Профиль

It's a big day for social care. I've written about the biggest lesson to learn from the past - success depends on finding a way to pay for reform. And it's harder than ever because we can't agree who owes who. Read below 👇

Great to be featured in today’s First Edition talking about care reform. Andy’s committed to change - the good news is that while we’ve delayed reform other countries have figured out what to do & how to pay for it. Japan, Australia, New Zealand have all made the system more generous (1/

Job moves news - have just started at @thinklabour.bsky.social as Policy Director! I'll be thinking about how we can give people a stake in government, how communities can thrive, and how we can fight the far right online. Get in touch if you want to chat!

The cost of care for ordinary people is a burning problem. Glad to have written something for this edited collection. Social care support is now a reserve of the very poorest, while many pay vast sums out of pocket. We need to grip the issue >

Lots to like about this interview. One thing in particular is Andy's belief that workers rights also helps businesses. That's what we found when we looked at the impact of low pay in the care sector - meagre wages drove turnover and lowered productivity.

The hidden cost of low pay in the social care sectorLow pay in the care sector is contributing to high staff turnover and costing providers, and users, billions of pounds.www.jrf.org.uk

The measures in the Employment Rights Act are some of Labour’s most popular. Donald Trump is loathed by most of the public. Labour’s immigration reforms are alienating its base. Blair’s critique is totally disconnected from political reality. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Tony Blair tells Starmer and rivals: abandon net zero and move closer to TrumpIn highly unusual intervention, ex-PM says his party’s ‘almost infinite capacity for self-delusion’ makes it likely to lose next electionwww.theguardian.com

Bluesky: Govt is too timid and needs to take bold action. Govt: moots voluntary price controls previously delivered by Tories Bluesky: This is an abomination and govt is going too far!!!

The debate about rent controls is too often about negative impacts (which need to be taken seriously). But can landlords actually afford to bear more financial risk than they are bearing now? New research suggests yes - important reading for policymakers.

Great to see @jrf-uk.bsky.social research & thinking on improving care leave and a more generous childcare system included here as critical to building a better labour market.

Minimum wage increases are some of the most popular policies around. But giving better wages to employed workers while leaving loopholes open for companies to class workers as self-employed (see: Deliveroo) means this could push more into precarity. www.ft.com/content/431a...

Greens to pledge £15 minimum wage in employment rights’ pushInsurgent party seeks to court voters and trade unions with promises on pay and secondary picketingwww.ft.com

It's terrifying that wearing a kippah, or a hijab, or walking around in a neighbourhood where more religious minorities live, or praying in a mosque or synagogue, are increasingly terrifying things to do in the UK.

Under these proposals, people with severe anxiety or ADHD who can't work won't be given financial support. Hard to imagine how this could be defended. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

'Emergency handbrake' needed on sickness benefits, says Tony Blair think tankThe Tony Blair Institute says people with conditions like anxiety should get employment support instead of cash benefits.www.bbc.co.uk

This was a fun one to write. Here I argue, with @joshwesterling.bsky.social, that the next frontier for workers rights must be those devoid of key rights - the self-employed, insecure workers who are now the worst off. Extending basic protections to them should be the govt’s priority.

Professional news incoming. Until then, my amazing job at @jrf-uk.bsky.social is going and you should apply for it! www.charityjob.co.uk/jobs/joseph-...

Principal Policy Adviser (work and care) | Joseph Rowntree Foundation | CharityJobApply now for Principal Policy Adviser (work and care). , £81,572 per year plus £6,000 location allowance if based in our London office, find a career with meaning todaywww.charityjob.co.uk

Big week for workers and workers rights! Good to speak to @lbc.co.uk about why they’re the common sense and popular thing to do to bring more dignity to working lives.

A little appreciated aspect of social care is that it doesn't get much attention. Louise Casey is uniquely placed to focus minds and draw attention. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The blistering speech that tells me Britain’s social care deadlock can finally be broken | Polly ToynbeeIf anyone can make the public pay for a national care service, it’s Louise Casey, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbeewww.theguardian.com

Watching Louise Casey’s speech at @nuffieldtrust.org.uk Health Summit. She traces the history of care from 1948, where Beveridge’s lack of focus on social care was in large part down to lower life expectancies & unpaid care. That’s changed but she says ‘we haven’t looked it in the face’.

Aside from everything else, deeply confused policy from govt here. Is care work (a major driver of migration) low skilled? Or is it, as another govt Department thinks, worthy of better pay and conditions through better collective bargaining (the Fair Pay Agreement policy)?

Graft, insurgent politics and the class politics of the left. At JRF we’re thinking hard about what the new labour market needs & what the politics of that might be.

Key Employment Rights Act protections have broad support from the public. Why would a frontrunning populist party want to rip them up?