Dr Hayley Bennett
haylesben.bsky.social
Dr Hayley Bennett
@haylesben.bsky.social

Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, University of Edinburgh. Welfare state, social security, (un)employment, poverty, policy-making. Views own, RTs not endorsements. https://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/staff/hayley-bennett

Medicine 20%
Political science 19%

In today’s episode of Edinburgh Uni’s “let’s make random cuts here there and everywhere without any kind of strategy or comms process”… our printer has disappeared 🙄

Just as I finish all my midterm marking where I point numerous students towards IAD resources, I read that the department has been axed. Ouch 😩 thetab.com/2025/10/31/e...
Excl: Edinburgh University begins compulsory layoffs with department set to be axed
Seven staff in the Instute for Academic Development are set to lose their jobs when the department closes
thetab.com

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

🌟PSA PRIZES🌟 Nominations for Academic Prizes are now open!
📢 We invite prize nominations outstanding Research, Professional Contributions and Teaching & Learning.
📆 Deadline for nominations 1 December 2025
➡️ Full details, eligibility, guidelines and forms online
Academic Prizes Overview | The Political Studies Association (PSA)
Become a member Log in
buff.ly

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

The number of people aged 16-24 who are not in education, employment or training in Britain is now close to one million.

RF Senior Economist Louise Murphy breaks down what we can do to help these young people back into work or study.

Read the full report here: buff.ly/s3jjW8h

TBH I know nothing about wikibooks but am a little tired of the inequities in the publishing world. So I read this, and am sharing as other academics might find it informative too. blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...
Does academia need a wakeup call on Wikibooks? - Impact of Social Sciences
Wikibooks has nearly half a billion annual page views, but has hardly featured in academic OA debates. Could it be a solution to providing open academic books?
blogs.lse.ac.uk

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

Help write women onto Wikipedia this Halloween!
Learn how to edit and PUBLISH a new 50-100+ word article about women missing from our search results. As you'd expect for Halloween, our focus list included Scottish women accused of being witches. All welcome.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/help-write...

Anas Sarwar @ipprscotland.bsky.social event outlining the need for governance reform in Scottish health services and more use of Scottish economic levers

Next session at the @ipprscotland.bsky.social focussing on the health of Scotland’s democracy

FM John Swinney responding to Emma Jackson (Citizens Advice Scotland) question about growing needs in Scotland & improving collaboration. Swinney saying he welcomed the #Scotlanddemandsbetter march over the weekend

Attending the @ipprscotland.bsky.social event today. An excellent opening from @stephenboydippr.bsky.social reminding us on democratic threats & need for more policy innovation & now @graemeroy.bsky.social outlining fiscal pressures

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

‘It’s been a cesspit, really, my life’: war photographer Don McCullin on 19 of his greatest pictures
‘It’s been a cesspit, really, my life’: war photographer Don McCullin on 19 of his greatest pictures
At 90, McCullin has spent seven decades recording conflict and tragedy – while escaping snipers, mortar fire and capture. He reflects on pain, pride and regret
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

Big Brother
HMRC cuts child benefit for 35000 families based on incomplete travel data.

HMRC trawled through travel data, interpreted it incorrectly.

Since 2016 it has powers, subject to conditions, to remove money directly from people's bank accounts.

What could go wrong in surveillance society?
HMRC cuts child benefit for 35,000 families based on incomplete travel data
UK tax agency apologises after flagging people as having emigrated, often when they return via different routes
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

"Workers rights bill and living wage rise will lead to a jobs bloodbath", says Daily Mail.

Apparently making workers insecure/poor is the way to economic growth

Silence on fat-cattery, food bank queues, 34% of universal credit claimants are in work

Light years away from Cadbury/Quaker capitalism.
Workers rights bill & living wage rise 'will lead to a jobs bloodbath
In its Employment Rights Bill, Labour has also proposed introducing nine-month legal 'probation' periods to address concerns, but the think-tank said this was a 'messy compromise'.
www.dailymail.co.uk

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

Thousands march in Edinburgh calling for poverty action.

16m Britons live in poverty. Average real wage stuck at 2008 level. Regressive taxation.

Poor ignored, don't fund political parties, bribe legislators, hand freebies to ministers.

