Shadows: Making Lives with NRPF

UK migrant families face giving up vital in-work benefits to avoid being ‘punished’ Under Shabana Mahmood’s proposals, wait for settled status would double to 20 years if public funds used while in work

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1/ Coverage in @theguardian.com of our research on how the govt's so-called 'earned settlement model' will plunge racialised British children into poverty by punishing their parents for receiving basic state support.
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Guardian article on scrapping two child limit

Strong stuff from the Chancellor 💪🏻 One slight prob: her gov's NRPF policy (which restricts access to MOST benefits not just UC & which they're planning to extend to those w/ ILR) does precisely this: discriminates between children based on where parents are from www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

YouTube video by South London Refugee Association 'No sense of humanity' - the hidden violence of No Recourse to Public Funds

‘No sense of humanity’ – the hidden violence of No Recourse to Public Funds’ Our project partners from South London Refugee Association (SLRA) and Project 17 produced this powerful reminder of the impact that #NRPF policies have on people’s lives. youtu.be/zDnlxtsfI7k?...

YouTube video by United Impact The harmful impact of NRPF

The government released their 10 year strategy to tackle child poverty in the UK. We welcome that #NRPF is mentioned in it, but it shows a failure to end the condition, which leaves thousands of migrant children homeless and destitute ⬇️📽️

www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4x3...

How Europe’s Migration Rules Keep Creating the “Irregular Migrants” They Claim to Catch What if irregular migration is not something that happens despite the system, but because of it?

"Lecturers, doctors, landlords and employers have been turned into border guards."

A Professor of International Migration argues that states do not reduce immigrant irregularity — they create it.

By @nandosigona.bsky.social

Read now:

Our latest policy briefing on child poverty with Project 17 makes a clear recommendation: End #NRPF policies! Inadequate housing, food insecurity, lack of understanding children's experiences and emotional burdens are all consequences of bordering welfare.
nrpfintheshadows.com/wp-content/u...

The proposed settlement changes are really difficult to understand and very stressful if you or someone you know is a migrant. Read our explainer below so you can stay up to date with what's happening.

“By rushing through these draconian immigration reforms now – at precisely the same moment the Government proclaims it is investing to end homelessness – we know the very opposite will happen: more people at risk of destitution and even sleeping on the streets." @josephinewy.bsky.social

Black and white sketch of a person in derelict setting. White text reads "Social reproduction in the shadows"

Through ethnographic fieldwork, decolonial policy analysis, and creative co-production Shadows project @shadowsnrpf.bsky.social explores how migrant families and young people with no access to public funds survive and create lives in England. Learn more: nrpfintheshadows.com
#NRPF #SocialJustice

On the train back from meeting with a young research participant. It's surreal sometimes to have such positive and amazing interactions with people just to then be bombarded by divisive rhetoric and politics that demonise refugees #NRPF @shadowsnrpf.bsky.social

UK government set to make support for asylum seekers ‘discretionary’ Home secretary expected to change system to deny help to those who can work or who have assets

Among the other draconian changes proposed by the Home Secretary, this opens a completely new horizon of 'welfare' as bordering. We are reaching a new dimension of #NRPF policies in the UK which leads to nothing but more suffering for more people.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

‘Punishing those who do the wrong thing’: Enforcing destitution and debt through the UK’s family migration rules - Eve Dickson, Rachel Rosen, 2021 In 2012, the ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) condition was extended to long-standing migrant families in the UK who had previously achieved rights to resid...

In 2021, Shadows team members Eve Dickson & Rachel Rosen wrote about the “impossibility of the 10-year route” to ILR after the 2012 family migration reforms. In 2025 the government’s #WhitePaper proposes this route as the norm for all applicants, drastically extending #NRPF
doi.org/10.1177/0261...

'Manufactured panic': Immigration not near top of most people's concerns, poll suggests The cost of living, health, crime, and housing are much higher on people's lists of personal worries, a YouGov survey has suggested.

🚨 Saeema Syeda, of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), said the poll shows:

"It's a manufactured panic, pushed by some politicians and parts of the media to distract from what actually matters to people.

https://bit.ly/4oekHXR

Research reveals disconnect between national and local level migration policies As national migration policies are becoming more hostile, local advocates and welfare interlocutors step in to show solidarity with migrants, accoring to research on ideas and practices of deservingne...

What happens when national migration policies grow harsher – but local people still care?
New research from Mette Berg & Eve Dickson shows how local advocates & welfare workers quietly build solidarity and challenge hostile systems.
#MigrationPolicy #Asylum
@ioe.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/mynxynxn

Great summary of the age assessment process by @freemovement.bsky.social New proposals of using AI for facial age estimation is just the latest escalation of a system based on weaponising age and 'childhood' to draw borders of deservingness #NRPF

A group of women stand in front of a government building holding signs protesting harmful immigration policies, with slogans such as “Safety of women should not depend on immigration status.” The image features the campaign hashtag #ScrapTheWhitePaper and logos of organisations including Step Up Migrant Women UK, Latin American Women's Rights Service, Southall Black Sisters, Hibiscus, and the End Violence Against Women Coalition.

Together with 70+ organisations we recently called on the government to scrap the Immigration White Paper.

