Announcing the VII SPS Annual Lecture
The VII annual meeting and lecture of Social Policy and Society will take place on Friday 7th June 2024 at the University of Derby.
The VII annual meeting and lecture of Social Policy and Society will take place on Friday 7th June 2024 at the University of Derby.
Journalists, China-watchers and academics have fiercely debated the legacy of China’s leaders, Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. Some see the Hu–Wen period (2002–2012) as a “golden era” of rapid growth, while others portray it as a “lost decade” for economic and political reform.…
As a nation, we are eating too much sugar. Consuming too many foods and drinks high in sugar can lead to weight gain and related health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.
In an article initially drafted a year ago and now published in a themed section of Social Policy and Society, we attempt to assess the past and future development of EU and UK social policy in the context of Brexit.…
In the United Kingdom and across the European Union, Brexit continues to be the key social, political and economic issue of the day.…
Since the Brexit referendum the UK government has been criticised for failing to recognise the positions and concerns of the devolved governments.…
Leaving the EU would free up more money for the NHS, according to Leave campaigners. This pledge has been all but disowned – and in any case, writes Joan Costa Font, Brexit will impose further costs on an already cash-strapped service. …
Below is a blog based on Kevin Farnsworth’s Journal of Social Policy article. A longer, fully-referenced version can be found at: http://www.corporate-welfare-watch.org.uk/…
As many commentators have pointed out, the UK welfare state faces long-term structural problems in two main areas. Globalisation and technological changes demand that government directs attention to national competitiveness, and population ageing requires more spending on pensions, health and social care.…
With Brexit negotiations underway, a key question is whether withdrawal from the EU will affect equality policies. The Fawcett Society has recently warned that Government ‘Great Repeal Bill’ will present ‘a real threat to our equality laws’ in so far as it risks ‘weakening of protections’.…
Caring can significantly affect the wellbeing and quality of life of informal carers and the people they support. It is essential, therefore, that care relationships are adequately supported.…
The so called ‘Troika’ of the European Commission, European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund was frequently criticised during the Eurozone crisis on the basis that it had imposed austerity on countries requiring a bailout.…
A failed coup attempt on July 15 marked the summer of 2016 in Turkey. The country is still trying to come to grips with the fact of how a secret structure outside the chain of command could have developed within the armed forces and how it could seek to take power by force, even bombing the nation’s parliament.…
Blog post by Hilary Graham and Piran White Rich societies like the UK are changing the planet for the worse. Human life is taking a heavy toll on the Earth, its climate and various ecosystems.…
The Troubled Families Programme is once again back in the news. Launched in the aftermath of the 2011 riots, with the explicit aim of ‘turning around’ the 120,000 most ‘troubled families’ in England, it was one of the most high-profile social policies of the Coalition Government. …
In the Journal of Social Policy article “From National to Sub-National? Exploring the Territorial Dimension of Social Assistance in Italy“, Davide Vampa adds a new perspective to the study of social assistance policy in countries that have undergone processes of territorial decentralisation.…
The UK’s social and political unions have always been closely connected. The welfare state forms a crucial part of the glue that holds the state together.…
This blog post reports on an article that uses data collected as part of the evaluation of the Dad and Partner Pay scheme (2011-14), funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Social Services (previously the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs).…
Academics are increasingly encouraged and incentivized to seek research impact beyond the academy. Researchers working in and around social policy might be assumed to have a head start in this...
very little research has examined the impact of the recession and the ‘age of austerity’ on the income of voluntary organisations – despite considerable public concern about the potential impact on the voluntary sector
With free labour migration between countries within the EU, the topic of the welfare state is again high on the political agenda, especially in countries as the UK, but also in The Netherlands. Also academic debates take place on the tensions between welfare states and immigration.
How many registered charities in England and Wales operate overseas? And in which countries do they work? Historically it has been hard to get a feel for the shape and geographical scope of the voluntary sector because of a lack of available data. …
In this post Mark Tomlinson, Liam Foster and Alan Walker from the University of Sheffield give us an insight into their latest article in the Journal of Social Policy on the link between the working poor and social quality.…
A blog post by Rhys Andrews and Sebastian Jilke based on their article in the Journal of Social Policy Recent debates about the future of the welfare state have gone hand in hand with interest in what shapes Europeans’ perceptions of how well different social groups get along.…
Based on an article in the Journal of Social Policy. The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) for measuring the employability of sick and disabled people and deciding their access to incapacity benefits in the UK has been subjected to a barrage of public criticism.…
Blog post based on an article in Journal of Social Policy What are the differences between an unemployed person in some of the poorest countries and the richer countries?…
Based on an article in Social Policy and Society The development of illiberal social policies across North America and much of Western Europe has become a defining feature of the modern period.…
Blog post based on an article in Journal of Social Policy Early experiences can set children up for life. A plethora of research indicates that pupils’ development and performance at the beginning of their education can carry through to adulthood – so this formative stage is crucially important.…
Post based on an article from Journal of Social Policy The last decade has seen an intensification of public, political and academic debates about the future of the welfare state, both within and beyond the countries of the European Union.…
The Work Programme is Government’s flagship welfare-to-work initiative and uses non-state providers to support long-term unemployed people into paid employment under a payment by results funding regime.…
Based on an article in the latest issue of Journal of Social Policy Giving parents the opportunity to exercise greater choice in where and how their children are educated has been a common theme of educational policy in England during the last three or four decades.…
Based on an article by Karen Christensen and Doria Pilling from Journal of Social Policy Independence has become one of the Western world’s central ideas.…
Blog post written by Alex Fox, Chris Fox and Caroline Marsh based on an article recently published in Journal of Social Policy The criminal justice sector has never achieved rates of re-offending with which the public and policy makers are satisfied.…
Research into food banking highlights the importance of rights-based approaches to food experiences in the UK. Research published in the Journal of Social Policy explores the rise of the UK’s first national scale food banking initiative and discusses the importance of food rights for providing social policy makers and researchers with a framework for approaching food issues.…