The “invisibility” of poverty in Japanese society has long been one of the reasons for...
Government policy
-
31/03/2021
Poverty in Japan and the UK
The “invisibility” of poverty in Japanese society has long been one of the reasons for the underestimation of this social issue by the authorities. Walking down a street in Tokyo, it is rare to see any signs of poverty. Graffiti and run-down buildings are almost non-existent, and the crime rate is very low. Nevertheless, data from the OECD reveals that the poverty rate in Japan (15.7% in 2018) is actually higher than that in the UK (11.7%). Moreover, the impact of COVID-19 seems to be exacerbating social divisions and inequality, revealing the true scale of the problem. Research methods developed in the UK are helping finally to uncover Japan’s ‘hidden’ poverty, and policies are, slowly, starting to be implemented.
Category: News stories -
26/02/2021
The Conservative Governments' Record on Social Policy from May 2015 to pre-COVID 2020: Policies, Spending and Outcomes
The Conservative Governments' Record on Social Policy from May 2015 to pre-COVID 2020: Policies, Spending and Outcomes is examined in a new report from the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the LSE. The report finds that the protective capacity of the welfare state over this period was eroded.
Category: News stories -
02/10/2020
Webinar: Strengthening Frameworks to Leave No One Behind During COVID-19 and Beyond
Leveraging Policy Data and Harmonized Survey Data to Protect Health and Economic Security: Strengthening Frameworks to Leave No One Behind During COVID-19 and Beyond webinar takes place on Friday 9 October at 13:00 UK time, featuring PSE's Professor David Gordon on the speaking panel.
COVID-19 has eroded progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and governments around the world are passing policies to respond to the threat of the virus at a rapid rate. As policymakers, civil society, international government organizations, and others respond to the on-going crisis, evidence-based tools are needed to ensure that action at scale supports rather than erodes progress towards achieving the SDGs. Panelists include:
Category: News stories -
29/07/2020
The origins of modern welfare, published 2010, now on open access
The origins of modern welfare was published in July 2010, by Peter Lang. The publisher and I agreed at the time of publication that our contractual agreement would expire after ten years, and the rights would revert to me. I am taking the opportunity now to make this work freely available, on a Creative Commons licence.
The book contains modern English versions of two documents from the early sixteenth century, which have some claim to be the earliest ever studies made in the field of social policy. The De Subventione Pauperum, by Juan-Luis Vives, was a commissioned academic report, written for the Senate of Bruges, and published in 1525. It represents, a watershed in thinking about governance, social responsibility and public policy. In Book 2 it proposes a comprehensive civic organisation of welfare services.
Category: News stories -
29/03/2020
Impact of Covid-19 on food access
The Food Foundation has just released the results of a YouGov survey on the impact of Covid-19 on food access. (See here ) They found that;
“More than 1.5 million adults in Britain say they cannot obtain enough food, 53% of NHS workers are worried about getting food, and half of parents with children eligible for Free School Meals have not received any substitute meals to keep their children fed, despite government assurances that they would provide food vouchers or parcels. This means that 830,000 children could be going without daily sustenance on which they usually rely.”
Category: News stories -
04/03/2020
Universal Credit, Employment and Mental Health
The Government claimed that Universal Credit would reduce unemployment by 200,000 and save the tax-payer £8 billion.
On the 7th June 2018, Esther McVey (The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions) told parliament that: "Universal Credit is forecast to incentivise 200,000 more people to take employment than would have under the previous system and deliver £8bn of benefits to the UK economy per year." (see here)
Category: News stories -
24/01/2020
Health Inequalities in England
Research has just been published which unfortunately shows a growing gap in the quality of health care in England between the poorest and richest areas.
New analysis has found that people living in the most deprived areas of England experience a worse quality of NHS care and poorer health outcomes than people living in the least deprived areas. These include spending longer in A&E and having a worse experience of making a GP appointment.
The research, undertaken by QualityWatch, a joint Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation programme, has looked at 23 measures of healthcare quality to see how these are affected by deprivation. In every single indicator looked at, care is worse for people experiencing the greatest deprivation.
Category: News stories -
25/11/2019
Benefit payments at historic low
Current benefit payments are at their lowest level since 1948, finds a new report from the IPPR. Further analysis suggest it could even be relatively lower than the Elizabethan Poor Laws.
Category: News stories -
20/11/2019
World Children’s Day
On this World Children’s Day, please see this important report focussing on the role of child rights in addressing child poverty: ‘Protecting the Child from Poverty: The Role of Rights in the Council of Europe’.
Category: News stories -
14/08/2019
Too poor to stay warm
This statistical briefing note explains the research behind the BBC1 Panorama programme 'Too poor to stay warm' broadcast on 21 March, 2016. The programme highlighted the problems of fuel poverty in the UK and was based on calculations produced by the PSE project team. This outlines how the results, discussed in the programme, were produced.
Category: Statistical note