Yesterday we came together with a simple message: safety, dignity and justice for ALL women – regardless of immigration status. #ScrapTheWhitePaper

southallblacksisters.org.uk/submissions-...

Lunch Hour Lecture | Destitution by design In this lecture, Prof Rachel Rosen and Dr Eve Dickson report on the impacts of impoverished migrant families without access to mainstream welfare in the UK.

📢Join us for this Lunch Hour Lecture at UCL on the 13th of November. Rachel Rosen and Eve Dickson will present their long-term research on #NRPF 'Destitution by design: Immigration policy and the conditions of life-making' www.ucl.ac.uk/events/event...

Another painful example of 'deservingness' in migration policies and welfare being used as a border mechanism:
'It creates a tiered model of membership: citizens at the top, enjoying unconditional rights; long-term migrants below, required to constantly demonstrate they are "good enough" to remain.'

Ala Sirriyeh Bordering through unchilding: The case of Britain’s child migrants https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00380261251366887 The Sociological Review #OnlineFirst

How are racially minoritised children central to the bordering of Britain?

@alasirriyeh.bsky.social @lancasteruni.bsky.social reflects on theories of migratisation, the work of Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian and the erasure of belonging.

#OpenAccess @journals.sagepub.com buff.ly/vkEHpXp

Homelessness, fear of starvation and racism – destitute migrant mothers and their children on the reality of life in the UK Over six years, researchers have worked closely with 25 single-mother families living in the shadow of this policy - which even affects British citizens.

'You lose yourself. You lose your sense of identity.' Powerful words from mothers living with #NRPF in this latest Shadows piece for @theconversation.com Rachel Rosen & Eve Dickson show how mothers and their children make lives in the absence of state support.
theconversation.com/homelessness...

Next webinar: Bordering/Mothering, 9 October Register on EventBrite to receive a Zoom link. In this event, we will celebrate two new books by SSAHE members: Bordering social reproduction: Migrant mothers and children making lives in the …

Next #SSAHE webinar: Bordering/Mothering, 9 October is a double book launch!
ssahe.net/2025/09/03/n...
Book via eventbrite

Bordering Social Reproduction | 25th September 2025 | Barnard's Inn Hall, London & Online An in-person & online book launch and conversation with Professor Rachel Rosen & Dr Eve Dickson, authors of 'Bordering Social Reproduction: Migrant Mothers and Children Making Lives in the Shadows'.

📢Book Launch 'Bordering Social Reproduction' by Shadows team members Rachel Rosen & Eve Dickson. Hear from the authors about #NRPF and making lives in the shadows, in conversation with Gargi Bhattacharyya & Shirin Rai @isrfoundation.bsky.social
Please register here:
isrf.org/events/borde...

'If these reforms go ahead, we will continue to see high levels of poverty among children in families subject to immigration control.' @ilonapin.bsky.social analyses the Immigration White Paper and shows how denying access to benefits increases the hidden costs of prolonged poverty #NRPF

Letter on a beige background with the "Together With Refugees" logo at the top right, featuring an orange heart partially shaded in black. The heading reads, “Dear Party Leaders.” The letter condemns recent anti-refugee protests in the UK, comparing them to riots from the previous summer. It describes the suffering of targeted refugees from countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan, and Syria, who now face hostility, unemployment, and fear due to delays and a broken system. The letter calls for leaders to unite against racism, hatred, and divisive politics, urging them to promote cohesion instead. It highlights public support for refugees and stresses solidarity, stating, “This is what represents our country, this is who we are.” Signed, “Yours sincerely, 213 organisations.”

We’re proud to stand in solidarity with over 200 organisations to call for communities and the country to be brought together for a different way forward – one that’s compassionate and humane.

This must be a turning point.

Read the letter 👇🏾 @refugeestogether.bsky.social

Shadows team members Dr. Eve Dickson and Professor Rachel Rosen submitted evidence for the Child Poverty Taskforce this week

nrpfintheshadows.com/learn-more/

You can read the full report here: nrpfintheshadows.com/wp-content/u...

We are very grateful to MP @kateosamormp.bsky.social
for submitting written questions to the Secretary of State for the Home Department in support of our campaign.

Migrants are living in extreme poverty due to immigration & health charging. This disproportionately affects racialised women.

Bordering social reproduction: Rachel Rosen & Eve Dickson published this important book with @manchesterup.bsky.social spotlighting how UK immigration control reaches inside families via #NRPF policies and drawing attention to how migrant mothers and children make lives in the shadows

'I was worried I was going to starve' - children's experiences of the NRPF system - CYP Now Experts set out findings from latest research that reveals the impact of lack of state financial support for children in migrant families.

New research by Eve Dickson and Rachel Rosen @sriucl.bsky.social @ioe.bsky.social reveals the impact of lack of state financial support for children in migrant families. Read their new piece in Children and Young People now: tinyurl.com/3r9wuwp5 #NRPF #destitution #children #migration

Welcome to the Shadows research project, which will investigate the deep and enduring effects of #NRPF on the lives of families and unaccompanied young people with insecure migration status in England.

Read about our project, team & partners here 👇 nrpfintheshadows.com