Ben Baumberg Geiger
@benbgeiger.bsky.social
Social policy researcher (though sometimes pretends to be a philosopher), Prof co-leading WelfareExperiences project and kcl.ac.uk/csmh work & welfare strand. Was at @BenBaumberg at the other place.
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
There's a key element about the cost of living crisis that a lot of people are missing, according to @luketryl.bsky.social from @moreincommonuk.bsky.social.
He explains the pernicious impact when everyone feels like they're going backwards 👇
He explains the pernicious impact when everyone feels like they're going backwards 👇
January 9, 2026 at 12:30 PM
There's a key element about the cost of living crisis that a lot of people are missing, according to @luketryl.bsky.social from @moreincommonuk.bsky.social.
He explains the pernicious impact when everyone feels like they're going backwards 👇
He explains the pernicious impact when everyone feels like they're going backwards 👇
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
We're looking for a new Lived Experience Advisory Board Coordinator!
The post holder will coordinate and champion the activities and participation of our Lived Experience Advisory Board (LEAB) in the Centre, and more broadly in King’s.
Deadline: 3 February 2026
www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/131165-...
The post holder will coordinate and champion the activities and participation of our Lived Experience Advisory Board (LEAB) in the Centre, and more broadly in King’s.
Deadline: 3 February 2026
www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/131165-...
Lived Experience Advisory Board Coordinator | King's College London
www.kcl.ac.uk
January 7, 2026 at 4:53 PM
We're looking for a new Lived Experience Advisory Board Coordinator!
The post holder will coordinate and champion the activities and participation of our Lived Experience Advisory Board (LEAB) in the Centre, and more broadly in King’s.
Deadline: 3 February 2026
www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/131165-...
The post holder will coordinate and champion the activities and participation of our Lived Experience Advisory Board (LEAB) in the Centre, and more broadly in King’s.
Deadline: 3 February 2026
www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/131165-...
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
Yesterday, over 60 of us fr @changingrealities.bsky.social came together in @10dowingstreet.bsky.social for a reception at which the PM & @darrenpjones.bsky.social thanked us for our efforts to push for action on child poverty. Together, we can make change happen. But this is just the beginning.
December 19, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Yesterday, over 60 of us fr @changingrealities.bsky.social came together in @10dowingstreet.bsky.social for a reception at which the PM & @darrenpjones.bsky.social thanked us for our efforts to push for action on child poverty. Together, we can make change happen. But this is just the beginning.
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
Precise null results of inequality exposure on educational choices.
I actually was writing almost this exact paper at some point during my PhD but got talked out of it.
Well, I’m glad someone did.
I actually was writing almost this exact paper at some point during my PhD but got talked out of it.
Well, I’m glad someone did.
Exposure to Inequality, Human Capital Investment, and Labor Market Outcomes: Jan Bietenbeck; Matthew Collins; Petter Lundborg; Kaveh Majlesi
NEP/RePEc link
to paper
d.repec.org
December 17, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Precise null results of inequality exposure on educational choices.
I actually was writing almost this exact paper at some point during my PhD but got talked out of it.
Well, I’m glad someone did.
I actually was writing almost this exact paper at some point during my PhD but got talked out of it.
Well, I’m glad someone did.
Great permanent job opportunity for interesting health economists in my department at King's College London - please circulate to anyone who might be a good fit! Deadline 8th Jan
www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/130565-...
www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/130565-...
Lecturer in Health Economics | King's College London
www.kcl.ac.uk
December 17, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Great permanent job opportunity for interesting health economists in my department at King's College London - please circulate to anyone who might be a good fit! Deadline 8th Jan
www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/130565-...
www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/130565-...
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
A long-term picture of participation is helpful - we're more or less at record highs. (@benbgeiger.bsky.social has drawn this chart before so I'm not new here)
December 15, 2025 at 9:58 AM
A long-term picture of participation is helpful - we're more or less at record highs. (@benbgeiger.bsky.social has drawn this chart before so I'm not new here)
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
Have written a piece teeing up tomorrow's labour market stats, pointing out the sort-of obvious - that we currently have a problem with unemployment (i.e. demand) not just participation (i.e. supply). www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
Labour Market Outlook Q4 2025 • Resolution Foundation
Employment has fallen over the past two years and is substantially lower than it was before the pandemic. Perhaps surprisingly given its central place in policy debates, participation is essentially u...
www.resolutionfoundation.org
December 15, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Have written a piece teeing up tomorrow's labour market stats, pointing out the sort-of obvious - that we currently have a problem with unemployment (i.e. demand) not just participation (i.e. supply). www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
"The big-picture lesson for policymakers is that changes to one part of the benefit system can shift pressures elsewhere, rather than remove them entirely."
📗 Read our report, funded by @jrf-uk.bsky.social and @healthfoundation.bsky.social, here: ifs.org.uk/publications...
