paulkissack.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

Quite a stark chart in today's FT... We must be able to do better than this.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

NEW analysis from @jrf-uk.bsky.social & @centrepropolicy.bsky.social shows how improving paternity leave can boost UK growth Data from countries with more generous leave shows it tackles gender norms & helps women into work, with an economy-wide benefit of £2.8bn www.ft.com/content/5c4a...

submitted 3 days ago • 2 comments

You’re quiet @ciaranm.bsky.social The view looks good from the perch.

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

This is a terrific piece on the "messy, vibrant, and diverse world of thinking and practice" that is providing hope and inspiration from "the edges". The need to provide legitimating environments and unrestricted funding for this sort of work is core to our approach at @jrf-uk.bsky.social

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

UPDATE: pleased that the Office for Statistics Regulation has acted quickly on this. osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/corresponden...

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

There was rightly concern last week when OBR & DWP documents revealed that £4.8bn of cuts to benefits for ill & disabled people would push 250k people into poverty, including 50k children But @neweconomics.bsky.social analysis suggests the true scale & impact of these cuts will be even greater... 🧵

submitted 32 days ago • 5 comments

🥁 #StrongerThings 2025 speaker announcement 🥁 Hilary Cottam, social entrepreneur and policy advisor, will talk about The Work We Need - a new book on how to redesign work in a way that benefits everyone 🌠 Tickets selling fast 🏃‍♀️ buff.ly/4m3X0dh

submitted 35 days ago • 0 comments

Three key things to understand about child poverty in England: 1. It has profound human consequences. 2. It is affecting record numbers of families. 3. Different policy choices really can reduce it. All captured in this excellent new briefing from @changingrealities.bsky.social

submitted 36 days ago • 2 comments

Cuts have ‘huge implications for hardship’ says charity www.channel4.com/news/cuts-ha...

submitted 37 days ago • 0 comments

The welfare cuts come in April 2026, but the detail reveals that the £1bn employment support that was promised in exchange is heavily backloaded. So only £200m of support is actually available for extra work support in the year the cuts come in.

submitted 37 days ago • 4 comments

NEW from @jrf-uk.bsky.social. Much was made of the pressures from a “changing world” on public finances. Those pressures are also impacting families, and government choices are making it worse. We find the avg. family will now be £750/yr worse off by 2029, vs today. Thread. #SpringStatement

submitted 37 days ago • 1 comment

Breaking news - government sleight of hand over poverty figures. Actual increase in poverty from their cuts to health related benefits is closer to 400,000 📢

submitted 37 days ago • 4 comments

The Chancellor said today that she would not do anything to put household finances in danger Yet the government’s own assessment shows their cuts to health related benefits risk pushing 250,000 people into poverty, including 50,000 children 📢 Their assessment also found... 1/3

submitted 37 days ago • 3 comments

Today's announcements place the burden of a changing world on the shoulders of those least able to bear the load.

submitted 37 days ago • 0 comments

We're hiring for an Associate Director - Investment 📢 Our mission is to support and speed up the transition to a more equitable and just future, free from poverty, where people and planet can flourish. We're committed to investing our capital in service to this mission 1/2

submitted 39 days ago • 1 comment

What the Government could be doing instead…

submitted 40 days ago • 0 comments

NEW: Analysis from @jrf-uk.bsky.social ahead of the Chancellor’s spring statement this week shows families worse off by £1400 by 2030. This would mean missing the PM’s living standards milestone and could be the first government since 1955 to see a fall in living standards across a parliament.

submitted 40 days ago • 3 comments

That’s the thing about cutting back an already meagre social security system. Not only does it push people into hardship, it pushes costs to other bits of the public sector. (See also cutting housing support and spending much more on temporary accommodation).

submitted 41 days ago • 1 comment

In case anyone was wondering, this is what it looks like visually.

submitted 41 days ago • 1 comment

NEW from @jrf-uk.bsky.social Much has been made of the pressure on public finances. Household finances remain the elephant in the room. If OBR adjust their Mar forecast in line with the BoE in Feb, it will see the average family £1,400/yr worse off by 2030, compared with today. Thread.

submitted 41 days ago • 2 comments

All UK families ‘to be worse off by 2030’ as poor bear the brunt, new data warns

submitted 41 days ago • 84 comments

That’s the thing about cutting back an already meagre social security system. Not only does it push people into hardship, it pushes costs to other bits of the public sector. (See also cutting housing support and spending much more on temporary accommodation).

