Poverty, inequality and social justice

After a year characterised by political uncertainty, one thing that seems clear during this election campaign is that the two largest parties have their work cut out to build enough support to achieve a clear majority. British politics is experiencing an unprecedented level of fragmentation. Traditional divides along the lines of class are blurring, as Read More

The extract below from Peak Inequality, published in 2018, sums up the conclusion to that book and remains pertinent today. Jeremy Corbyn, like all of us, may have many faults, but he also epitomises both something that is fundamentally decent and the possibility for change. It is significant that elections are held in December in Read More

In this long read, Roger Brown, author of The Inequality Crisis: The Facts and What We Can Do About It, outlines causes of the Neoliberal turn and shows how it has created vastly increased and unjust social inequality. Crucially, he explains where we need to begin in order to reverse the tide. In November 1984, Read More

Research having an impact on policy, and the wider world, can be extremely hard to quantify, but on occasion we find an example that illustrates the great potential we have to make a difference. …Read more

David Cameron’s recent description of the government’s management of the Brexit process as “restrictive and counter productive” could equally well have been applied to his government’s programme of austerity, which started in 2010 – and for most of us, is still rumbling on. After almost a decade of austerity, during which growth has sputtered, poverty Read More

Of the nineteen UK governments since the Second World War, only two have torn up the rule book and tried to build a better future, instead of simply recycling the tired slogans and policies of the past. The two governments that did try radical change, not always successfully, were those of Clement Attlee in 1945 Read More

In this episode we tell Amara’s story, about her dreams, and how fragile these are when your childhood is overshadowed by debt. Amara’s story is followed by a discussion between the authors of the book, Sorcha Mahony and Larissa Pople, along with Sam Royston, all from The Children’s Society, and Jess Miles, from Bristol University Read More

Social scientists aren’t always very good at remembering their own history. Also, their research doesn’t build as intelligently on what has gone before, as research in some other disciplines. This means that texts which were trail-blazing and influential at the time, and which are still relevant today, can be forgotten unless active attempts are made Read More

In a world marked by political and economic uncertainty, debt appears to be a constant, an enormous dark cloud weighing upon our lives. We are always in debt, struggling to make ends meet, maintain repayments, and balance the books. In the wake of financial crash of 2008 debt was big news and many imagined the Read More

In this podcast we’re telling Alex’s story, about debt, grief and loss, and how life can spiral out of control. This is the second in a series of podcasts that examines what life is like for families stuck in problem debt. The stories are taken from Life in the Debt Trap by Sorcha Mahony and Larissa Read More