📗 Read our report, funded by @jrf-uk.bsky.social and @healthfoundation.bsky.social, here: ifs.org.uk/publications...
December 12, 2025 at 8:15 AM
"The big-picture lesson for policymakers is that changes to one part of the benefit system can shift pressures elsewhere, rather than remove them entirely."
📗 Read our report, funded by @jrf-uk.bsky.social and @healthfoundation.bsky.social, here: ifs.org.uk/publications...
📗 Read our report, funded by @jrf-uk.bsky.social and @healthfoundation.bsky.social, here: ifs.org.uk/publications...
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
NEW: Cuts to non-health-related benefits caused increases in disability benefit claims, our new report finds.
📗 Jonathan Cribb, @heidikarj.bsky.social, @eduinlatimer.bsky.social, Sam Ray-Chaudhuri and Tom Waters examine the impact of four cuts to benefits in the 2010s [THREAD:🧵]:
📗 Jonathan Cribb, @heidikarj.bsky.social, @eduinlatimer.bsky.social, Sam Ray-Chaudhuri and Tom Waters examine the impact of four cuts to benefits in the 2010s [THREAD:🧵]:
December 12, 2025 at 8:15 AM
NEW: Cuts to non-health-related benefits caused increases in disability benefit claims, our new report finds.
📗 Jonathan Cribb, @heidikarj.bsky.social, @eduinlatimer.bsky.social, Sam Ray-Chaudhuri and Tom Waters examine the impact of four cuts to benefits in the 2010s [THREAD:🧵]:
📗 Jonathan Cribb, @heidikarj.bsky.social, @eduinlatimer.bsky.social, Sam Ray-Chaudhuri and Tom Waters examine the impact of four cuts to benefits in the 2010s [THREAD:🧵]:
4 jobs in Melbourne around work disability prevention & social insurance - looks like an amazing project, deadline 1 February 2026 careers.pageuppeople.com/513/cw/en/jo...
December 12, 2025 at 8:47 AM
4 jobs in Melbourne around work disability prevention & social insurance - looks like an amazing project, deadline 1 February 2026 careers.pageuppeople.com/513/cw/en/jo...
Very pleased to finally have this OECD working paper out (with the brilliant Chris Prinz)! -> take-home message:
**Simple ways of measuring 'disability employment gaps' are often wrong - but better methods are available***
**Simple ways of measuring 'disability employment gaps' are often wrong - but better methods are available***
December 8, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Very pleased to finally have this OECD working paper out (with the brilliant Chris Prinz)! -> take-home message:
**Simple ways of measuring 'disability employment gaps' are often wrong - but better methods are available***
**Simple ways of measuring 'disability employment gaps' are often wrong - but better methods are available***
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
December 5, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
3) given gov plans on settlement reforms, including standard 10yr route to settlement plus additional 5+/10+yr penalties for children & families accessing benefits, we are likely to see more not less child poverty before the parliament end
December 5, 2025 at 10:16 AM
3) given gov plans on settlement reforms, including standard 10yr route to settlement plus additional 5+/10+yr penalties for children & families accessing benefits, we are likely to see more not less child poverty before the parliament end
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
When has a UK government shied away from claiming this? (Never in the decades I've been living here.) www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
December 4, 2025 at 1:03 AM
When has a UK government shied away from claiming this? (Never in the decades I've been living here.) www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
Another point is how are local authorities or welfare advisers meant to advise families. Getting families to apply for CoC is a key way that LAs get families off s17 children act support. Will they do this now with the potential for 5+/10+ yr penalties? Or will they keep supporting them?
The 'earned settlement' proposals are not yet policy but already doing damage to children in poverty because of the penalties involved
"A low-paid carer from Ghana has cancelled all the benefits she is legally entitled to, including the disability allowance one of her children receives, owing to fears about her immigration status after the policy changes announced by the home secretary."
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
November 29, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Another point is how are local authorities or welfare advisers meant to advise families. Getting families to apply for CoC is a key way that LAs get families off s17 children act support. Will they do this now with the potential for 5+/10+ yr penalties? Or will they keep supporting them?
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
The 'earned settlement' proposals are not yet policy but already doing damage to children in poverty because of the penalties involved
"A low-paid carer from Ghana has cancelled all the benefits she is legally entitled to, including the disability allowance one of her children receives, owing to fears about her immigration status after the policy changes announced by the home secretary."
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
UK immigration status fears prompt carer to cancel benefits she is entitled to
Woman cancels all benefits including disability living allowance for daughter after policy change announcement
www.theguardian.com
November 29, 2025 at 7:52 AM
The 'earned settlement' proposals are not yet policy but already doing damage to children in poverty because of the penalties involved
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
Such a beautifully written piece about how medical hyper-specialisation makes it difficult to connect the dots as a complex systems approach would require.
Last month, I found out I have hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, after decades of chronic pain and medical disinterest.