submitted 41 days ago • 1 comment

Last year our Trustees made a really important decision about JRF's financial assets: to move to a fully mission-aligned endowment. This is a big shift for @jrf-uk.bsky.social, a new approach to stewarding the wealth we hold. You can find out a bit more here, and maybe come and help us?

submitted 44 days ago • 0 comments

📢 GREAT JOB ALERT 📢 Help us at @jrf-uk.bsky.social ensure that every single pound of our endowment supports rather than undermines our mission www.linkedin.com/posts/sophia...

submitted 44 days ago • 0 comments

Big picture today is Government chose to cut unprecedented £5bn of income from disabled people at highest risk of hardship. This drive for cost savings undermines any positive changes contained in the disability benefits green paper. Here are some other big problems:🧵1/11

submitted 45 days ago • 2 comments

The Government’s own response to this hard truth? Raising the standard rate of UC by around £3-4 a week (or 50p a day) in real terms. That is a step in the right direction. But is a very very small one.

submitted 45 days ago • 0 comments

Today’s Green Paper contains a welcome acknowledgement that the basic rate of benefits is inadequate. Steps have been announced to increase it, but it’s not quite as good as it seems for 2 reasons….

submitted 45 days ago • 1 comment

Key point is this hasn't happened elsewhere. We're really unusual in how little we support those who are unemployed. It's the root cause of so many problems in the benefits system (and society more generally).

submitted 45 days ago • 21 comments

A hard truth in today's Green Paper: "A series of benefit freezes and benefit increases at a lower rate than inflation has left the value of the standard allowance at a 40 year low by the early 2020s, contributing to hardship and destitution". 1/2

submitted 45 days ago • 1 comment

The Health and Disability Green paper will deliver tiny income gains at the cost of major losses for those with health problems or a disability. Restricting PIP qualification to save £5bn would mean between 800,000 & 1.2 million people losing support of between £4,200 & £6,300 per year by 2029-30.

submitted 45 days ago • 5 comments

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall's speech today laid out plans to cut disability and sickness benefits by billions. ❌ No truly moral choice would leave disabled people without support designed to allow them to lead a dignified life, or facing hardship. 1/4

submitted 45 days ago • 13 comments

Policymakers need to be less TINA and more RICH.

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

Slashing benefits to meet an arbitrary fiscal target would be unethical, short sighted and illogical. ❌ 2 in 5 people receiving disability benefits already experience hardship. This means they are either unable to afford enough food, heat their home or pay household bills. 1/3

submitted 49 days ago • 3 comments

If this is correct, it will increase poverty & make it harder to live independently “Cost-cutting reforms due to be announced next week are set to deny payments to many people with mental health conditions and those who struggle with washing, dressing themselves and eating”

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

Policymakers need to be less TINA and more RICH.

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

Whatever view we each take in the current debate about disability and sickness benefits, I hope we can all agree on the importance of debating on the basis of actual facts. It is the very least we owe to the people whose lives will be profoundly affected by the decisions that are about to be made.

submitted 49 days ago • 2 comments

A few months ago the FT suggested the surge in disability benefit claims may not have been driven by an actual rise in illness/disability, having found limited evidence for such a rise since the pandemic Now the IFS has published research suggesting there has been a rise ifs.org.uk/news/various...

submitted 51 days ago • 15 comments

The government is reportedly planning at least £6 billion a year in cuts to benefits for people with a disability or long-term health condition. These cuts risk pushing people already experiencing hardship and ill health even closer to the brink. 🔽 1/2

submitted 52 days ago • 3 comments

www.lbc.co.uk/opinion/view...

submitted 52 days ago • 2 comments

If you want to get your head around the big policy questions on disability benefits, ahead of the expected Green Paper, this might just be the best place to start...

submitted 52 days ago • 0 comments

Without PIP, a further 700,000 more disabled households could be pushed into poverty 📢 We've joined Scope to urge the Chancellor to reconsider potential cuts to disability benefits. Read our open letter: www.scope.org.uk/campaigns/op....

submitted 52 days ago • 6 comments

I've only just clocked the emergence of the word "skeet" on this platform. It makes me feel at home. I've been using the word for decades to mean 'news' or 'gossip' with my fellow islanders. Fabulous to see the rest of the world finally catch up. www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-e...

submitted 53 days ago • 0 comments

The value of the basic rate of social security over time as a proportion of average earnings.

submitted 55 days ago • 1 comment