Perhaps Germany could look at the UK to see their future on this point: "An increasingly punitive social security system is likely to increase the number of people seeking low-paid, insecure, temporary work to prove they are seeking employment"...

This blog and article perhaps raises some interesting questions about how we can think about the Scottish devolution settlement 👇

The gender wealth gap sits at 21% - much higher than the wage gap - so why don't we hear anything about it? @ignaciapinto.bsky.social of @womensbudgetgrp.bsky.social explains why taxing wealth is a feminist issue in a guest blog. neweconomics.org/2025/09/taxi...

*PSA OPPORTUNITY* 🚨 Final Reminder 🚨 House of Commons internship opportunity. For PSA #EarlyCareer Network members who are currently studying towards their #PhD. 📆 Apply by 28 September 2025 ➡️ Full details buff.ly/VsvdQQD #Politics #Opportunity #PoliticalStudies

I will complete my marking today, I will complete my marking today, I will complete my marking today!

Despite my supposed new focus on work-parenting-domestic-rest balance, this weekend I’ve totally failed at it 😣

The number of people providing full-time unpaid care has increased massively, as the social care system approaches breaking point.

England local councils paid £2.8bn for temporary accommodation for homeless people. 131,140 households in temporary accommodation, including 169,050 homeless children. Result of low income/benefits, profiteering, high housing costs. What if £2.8bn was used to build social housing?

Our first @uoe-sps.bsky.social social policy seminar of the semester is on Friday 3rd October. We welcome Gerry McCartney from UoGlasgow. All welcome: www.sps.ed.ac.uk/news-events/...

Academia has a culture of over-working; we are often spread very thin over numerous projects or tasks, with increasing workloads. I am trying to develop better habits around ideas of productivity & value. Someone recommended this book so I am giving it a go!

First class of the semester done! Finally got a proper teaching room sorted and what appears to be a lovely cohort!

Early View ✉️ This article seeks to understand how the Australian Government came to implement a scheme - Robodebt - that was in clear violation of social security law, focusing specifically on the role of legal advice. Read more: academic.oup.com/policyandsoc...

In Edinburgh on October 7 with @lighthousebks.bsky.social for anyone up there. There is a lot of commonality between Edinburgh's housing crisis and London's, so I'm looking forward to a good discussion lighthousebookshop.com/events/homes...

We've also got @hannahdavies.bsky.social of @healthequitynorth.bsky.social talking about disproportionate welfare cuts under austerity years in the North, and how tackling child poverty and increasing child outcomes is already harder starting from a much lower baseline.

We're striking to stop budget cuts and mass redundancies and standing up for the future of our students' education. There is no deficit.

Thanks to all the @ucu.org.uk branches supporting us today and this week! Here's a link to our hardship fund -- solidarity donations appreciated! www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/hff-fundrais...

This week is a 5 day strike at University of Edinburgh in response to management decisions and practices around £120m cuts & UCU’s concerns around workloads, teaching, and research quality.

More pictures of our determined picket lines! Keep them coming! #UCU #StopTheCuts

Edinburgh University staff set to walkout amid £140m cuts plan dispute www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottis...

📢 Staff at the University of Edinburgh are on strike against £140m cuts. Show your support to colleagues at Edinburgh university ✊

Edinburgh University staff begin walkout amid dispute over £140m cuts plan www.scotsman.com/education/ed...

🎉 @norawaitkus.bsky.social has received an ERC Starting Grant! Her project explores inequality in household debt across countries, people & time, and the moral economy of debt—how we judge debt, debtors & borrowing. More info 👉 buff.ly/bzMPqmO

Why is it so hard to do anything about wealth inequality? In the final episode of this series of Antisocial Economics, Sarah Kerr (@wealtherty.bsky.social) talks to Will Snell, @michaelvaughan.bsky.social, and @jonathanmijs.com about what makes change hard to achieve. buff.ly/pEad8xT

💰 Are tax rises inevitable? It all depends on the OBR forecast, says @ashwin-kumar.bsky.social. A lot of the current speculation is premature, and based on the most negative possible outlook.

In our last editorial we imagined how bad academic publishing might get, and hopefully how it might come out better www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

1. Looks like skills is moving to DWP. What might this mean? I assume it's 19+ funding, which these days is the Adult Skills Fund (£1.5bn, 2/3 devolved to mayors) & apprenticeships (£3bn, inc small numbers of 16-19s). All Govt structures create silos. You need to pick least bad & work around them.

