Lee Gregory (he/him) 🏳️‍🌈

19th July was my last visit as an event ambassador to one of the events I supported and one of several I set up. I'm stepping away from the Event Ambassador role now and stepping into the Regional Event Ambassador for Birmingham and the Black Country - with some big shoes to fill!

Tens of thousands at risk of poverty despite Labour’s benefit U-turn, MPs warn Changes to welfare reforms not enough to protect newly sick and disabled people from financial hardship

Govt dropped cuts to PIP, but today's Committee report highlights MPs' concerns that many disabled people will be pushed into poverty by remaining cuts to Universal Credit's health element. In evidence to the inquiry I warned of the hardship this will cause. 1/5

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

chart showing Proportion of disabled workers who have very flexible working available to them (left) and partially flexible work available to them (right), by selected demographics: UK, 2018- 2019 and 2020-2021

Disabled people’s access to flexible work is not evenly spread.

There is significant variation by workplace size, sector and education level.

Read 'Opening doors' now ⤵️ buff.ly/d9KvJpj

TalkTV is airing attacks on trans people without broadcasting the views of those who support trans rights. Call on Ofcom to take action:https://goodlaw.social/66f6a3

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

Our special issue of the Journal of European Social Policy on bridging the continental divide in social policy research is out: journals.sagepub.com/toc/espa/35/3 We have an amazing line up of contributors and great papers that feature both European and North American cases. Must read :-)

DWP’s 'unhealthy' AI obsession is trapping people in poverty, Amnesty report finds

Amnesty warns DWP's use of AI and automation in welfare is harming disabled people and digitally excluded claimants.

There are 130 UK universities. Many currently on recruitment freezes so no staff replacement (jobs dissolve). Many have already shed 200-400 staff (eg Cardiff, Durham, York). Some like Edinburgh are going for major job cuts. And others like Dundee nearly collapsed making 700 redundancies.

Childcare costs families £1,000 per child in the summer holidays

Parents are taking unpaid leave from work and "racking up debts" as a result of high childcare costs over the summer holidays

Nothing I've just not heard of it 🤣

🤔🤔🤔🤔

Having reduced low pay, the next frontier is raising job quality Progress on reducing low pay - from a fifth of the workforce to just 1% of workers aged 25+ - has not been matched action to tackle insecurity at work Strengthening employee rights will benefit mainly low-paid workers, including extending Statutory Sick Pay coverage to the 1.3 million lowest paid. 2.4 million workers who are anxious about surprise changes to shifts will gain new protections.

Employment rights are about improving workers’ lives, not GDP growth While business groups claim the Employment Rights Bill will be damaging, the government says it will help solve the UK’s productivity problems. In reality, evidence suggests there will little economic impact in either direction. Countries that have reduced employment regulation have seen similar employment growth to other countries.

Clocking in.. Plans to tackle hours insecurity include: 1) A new right to a contract reflecting the hours someone usually works 2) A new right to reasonable notice of shift patterns with compensation for short-notice cancellations However, details are being left for secondary legislation. We suggest ‘reasonable’ notice for shift changes should be set to 2 weeks. Shifts cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice should be compensated in full. These, along with other measures, will reduce workers’ anxiety.

Tackling bogus self-employment The recent increase in Employer National Insurance has raised the employment status tax gap between employees and self-employed workers to 9% for a typical earner. This raises the risk of bogus self-employment - where workers are misclassified as self-employed to avoid tax and legal responsibilities. The Government must therefore complement stronger rights with stronger enforcement of the boundary between workers and the genuine self-employed.

What are the impacts of the new Employment Rights Bill?

Raising job quality and tackling hours insecurity will be key. Here's what you need to know ⬇️

Get all the details our latest Low Pay Britain report: buff.ly/9KXMofS

To all who think capitalism can drive progressive change, it won’t – and here’s the shocking proof Asset manager Aberdeen’s surprise cut to funding research into inequality has left those that used its grants for good work reeling, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

Well this is very much worth a read by @pollytoynbee.bsky.social

"Former trustees suggest Aberdeen may have had complaints from clients who hate research about poverty and wealth that exposes unjust tax reliefs for the rich"

www.inkl.com/news/to-all-...

