social policy Archives - Social Policy Association

Australian data debunk the myth of welfare takers

No 44: In it together: why receiving benefits is far more common than we think

April 9, 2019 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Peter Whiteford In January 2019 the Australian shadow spokesperson for employment services announced that the Australian Labor Party would reduce the number of job applications that unemployed people receiving benefits were required to make […]

Amazon typifies why the Giant Corporation must be stoped

No 43: There’s not just Five Giants, there’s a whole bunch to slay

March 22, 2019 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Kevin Farnsworth The famous cartoon image of William Beveridge — a diminutive civil servant facing down the Five Giants of Want, Idleness, Squalor, Disease and Ignorance — caught the imagination of a generation in the 1940s and […]

How does social policy differ between Canada and the US?

No 42: Social policy change in the United States and Canada

February 20, 2019 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Daniel Béland and Alex Waddan Canada and the United States are often described as liberal welfare regimes. They rely more extensively on social assistance-style programs and tax-subsidized private benefits and services than is the […]

Sex workers want rights, not rescue. Dr Kate Brown explains why and how.

No 41: Rights not rescue – What social policy can learn from sex workers

December 13, 2018 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Kate Brown During National Anti-trafficking Week in October 2016, the UK’s anti-trafficking commissioner reported that “more victims [are] being identified, referred for appropriate support and restored of their freedom”. In the same week, an […]

Delivery drivers are amongst those harmed by Universal Credit's failure to adequately support the self-employed.

No 40: How the social protection system can fail the self-employed

December 10, 2018 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Kevin Caraher and Enrico Reuter Rachel Mantell, a self-employed management consult, earns more than £100,000 per year, can afford to spend £6,000 on holidays, and is sharing her good fortune by hosting refugees in […]

Child poverty has increased under austerity while support services and welfare have been cut.

No 39: Austerity adversely targets children in need

December 3, 2018 S-P-A-Administrator 0

By Harriet Churchill In October Prime Minister Teresa May spoke again about her desire to tackle burning injustices and her belief in the good government can do. She pledged austerity is over. Yet despite evidence […]

Scotland's Social Security bill holds important lessons for Westminster.

No 38: What we can learn from Scotland’s approach to social security

October 15, 2018 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Ruth Patrick Too often, we are told that welfare traps people in dependency, discouraging individuals from making the right choices, and enabling a culture of irresponsibility and inactivity. This lazy, stigmatising narrative has been […]

What will social policy in the UK look like in 50 years? Rod Hick offers five suggestions.

No 37: Social Policy’s next 50 years

October 9, 2018 S-P-A-Administrator 0

By Rod Hick The Social Policy Association’s (SPA’s) 50th anniversary blog series has demonstrated the rich variety of topics examined by social policy scholars. While some have examined contemporary policy issues, others have looked back […]

Authentic assessment is an important way in which students can develop both academic and real-world skills.

No 32: Authentic assessment: why real world skills matter in the social policy classroom

June 4, 2018 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Lee Gregory In his lecture “The university and Welfare Objectives”, Titmuss highlights two concerns for Social Policy within Higher Education: to provide training for the technical and social service needs of society and to […]

Populist, right-wing nationalism is on the rise across Europe. What should the social policy community be doing about it?

No 31: Radical right populism: is it about inequality or ethnic nationalism?

May 29, 2018 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Markus Ketola The recent successes of populist parties in countries such as Germany, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Netherlands and Finland — to name but a few prominent European examples — have spurned a lively […]