I've decided to write publicly about this, not just about hypermobility and its health impacts, but about how it feels when doctors don't care:
medium.com/p/4fea6398b8ba
I've decided to write publicly about this, not just about hypermobility and its health impacts, but about how it feels when doctors don't care:
medium.com/p/4fea6398b8ba
Welcome to my body
After twenty years of pain and repeated medical dead ends, a stranger sent me a message on Instagram. It led to a diagnosis all the doctors…
medium.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Such a beautifully written piece about how medical hyper-specialisation makes it difficult to connect the dots as a complex systems approach would require.
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
The predictable crushing uniformity of the coverage of this Budget tells you an awful lot about the priorities of those papers, and also why there's actually quite a lot to praise in it bylinetimes.com/2025/11/26/t...
November 27, 2025 at 9:40 AM
The predictable crushing uniformity of the coverage of this Budget tells you an awful lot about the priorities of those papers, and also why there's actually quite a lot to praise in it bylinetimes.com/2025/11/26/t...
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
Proud to see the Chancellor directly referencing my research (with @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social & Mary Reader) on the two-child limit.
As we wrote then "The two-child limit hasn’t discouraged poorer families from having children; it has simply made families poorer"
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
As we wrote then "The two-child limit hasn’t discouraged poorer families from having children; it has simply made families poorer"
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
November 26, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Proud to see the Chancellor directly referencing my research (with @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social & Mary Reader) on the two-child limit.
As we wrote then "The two-child limit hasn’t discouraged poorer families from having children; it has simply made families poorer"
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
As we wrote then "The two-child limit hasn’t discouraged poorer families from having children; it has simply made families poorer"
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
New post: If disability benefits spending is flat, then welfare spending is probably going down - Some figures to have to hand when looking through the Budget
inequalities.substack.com/p/disability...
inequalities.substack.com/p/disability...
If disability benefits spending is flat, then welfare spending is probably going down
Some figures to have to hand when looking through tomorrow's Budget
inequalities.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:57 AM
New post: If disability benefits spending is flat, then welfare spending is probably going down - Some figures to have to hand when looking through the Budget
inequalities.substack.com/p/disability...
inequalities.substack.com/p/disability...
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
My column in today’s FT: the vision since 2016 has been that the lever British governments pull to fight poverty is to increase the minimum wage. Time for government to start pulling its weight again too:
The minimum wage is not a cure all — we’re asking too much of business
Politicians spend too much time uttering cheap rhetoric about cheap labour
www.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:26 PM
My column in today’s FT: the vision since 2016 has been that the lever British governments pull to fight poverty is to increase the minimum wage. Time for government to start pulling its weight again too:
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
RF are pro MW, but we agree it's 2nd order to benefits in tackling poverty. Big fight with Osborne over that re tax credit cuts in 2015.
One example: a 2-earner 3-kid family on MW wld have been *worse* off in 2024 than 2014 despite real earnings up 27% www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
One example: a 2-earner 3-kid family on MW wld have been *worse* off in 2024 than 2014 despite real earnings up 27% www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
November 25, 2025 at 1:45 PM
RF are pro MW, but we agree it's 2nd order to benefits in tackling poverty. Big fight with Osborne over that re tax credit cuts in 2015.
One example: a 2-earner 3-kid family on MW wld have been *worse* off in 2024 than 2014 despite real earnings up 27% www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
One example: a 2-earner 3-kid family on MW wld have been *worse* off in 2024 than 2014 despite real earnings up 27% www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
That’s how much the Government spends on welfare, but what do people receive in return?
Here we can see a generational shift in the generosity of support over the past two decades.
Since 2010, changes to benefits have largely favoured older age groups, while families with children have lost out.
Here we can see a generational shift in the generosity of support over the past two decades.
Since 2010, changes to benefits have largely favoured older age groups, while families with children have lost out.
November 25, 2025 at 2:07 PM
That’s how much the Government spends on welfare, but what do people receive in return?
Here we can see a generational shift in the generosity of support over the past two decades.
Since 2010, changes to benefits have largely favoured older age groups, while families with children have lost out.
Here we can see a generational shift in the generosity of support over the past two decades.
Since 2010, changes to benefits have largely favoured older age groups, while families with children have lost out.
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geiger
How much do we spend on welfare?
Total welfare spending in Britain in 2025-26 is estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP – just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than 2007-08.
Since 2012-13, total welfare spending has actually fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP.
Total welfare spending in Britain in 2025-26 is estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP – just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than 2007-08.
Since 2012-13, total welfare spending has actually fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP.
November 25, 2025 at 2:07 PM
How much do we spend on welfare?
Total welfare spending in Britain in 2025-26 is estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP – just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than 2007-08.
Since 2012-13, total welfare spending has actually fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP.
Total welfare spending in Britain in 2025-26 is estimated to be 10.8 per cent of GDP – just 0.8 per cent of GDP higher than 2007-08.
Since 2012-13, total welfare spending has actually fallen by 1.2 per cent of GDP.