About a year ago, I remember talking with @kittyjstewart.bsky.social and @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social about the child poverty strategy. Back then, I was more optimistic that parental employment could play a role in reducing child poverty. Over the coming months they convinced me I was wrong.

LSE British Politics and Policy@lsepoliticsblog.bsky.social · 9mo ago

💡New! Removing the two-child benefit limit is a good start, but how to you further reduce child poverty? Most think the answer is increasing parental employment. Kitty Stuart, @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social and @aaronreeves.bsky.social show this isn't so. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

So wonderful to see the pernicious two-child limit lifted yesterday. And so depressing to hear Nick Robinson this morning recycling standard nonsense that working families are being taxed more to pay people who don’t work. How can we have proper debate when even BBC propagates these myths? #bbctoday

New analysis with @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social and @kittyjstewart.bsky.social: If we are serious about trying to reduce child poverty we cannot rely on employment alone. We need serious investment in social security. largerfamilies.study/publications...

Benefit changes and larger families

We are a group of university-based researchers investigating how families with more than two children are coping with the benefit cap or the two-child limit.

largerfamilies.study

🚨 Applications Now Open for the EUI PhD Programmes 2026-2027! 📊 Economics |⚖️ Law |📘 History | 🏛 Political and Social Sciences Join the EUI's 50th PhD cohort! Apply by 15 January 2026 (14:00 CET) for the academic journey of a lifetime! 👉: eui.eu/phd #EUIPhD #PhDOpportunity

Hearing Jonny speak was one of my highlights of Labour Party conference - do read his piece

Kitty Stewart@kittyjstewart.bsky.social · 11mo ago

labourlist.org/2025/09/chil... Great piece by Jonny Roberts of @changingrealities.bsky.social But looks like the battle to end the pernicious two child limit goes on

labourlist.org/2025/09/chil... Great piece by Jonny Roberts of @changingrealities.bsky.social But looks like the battle to end the pernicious two child limit goes on

'Bringing emotion and reality to the debate on child poverty.': one conference attendee's experience - LabourList

Jonny Roberts has come to conference to share his experience of being a single dad - and call for Labour to take bold action on child poverty.

labourlist.org

And the 30 hours is not even for all children! The most disadvantaged miss out

Helen Barnard@helenbarnard.bsky.social · 11mo ago

PM says childcare investment gives every child the best start in life. Children growing up in families forced into hunger & hardship by the 2 child limit - driven to the doors of food banks - are definitively not getting the best start in life. #LabourPartyConference

Has the PM finished talking about child poverty? Really? Right to celebrate the steps so far - extending free school meals, childcare investment etc. But he will be a Prime Minister presiding over rising child poverty this Parliament unless he steps up and lifts the cruel 2 child limit.

Helen Barnard@helenbarnard.bsky.social · 11mo ago

PM says childcare investment gives every child the best start in life. Children growing up in families forced into hunger & hardship by the 2 child limit - driven to the doors of food banks - are definitively not getting the best start in life. #LabourPartyConference

Devastating study showing the urgency of acting on child poverty today. What happens in childhood matters and children don’t get another chance at it

Poorer children more likely to age faster than affluent counterparts, study finds

Biological disadvantages may be shaped in first decade of a child’s life depending on family affluence

theguardian.com

This, from a DWP press release yesterday (gov.uk/government/n...), is outrageous In two short paragraphs it peddles multiple falsehoods about the current system that will be used to justify upcoming cuts & changes Here's what MPs & journalists should be challenging... 🧵

Exciting opportunity to join the @changingrealities.bsky.social team at a time when the work we do together has never mattered more. Please do share widely jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/rese...

hey bluesky, in case anyone's interested, I wrote this for my students about why I don't want them to use anything AI in my classes. It interrupts the course calendar part of the syllabus, coming immediately after the first day there's a writing assignment assigned. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

A note on AI usage

A note on AI usage I genuinely want you to succeed in this class. One of my very favorite things about my job as a professor is when students are succeeding and I feel like I helped. I want you to suc...

docs.google.com

Public transport in Luxembourg is… free. Amazing.

Brilliant idea to increase productivity: make the wifi work at stations and on trains. OR just formally scrap it all so we don’t even try

This is absolutely huge from the Scottish Parliament. Combined with the Scottish Child Payment it means a family with 3 children on Universal Credit will be *£7k* per year better off than if they lived in England. And we know that will make a massive difference www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politic...

John Swinney to lift two child benefit cap in Budget announcement

The Scottish Government will move to scrap a policy critics say pushes families into poverty.

dailyrecord.co.uk

Good LSE blog by @emmatominey.bsky.social. Summary evidence that the welfare system is causing harm to the mental health of claimants it is designed to help. Reforms need to improve the mental health of those relying on the welfare system as a safety net. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

We can’t tackle the mental health crisis without reforming social security

With an unprecedented number of people out of work due to poor mental health, the Labour Government is facing an uphill battle to boost growth and productivity. But the Government’s welfare s…

blogs.lse.ac.uk

Why do we have free meals for early primary children but not for our pre-school children? We know nutrition in early years is vital for healthy development and we know under-fives face higher risk of food poverty - my piece in @schoolsweek.bsky.social schoolsweek.co.uk/early-years-...

The Knowledge: Early years food poverty and how to address it

A new EPI report calls on government to close the gap between meal provision in schools and in the early years

schoolsweek.co.uk

Lovely department, brilliant students, fantastic job. Feel free to get in touch if you want to discuss www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DKO534/a...

Assistant Professor in International Social and Public Policy at London School of Economics and Political Science

An academic position as a Assistant Professor in International Social and Public Policy is being advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Click now to find more details and explore additional academic job opportunit...

jobs.ac.uk