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%

The advert for a permanent role in finance stating the following, raises various questions right now:

"where you’ll do meaningful work, grow and progress, be rewarded and recognised, and benefit from our strong commitment to your wellbeing".
a close up of a cartoon character with red hair
ALT: a close up of a cartoon character with red hair
media.tenor.com

1. Why are some subject areas still hiring when UoE's £500k consultants haven't proposed their reshaping, merging plans yet?
2. Existing staff at risk of redundancy have the right to apply for 'alternative work' via an internal process before external hiring (this is law & UoE HR policy)

University of Edinburgh is experiencing prolonged cuts, our 3rd round of VR, no job replacements when people leave, some colleagues likely to be put on compulsory redundancy soon. But hey ho, the business school & economics school are externally advertising for permanent academic jobs 🤔
a man says who 's managing this in a blurry photo
ALT: a man says who 's managing this in a blurry photo
media.tenor.com

I enjoyed reading this, for a full range of reasons (including various snippets where I thought "have I already sat with Sue and ranted after a glass of wine on these double standards"!).
This will need a boost today from my working class friends who dared to fly too high. Or clever people who research it. Social mobility discrimination is a v niche audience. @haylesben.bsky.social @paulbernal.bsky.social @steveakehurst.bsky.social @jdportes.bsky.social @duncanweldon.bsky.social
This IS what will happen next in the #Labour Leadership contest that WILL come.
I wrote Today's Post so you can't shoot the messenger later.
"Ange's Story : And a bit more about that council house..."
open.substack.com/pub/undercla...
Read, RT, and subscribe for free.

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

Meanwhile, in the UK: "More than half of households in poverty now contain a working person, report finds"

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

The politics of failure have failed.
Britons ‘working harder for less’ as living standards see historic slowdown
More than half of households in poverty now contain a working person, report finds
www.independent.co.uk

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

For months, we have been digging into a big myth — that strong social protection holds back economic growth.🔍

Spoiler: it doesn’t.💪

We launch our findings tomorrow in our report 'More than a Safety Net'. Stay tuned.🚀

For now, hear it from @stephenboydippr.bsky.social ⤵️

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

📣New blog: "The Hidden Cost of Italy’s Care System: Pension Gaps and the Precarious Future of Ukrainian Care Workers"

By Maria Izzo, Doctoral Researcher in Health and Social Policy, University of Glasgow.

▶️ social-policy.org.uk/news/the-hid...
The Hidden Cost of Italy’s Care System: Pension Gaps and the Precarious Future of Ukrainian Care Workers - Social Policy Association
By Maria Izzo, Doctoral Researcher in Health and Social Policy, University of Glasgow. — Nina, a Ukrainian woman in her mid-seventies, lives and works in [...]
social-policy.org.uk

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

This will need a boost today from my working class friends who dared to fly too high. Or clever people who research it. Social mobility discrimination is a v niche audience. @haylesben.bsky.social @paulbernal.bsky.social @steveakehurst.bsky.social @jdportes.bsky.social @duncanweldon.bsky.social
This IS what will happen next in the #Labour Leadership contest that WILL come.
I wrote Today's Post so you can't shoot the messenger later.
"Ange's Story : And a bit more about that council house..."
open.substack.com/pub/undercla...
Read, RT, and subscribe for free.
Ange's Story
And a bit more about that council house....
open.substack.com

ASAP UK webinar: 'Social Security & Poverty reflecting on the post General Election period & looking ahead to the Devolved Parliament elections'. ASAP UK manifesto audit & the anti-poverty challenges in the lead up to the Scottish & Welsh elections: 26.2.26 2:30-4pm

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
ASAP UK February Seminar: Social Security and Poverty reflecting on the post General Election period and looking ahead to the Devolved Parliament elections.
26th February 2026 2:30-4pm This webinar will bring together one of the ASAP UK election auditors with two academics from Wales and Scotland to discuss the current housing challenges in relation to ...
eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

With many thanks to @uoe-cahss.bsky.social for funding, I'm delighted that the Network for the Study of Work (NSW) is launching in February:

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cahss-netw...

With help from @haylesben.bsky.social, @ibalilebali.bsky.social and @tomoshea.org
CAHSS Network for the Study of Work
With funding from the CAHSS Interdisciplinary Fund, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Network for the Study of Work (NSW).
www.eventbrite.co.uk

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

📣 Call for special issues 📣

If you'd like to guest edit a special issue of Policy & Politics submit your proposal by 30 April!

