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Writings

Sharing our learnings and findings from Changing Realities

Snakes and ladders

21 Feb, 2024

Snakes and ladders: Tackling precarity in social security and employment support

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Henry Parkes,
Melanie Wilkes,
Ruth Patrick,
Uisce Jordan,
Jim Kaufman,
David Young,

Across the country, people are trying to make ends meet, build financial security and pursue their aspirations. But, in a vicious cycle of snakes and ladders, many are being pulled down into poverty.

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Briefing

31 Oct, 2023

‘Terrified for this winter’: Why the cost-of-living crisis is far from over for families on a low income

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Ruth Patrick,
Uisce Jordan,
Maddy Power,
Jim Kaufman,
Emily Mann,
David Young,
Millie Light,
Hannah Aldridge ,
Katie Pybus,
Thomas Rochow,
Participants,

As we approach another winter, politicians and the media are suggesting that the worst of the cost-of-living crisis is behind us. Headlines point to falls in the rate of inflation, and reductions in energy prices following their peak in 2022. But families on a low income with dependent children continue to face a daily struggle to get by. This is a consequence of the ongoing high costs for essentials (on which the bulk of their income is spent), and the continued inadequacy of social security support. Families are fearful of what another winter will bring, already planning for the cutbacks they will have to make. This rapid-response briefing brings together real-time evidence from families living in poverty with new, population-level analysis of the spending patterns of different household types.

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Collection

09 Oct, 2023

In Our Words

-
Laura Lindow,
Participants,

... A rolling stone may gather no moss

... But our words together, have power With Sisyphean labours

Our rolling stones will crush austerity One rock at a time.

by Shirley Widdop

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Report

Summary

28 Jul, 2023

Making employment support work: an agenda for change co-produced by parents and carers on a low- income

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Uisce Jordan,
Jim Kaufman,
Thomas Rochow,
Melanie Wilkes,
Henry Parkes,
,
Maddy Power,
Vicky Powers,
Katie Pybus,
Ruth Patrick,

In this briefing we present six co-produced recommendations for change, written in collaboration with parents and carers on low incomes, that have the potential to make employment support more effective for everyone.

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Toolkit

20 Jun, 2023

Toolkit: How to involve lived expertise in research, policy and campaigning

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Maddy Power,
Ruth Patrick,

Recent years have seen an increased recognition of the need to involve people with lived expertise in campaigning, research and policymaking. While this work is important, it is certainly not easy. It needs to be pursued sensitively, and in a way that recognises the resources required to do it justice.

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Briefing

Summary

15 May, 2023

Where’s the Credit? - Single Parents, Universal Credit and Mental Health

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Maddy Power,
Katie Pybus,
Uisce Jordan,
Emma Tominey,
Jim Kaufman,
Fiona McHardy,
Laura Robertson,
Ruth Patrick,
Participants,

Universal Credit (UC) is harmful to the mental health of claimants and has a particularly detrimental impact on the mental health of lone parents, creating stress, anxiety and financial hardship. This rapid response briefing shares findings from the Changing Realities research programme, which works in partnership with over 100 parents and carers living on a low income from across the UK. It combines quantitative analysis of the mental health impacts of UC with the accounts of lone parents and carers, charting their experiences of navigating UC and the additional challenges of doing so without the financial and emotional support that can come from a partner.

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21 Jan, 2023

Keeping Warm This Winter

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Jim Kaufman,
Ruth Patrick,
Hannah Aldridge ,
Uisce Jordan,
Katie Pybus,
Maddy Power,
Participants,

The rapid escalation in energy prices creates particular challenges for families with dependent children living on a low-income. Families need to keep their children warm this winter. However, with household budgets stretched to breaking point, they face enormous challenges in doing so. This rapid response briefing shares findings from the Changing Realities research programme, which works in partnership with over 100 parents and carers living on a low income from across the UK. In the briefing we document the higher energy needs of families with dependent children; needs which are often overlooked by policy responses that favour temporary, flat-rate payments. We provide stark evidence of the hardship families are facing, and the strategies they are forced to adopt in their effort to keep their children warm. We provide insight into the impact and shortcomings of the existing support packages offered by the UK Government.

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Download report

29 Nov, 2022

Lockdown isn’t over for us all

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Rosalie Warnock,
Geoff Page,
Ruth Patrick,
Jim Kaufman,
Stephen Kingdom,

This short report sets out some of the specific ways in which the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted low-income families who have children with additional needs. Drawing on participatory research with Covid Realities participants, combined with survey data from the Disabled Children’s Partnership, the report sets out two participant-led policy recommendations: better support for parent carers, including respite care; and better mental health support for children with additional needs and their parent carers. Noting the additional challenges wrought by the current cost-of-living crisis, the report calls for a more caring and compassionate social security system for some of the most vulnerable children and families in our society.

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