Over 1.6m children are now impacted by the Two-Child Limit - 11.6% of all children

This is a cruel policy that unnecessarily drags children into deeper levels of hardship

It needs to go, and the longer it is kept, the greater the scarring effects on children's health and education will be

No UK party currently has what it takes to end poverty, research finds Labour has seen the most significant drop in ambition in its policies to tackle poverty since the 2017 general election.

Excellent work by Academics Stand Against Poverty @academiclee.bsky.social
www.bigissue.com/news/politic...

Front cover of Rainbow Trap

🏳️‍🌈 Rainbow Trap is currently 30% off in the Bloomsbury Summer Sale!

Get your hands on a hardback copy for just £14.00 or $18.90:

📕UK: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/rainbow-t...

📘US: www.bloomsbury.com/us/rainbow-t...

@bloomsburyacad.bsky.social @bloomsburypol.bsky.social

The problem is an exploitative, extractive economic system rigged against most people and our planet.

The solution is not further cuts - we need to tax extreme wealth instead.

10 alternative proposals to disability benefit cuts from Labour MPs last week, totalling up to £120bn:

Poverty always gets our prime ministers in the end

A Ministry of Poverty Prevention and Cure could look for answers to the terrible damage done by poverty to schooling, health and prospects.

1: Lacking ambition: insights from three poverty audits of UK election manifestos (2015, 2017 and 2024) Authors: Lee Gregory and Gerardo Javier Arriaga-Garcia Publication Date: 30 Jun 2025 Pages: 7–28 DOI: https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447377245.ch001

Here is further press coverage of Lacking ambition: insights from three poverty audits of UK election manifestos by @academiclee.bsky.social & G. Arriaga-Garcia @unibirmingham.bsky.social
The full article is open access here:
doi.org/10.51952/978...

@phys.org.web.brid.gy
phys.org/news/2025-06...

Pleased to see coverage of @academiclee.bsky.social & G. Arriaga-Garcia @unibirmingham.bsky.social in the @bigissue.com
You can read the full article in our new edition of SPR37 plus other excellent contributions to contemporary social policy. All chapters are open access!

doi.org/10.51952/978...

Second presentation of @easp-spa-2025.bsky.social later today

Presentation slide

Day two of @easp-spa-2025.bsky.social and the first of my presentations (a paper in the early stages of development) is ready to go... honest...

All ready for my first conference event for @easp-spa-2025.bsky.social - I've probably got more notes to speak to for this than my presentations...

... We’re not seeing any real progress, particularly in the last 15 years or so, to tackle poverty. We’re seeing the same policy approaches being used time and time again, with just slight variations to those approaches across the political spectrum.” 2/2

And see @bigissue.com for coverage www.bigissue.com/news/politic...

“The is a general lack of ambition to tackle poverty, and that’s what we need to revisit and challenge. It’s been a consistent problem in our society for over 100 years... 1/2

Book cover of Social Policy Review 37.

First page of chapter 1 titled Lacking ambition: insights from three poverty audits of UK election manifestos (2015, 2017 and 2024)

Open access version of the chapter is now online: bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/edcollchap-o...

New book chapter now published (I think open access soon to follow)

A call to action on poverty and inequality: Why the UK must enact the socioeconomic duty - Transforming Society Lee Gregory, Vanessa Boon, and Dave Beck highlight how the UK’s consultation on the socioeconomic duty offers a key chance to tackle poverty through a legal, intersectional, and evidence-based approac...

New blog post - Transforming Society ~ A call to action on poverty and inequality: Why the UK must enact the socioeconomic duty with @vanessaboon.bsky.social and @drdavebeck.bsky.social

www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2025/06/25/a...

No! Far too early for that

The Food Bank: A Safety-Net in Place of Welfare Security in Times of Austerity and the Covid-19 Crisis Beck, D. J., & Gwilym, H. (2023). The food bank: A safety-net in place of welfare security in times of austerity and the Covid-19 crisis. Social Policy and Society, 22(3), 545-561.

Continuing my work with my long-time collaborator, Dr hefin Gwilym, I want to share a digested version of probably one of our most cited articles (we call it the Safety-Net article). Available in this @SubstackInc blog
open.substack.com/pub/drdavebe...

#Food, #FoodInsecurity. #Foodbanks