses to the Population Health Framework and Public Sector Reform strategies; England’s 10-year health plan; the two-child limit in Scotland; and draft environment strategy consultations. Take a look here: scothealthequity.org/prevention-w...

Really good to see this from @douglasffraser.bsky.social on the labour market. The stats can't tell us what we need to know at the moment - which is a big problem for policy making on issues such as inactivity. More people need to be aware of the issues. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

At @easp-spa-2025.bsky.social and interested in the intersection between tax and social policy? Come along to our sessions: 3pm Thursday (SLB/102): Symposium on poverty, inequality and the role of taxes in social policy 9am Friday (SLB/118): Roundtable on tax & Labour's first year in power

The new Population Health Framework rightly backs prevention and whole-system work to cut health inequalities—but most actions stay within health policy, with fewer concrete x-government efforts on social determinants like housing. Read our response: scothealthequity.org/sheru-respon...

To learn from experts in those areas and hear our early insight into the PHF, sign up here: buff.ly/JzxcIkI

A lot of people will be considering the impacts of the Spending Review today. Our latest paper looks at the effects of previous governments' decisions on spending and delves into the impact of austerity on health inequalities in Scotland and the UK. A thread:

In this week's update: a flurry of announcements, from a UK-EU trade deal to public sector pay awards to winter fuel U-turns. Read all about what they mean below: fraserofallander.org/weekly-updat...

A new edition of @scothealtheq.bsky.social Prevention Watch is out today. Covering the PfG, the SFC Fiscal Sustainability Report and much more!

The First Minister unveils the Programme for Government for the year running up to the Holyrood election fraserofallander.org/pfg-reaction/

Important new analysis from @scothealtheq.bsky.social‬, who we support, looking at the latest child poverty data in Scotland. The data presents a mixed picture, with uneven progress on reducing poverty across different groups and regions. Read more and sign up to tomorrow's webinar ⬇

Join us for our webinar, "A Future at Risk: Child Poverty and Health Inequalities in Scotland" ft. @chirstyresearch.bsky.social @hlrandolph.bsky.social and Ruth Dundas on child poverty in Scotland and its relationship with health inequality. Sign up here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-future-a...

Child poverty stats for 2023/24 are out today. Child poverty fell on three of four main measures, but ultimately missed the interim targets. Some highlights from our blog post below 👇 (1/7) buff.ly/Gl9Cd22

Today we are sharing our findings on learning disabilities and financial security. We spoke to 24 people in Scotland with a learning disability to understand their experiences. The video below highlights some of their stories. (1/7) buff.ly/km7dmTR

In this week's update: a preview of the Spring Statement, a spotlight on our learning disabilities and financial security research, and next week's child poverty stats release. Read more below:

This was a great event and a great blog summarising some of the issues raised and grappled with

The Green Paper on ill health and disability welfare reform published on the 18th March follows weeks of media speculation on UK Government changes to incapacity and disability benefits. Read our response here:

1/5 🧵 Wealth disparities & health inequalities: what does the latest research tell us? A new study from Norway finds that people with lower wealth at age 37-38 have significantly higher mortality rates before 62. We explore what this means for Scotland. #HealthInequality #Wealth

We have heard this week that the UK Government Chancellor Rachel Reeves intends to make cuts to the welfare bill. Here we produce a bit of an explainer to get people up to speed on the benefits in scope and what has been happening in recent years.

We are looking to offer a symposium on tax and social policy at this year's @socialpolicyuk.bsky.social conference. We'd love to hear from you if you plan to present a paper which involves a tax dimension. Contact [email protected] by Friday 7th March. More info: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

On the latest episode of the @fraserofallander.org podcast, co-leads @emmanomics.bsky.social and @profkatsmith.bsky.social have a candid discussion about the origins of the unit, the historical context behind research in health inequalities, and SHERU’s future goals. Listen here:

A massive well done to my colleagues at @fraserofallander.org and @povertyalliance.org for pulling together this Tourism and Hospitality Toolkit to support workers and employers to navigate the challenges and opportunities in this hugely important industry. www.tourismhospitalitytoolkit.co.uk

The Fraser of Allander is 50 this year! Read on for our plans to celebrate this milestone, and enjoy our retro 80s logo...

Uni of Glasgow advertising part-time RA post, working on a Health-Justice research programme that's a collaboration between criminologists, community justice, health & social policy researchers. Job ad here: www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/research... Programme details here: www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/s...

Last year, our Research Fellow @fionamchardy.bsky.social gave input at the People’s Panel on reducing drug harm and deaths in Scotland. Read the full report here:

We had a fantastic event yesterday at our @socialpolicyuk.bsky.social Tax and Social Policy event on Wealth Tax &Social Policy. Thanks to @pollytoynbee.bsky.social for chairing a great panel discussion in the afternoon session. We'll be blogging about the event soon. Follow us to keep up to date!

A recording of our first webinar is now up: https://buff.ly/40hLach Join Unit members @allicatalano.bsky.social, @fionamchardy.bsky.social and David Jack discuss our most recent outputs, followed by a Q&A hosted [email protected] and Emma Congreve.

Prevention Watch: January 2025 In this version we cover: • PHS’s prevention typology • 2025/26 Scottish Budget • 3 Audit Scotland reports • New Care & Wellbeing Dashboard A quick taster: https://buff.ly/3ChHFuo

Join unit members @allicatalano.bsky.social David Jack and @fionamchardy.bsky.social for our first webinar, as they talk through our commentary and analysis from the end of 2024. This will be followed by a brief Q&A session, hosted by @profkatsmith.bsky.social

For anyone interested in Wealth Inequality, Tax and Social Policy we have a conference coming up next week organised by the SPA Tax and Social Policy Group. 🗓️Thursday 16th January 🕐10.30am to 3.45pm 🏢London School of Economics Free to attend. www.eventbrite.ie/e/wealth-ine...

Our initial reaction to the Scottish Budget: a statement with an eye on the election, but announcements without costs attached and no accounting for the increase in NICs are risky - and make us wonder if any lessons on financial planning have been learned. Read more below:

Our co-lead @emmanomics.bsky.social was on The Nine last night to talk about how tackling health inequalities are part of the solution to reducing pressure on the NHS. Watch here from 14 mins:

Today we have published new analysis of disability benefits to adults in Scotland. Disability benefit claims have risen significantly across Great Britain post-pandemic and (as expected following ADP roll-out) even more so in Scotland. https://buff.ly/3VfFTjU

It's just wrong that people in Scotland's poorer areas are being left with shortened lives and poorer health and wellbeing. In her new guest blog @allicatalano of the excellent @scothealtheq takes us through what the latest census tells us.

In our latest Budget preview: how much will the employer NICs increase cost the public sector, and how does that compare with the numbers circulating in the media? Read more below:

Our third Scotland's Budget Report preview: this time, we're looking at the Scottish Government's resource net financial position over the year, how it's been affected by the UK Budget - and what the prospects are for whether the ScotWind proceeds will be needed

Will there be any relief for retail and hospitality?

Today we publish our first ‘Prevention Watch’ Brief. Prevention Watch is a regular Scottish Health Equity Research Unit (SHERU) briefing that looks at prevention as a means of public service delivery to reduce health inequalities in Scotland. https://buff.ly/4h4dRB9