1% have more wealth than 70% of the population combined.
Thousands march in Edinburgh calling for action to end poverty
The Scotland Demands Better demonstration was organised by trade unions and charities.
www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

Private rent in UK now swallows 44% of the average wage.

Monthly cost jumps to record £1,385 outside London, £2,736 in the capital.

Lack of social and affordable housing, no rent controls, as govts appease corporations and the rich.

Profiteering creating poverty/despair, stifling economic growth.
Private rent in Britain now swallows 44% of the average wage
Monthly cost jumps to record £1,385 outside London, and £2,736 in the capital, with hotspots showing hefty rises
www.theguardian.com

Listening to Darren Mcgarvey who is eloquent as ever about the problem of reactionary politics and elitism #scotlanddemandsbetter

An open-ended academic job in social policy being advertised in 2025? Can it be? For many ECRs looking for a role, this one might be for you:
jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...
Assistant Professor (Study of Crime/Criminal Justice and Social or Public Policy)
Assistant Professor (Study of Crime/Criminal Justice and Social or Public Policy), , <p style="text-align: center;"><em><span>LSE is committed to building a diverse, equitable and truly inclusive univ...
jobs.lse.ac.uk

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

I often refer to my articles in relation to where they occurred during motherhood. Eg this one I started when pregnant but ran out of time so never finished, this one was rejected and i never resubmitted as I gave birth the same week, this one I got the idea for walking the pram during mat leave 1.

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

500 employers fined £10m for failing to pay the national minimum wage.

42,000 workers repaid more than £6m.

Roll of exploitation includes Holland & Barrett, Centrica, Adecco, Avis, Euro Garages, Genting Casinos, Go Outdoors, Mitchells & Butlers. Some have a history.

None forgot to pay execs.
£6 million repaid to workers as Government cracks down on employers underpaying their staff
Nearly 500 employers fined over £10 million for failing to pay the National Minimum Wage
www.gov.uk

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

We're hiring!💥

IPPR North are looking for a senior researcher who has big ideas for the future of our regions. Join us at this pivotal time for our economy and democracy.

Based in Manchester, apply by 31st October.

www.ippr.org/jobs/senior-...
Senior Research Fellow, IPPR North | IPPR
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is an independent charity working towards a fairer, greener, and more prosperous society.
www.ippr.org

Reposted by Davide Vampa

Today was our @safety-nets.bsky.social Scottish round table where we gave an overview of stage 1 of the project to lots of important research & policy folk in Scotland. Thanks to @ccc-research.bsky.social for supporting the event & also to Mark & Ciara for travelling & presenting.
Well done Shafaq Aftab. When a reviewer stole her work and published it under his own name, she fought for a YEAR to get the journal to retract the paper. Just wondering why it took Wiley a YEAR to do this. 🧪 #academicsky

retractionwatch.com/2025/10/03/w...
Wiley retracts study stolen by reviewer, following Retraction Watch coverage
A Wiley journal has retracted a paper more than a year after a researcher reported the work was hers and had been stolen by a reviewer for another journal. As we reported in July, Shafaq Aftab, now…
retractionwatch.com

Reposted by Ruth Patrick

Our latest @safety-nets.bsky.social project blog is out. We reflect on spatial inequalities and disability benefit reforms. And the pickle UK gov changes might create for subnational and devolved authorities.
New RSA Blog 📉
“The Growth Gamble” explores how UK welfare reform, deindustrialisation & regional divides intersect.
By Sioned Pearce, @haylesben.bsky.social, Mhairi Ross & @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social.

👉 www.regionalstudies.org/rsa-blog/202...
The growth gamble: Do we need to loosen the tie binding devolution with economic outcomes in England? - RSA Main
Earlier in 2025, the UK government announced a commitment to reduce spending on disability benefits by restructuring entitlements and eligibility to various health-related benefits. It claims through ...
www.regionalstudies.org

And with an added twist they are also the same people who let their dogs foul the pavement and the poo ends up in their home for a change

Yesterday was our first social policy seminar of the semester. A full house to listen to the excellent @gerrymccartney1.bsky.social talk about the effect of austerity on mortality rates, & his book (with David Walsh) “Social Murder”

During my c-sections the anaesthetists talked to me throughout, informing me of progress, checking I was ok, asking about dizziness and nausea, providing ice cubes on sticks (I don’t know why!). They were responsible. Of all the people in that room I can only recall the anaesthetists’ voice & face.