Learn more here bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journal...

#PublicPolicy #PolicySky #PolicyStudies

Nominations are open for the SPA awards
📣Nominations are open for the SPA 2026 awards for these categories:

• Outstanding Achievement
• Public Understanding
• Outstanding Teaching
• Richard Titmuss Book Prize

social-policy.org.uk/what-we-do/a...

Deadline closes at 5pm on 02/03/2026.

Info: social-policy.org.uk/awards/the-s...

haha I had a full rant on LinkedIn on Monday after receiving some poor quality peer reviews about feedback and the general culture of peer review. Couldn't hold it in any longer!

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

📢 Job Vacancy📢

City-REDI is hiring for a full time Policy and Data Analyst, fixed term contract up to September 2027.

Find out more and apply by 4th February.

https://ow.ly/k9AH50Y0vHO
Apply to be the new Head of Research at L&W!

In this role, you would lead innovative, impactful research and evaluation projects across our focus areas of employment and skills. 🔍

Think you'd be the right fit? Find out more and apply by 20 February. 📬
Head of Research: Qualitative Methods and Evaluation - Learning and Work Institute
learningandwork.org.uk

I'm nudging that if framing discussions in terms of 'welfare dependency' to think about all who depend on income from the welfare state, broadening beyond ppl in direct receipt of benefits to include a range of others in our society whose business models or income depend on our welfare state model.

www.researchgate.net

I think there's a critical (& IMO important) distinction between calling groups of people 'dependent on welfare' & use of a less politicised phrase of 'in receipt of social security'. I don't mind having diff views but some links to why it might matter onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com

I agree with the "turkeys and Xmas" point you're raising, but the phrase 'most dependent on welfare'??? Simply "in receipt of social security' would work. (Many people in receipt of benefits are part of in-work households. Who is really depending on this money? Employers? Landlords perhaps?)

*we don't have to limit

I don't really read the Evening Standard but they had an article "why don't we take free transport off older people and give to the young". Actually we don't to limit policy making to pitching ppl against each other (e.g. in Scotland there's free or discounted travel for both age groups).

I'll be contributing to the Academics Stand Against Poverty Webinar on 26th February 2026 (2:30-4pm) discussing social security and Welsh and Scot Elections alongside Richard Machin and @rodhick.bsky.social

eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
Academics Stand Against Poverty UK | Manifesto Audit
ASAP UK brings together a range of academics who have carried out a review of 9 key topics to consider the effectiveness of the public policy platforms in reducing poverty.
eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

The SPA awards are now open for nominations in the categories below. Please get in touch if you have questions.
📣Nominations are open for the SPA 2026 awards for these categories:

• Outstanding Achievement
• Public Understanding
• Outstanding Teaching
• Richard Titmuss Book Prize

social-policy.org.uk/what-we-do/a...

Deadline closes at 5pm on 02/03/2026.

Info: social-policy.org.uk/awards/the-s...
📣Nominations are open for the SPA 2026 awards for these categories:

• Outstanding Achievement
• Public Understanding
• Outstanding Teaching
• Richard Titmuss Book Prize

social-policy.org.uk/what-we-do/a...

Deadline closes at 5pm on 02/03/2026.

Info: social-policy.org.uk/awards/the-s...

Reposted by Hayley Bennett

Join the Australian Social Policy Association at the University of Queensland for the 2026 Australian Social Policy Conference, 30 September — 2 October!

Abstract deadline: Monday 2 February 2026

For more information, including the call for papers, please see their website: www.aspc2026.com.
Australian Social Policy Conference 2026
www.aspc2026.com

This is worth a read by Polly Mackenzie. It would be a useful teaching resource to kick off for a public policy seminar discussion:
howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/there-aren...
There aren't any levers
A dead metaphor is killing the government's ability to get things done
howtorunacountry.substack.com
Good that UK govt wants to lift 550,000 children out of poverty.

BUT 16m people, including 5.2m children, live in poverty.

24m people live below socially acceptable living standards.

Can't end child poverty without tackling parental poverty. Can't do that without reforming capitalism.
To tackle child poverty the government must deal with parental poverty
Labour's child poverty strategy offers some welcome measures, but it won't address the factors keeping families trapped in poverty
leftfootforward.org

There are 54 pieces in a Jenga set. Instead of picking just one as being the problem (staff strikes), what about the other 53? Some of which will be about underfunding, or the inefficiency of private providers and quasi-markets, or ineffective managerialism, or out of date training pathways