Monthly Archives: November 2011

The deservingness of benefit claimants (II)

Posted on November 29, 2011 by

In this second of three posts responding to John Humphrys’ Future State of Welfare, I look at his example of people who want to work – but won’t work in crap jobs. The critical questions are: do these people exist?  If … Continue reading →

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The Co-opted Message of Occupy Wall Street

Posted on November 24, 2011 by

Emily Matthews is currently applying to masters degree programs across the U.S., and loves to read about new research into health care, gender issues, and literature. She lives and writes in Seattle, Washington. Emily also edits mastersdegree.net a blog on applying … Continue reading →

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The deservingness of benefit claimants (I)

Posted on November 23, 2011 by

This is the first of three linked posts on the ‘deservingness of benefit claimants’. In this post, I explain the title, speak about the BBC programme that prompted the posts, and suggest why the British public massively overestimate the levels … Continue reading →

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Beyond ‘Child Poverty’

Posted on November 16, 2011 by

It may seem perverse to start criticising the idea of ‘child poverty’. Looking back over Tony Blair’s years in office, there’s nothing more surprising or welcome than his call to ‘end child poverty, and it will take a generation’. New Labour … Continue reading →

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Money Can Buy Happiness

Posted on November 10, 2011 by

Apologies for missing a post last week, last week I was at the Association of Public Policy and Management (APPAM) annual meeting, and this week I am in South Africa (hopefully some comments on South African inequality issues soon). Below … Continue reading →

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Fraud, dishonesty, and exaggeration

Posted on November 8, 2011 by

It’s depressing. By now I should be used to it, but it’s still depressing. The past week has seen another couple of high-profile programmes dedicated to demonising benefit claimants by concentrating on different types of fraud – by the BBC … Continue reading →

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Beyond the uncertainty of The Spirit Level

Posted on November 2, 2011 by

The debate over the Spirit Level rages on. Since its 2009 publication, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett’s book – subtitled ‘Why more equal societies almost always do better’ – has courted controversy while simultaneously becoming part of mainstream UK political … Continue reading →

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