For the ALMP and social policy nerds. This seems important 👇🏻

Pat McFadden to DWP - which will also take on skills (currently in the DfE). (Quick education nerd aside: that is actually a big machinery of government change if that includes 16-19 skills because it's includes funding for school sixth forms).

What a difference a few days in Edinburgh makes: The students are back, sun is shining, and the meadows is buzzing again!

Another report on removing the '2 child limit' component of UC. Proving to be a fascinating policy situation where charities collaborate to lobby, using a range of costed suggestions & abundant evidence. Yet it constantly 'fails' as the 2 child limit remains. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Research jobs advertised at Youth Endowment Fund

What a day!! The @thebinkshub.bsky.social had a glorious day of exhibition and celebration- listening and learning with our wonderful community collaborators

Feels like winter has arrived in #Edinburgh today. The festival is well and truly over, the meadows are dark and empty by 9pm (and a bit creepy for walking home from work). Realised it’s 18 years to the day since I moved up here to start my 1+3 PhD at Edinburgh Uni.

📣🆕Early View Can we trace back the performance of public services to the effectiveness of service providers’ management of their supply chains❓ Phuc Nguyen & colleagues study the under-performing provision of employment services from a system approach👇 doi.org/10.1111/1467...

For more than 16 years, Disability News Service has broken important stories about the discrimination disabled people face every day across the UK. Now DNS is looking for new subscribers to help fund its work. www.disabilitynewsservice.com/disability-n...

This explainer is written in line with the Higher Modern Studies curriculum to support young people in Scotland to learn about poverty and social inequality. www.jrf.org.uk/what-drives-...

📣 We're hiring! 📣 Do you have an interest in the economic and social policy of the UK and an eye for detail? Find out more about joining our team as a Researcher ⤵️ buff.ly/VVGWc14

Ready for your next step? We're hiring! 📣 If you have strong quantitative research skills and a commitment to raising living standards in the UK, you might be the right fit for our team. Find out more about becoming an Economist or Research & Policy Analyst ⤵️ buff.ly/Xk8MWuv

You can read more on the submission we made to the last Budget here ➡️ buff.ly/7khBdaO . And for a deeper dive into how Britain can match higher taxes with better taxes, read this seminal report as part of our Economy 2030 Inquiry ➡️ buff.ly/fCipCit

The Times this week splashed on our proposal made ahead of the Budget last Autumn to levy employer National Insurance on rental income. buff.ly/lyG204Z

The Centre for Social Justice has just released a report called ‘Wasted Lives’ which is being picked up by the media and recommends withdrawing: “UC Health and PIP from those with milder anxiety, depression or ADHD, equivalent to around 1.1 million people”. Why is this wrong? 🧵

“The Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill will soon be debated in parliament. MPs must heed the call from mayors and councils to give them the tools to do their job” Fiscal devolution can boost growth and raise living standards, writes @lukeraikes.bsky.social themj.co.uk/getting-fisc...

Curious about using podcasting to share your research? Want to know how to record and edit great audio? And how to launch a podcast? Start your journey into sociological podcasting with our Introduction to Podcasting workshop, with @researchpodcasts.bsky.social 17 Nov. Tickets here buff.ly/VSugrGb

Early View ✉️ This introduction to special issue conceptualizes the notion of malignity in policy sciences, examining how public policies can become misaligned with the public interest—whether by design or through the dynamics of the policy process. Read more: academic.oup.com/policyandsoc...

📣🆕Early View Why can the #humanities be beneficial for the practice of #PublicAdministration (PA)❓ In this Forum article, dedicated to Fabienne Maron, Edoardo Ongaro, @albertmeijer.bsky.social & colleagues argue that the humanities can deepen our understanding of PA👇

Solidarity to all university workers right now. Especially if, like us, you’re being put through a prolonged “reshaping process” of chaotic redundancy phases. If you don’t already know much about your employment rights and proper practices, take a look at ACAS website: www.acas.org.uk

🎧PODCAST | The secrets of being a government minister Over the past 10 years, the Institute for Government has interviewed more than 170 former ministers from the UK and devolved governments about their time in office. Listen to what they have told us so far:zurl.co/sbbwr

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, different data sources have painted very different pictures of what has happened to employment. Payroll data currently paints a worse picture on employment growth than household and business surveys.

Join us for a deep dive into a new briefing on the role of universities in their local economies 🎓 🕐11:00 - 11:45 📅10 September 2025 💻Online Book your place 👇 buff.ly/QpVVyMh