What do DWP feel are the most important research questions facing them over the next 5 to 10 years? Read this doc... www.gov.uk/government/p....

DWP Areas of Research Interest 2026

gov.uk

Interesting inflation data today, with the expected rise not coming. It is basically a story of inflation in everything bar transport going down a tad and thus counter-balancing a big rise there. 1/4

Interesting policy fellowships: www.ukri.org/opportunity/.... Two I'd highlight: 1. DWP to develop evidence of the causal links between experience of poverty and subsequent outcomes. 2. DfT on transport poverty and how improving transport affordability and connectivity.

Sector transition: UKRI policy fellowships 2026

Apply for this sector transition fellowship to transfer knowledge and skills across academic and policy sectors and increase sector porosity.

ukri.org

Just left #CHASMConference2026. Lots of food for thought about dimensions of insecurity, their interactions and the role of power and agency in how lives play out. Follow @chasm-uob.bsky.social for more insights and thanks to everyone involved.

Great thread from @rachelcasey.bsky.social. One of the key messages is don't forget the role of childhood poverty in any discussion of what's needed to reduce the number of NEETs.

Rachel Casey@rachelcasey.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🧵 1/ The Milburn Review is right to sound the alarm 🚨 Rising numbers of young people out of work or education should concern all of us. This reflects deep, structural challenges - not a short-term blip.

The @healthfoundation.bsky.social have now looked at how this compares with 20 other high-income countries: health.org.uk/reports-and-.... Picture is grim. The UK saw the second biggest fall in healthy life expectancy over the decade to 2021, beaten only by the US.

Peter Matejic@statspeter.bsky.social · 4mo ago

How long have you got to live and live healthily? It’s well known that people in less deprived areas live longer. Let’s look at a boy born in 2023 in the most deprived tenth of areas. They can expect to live 10 years fewer than a boy born in the least deprived tenth of areas.

Join us! This is a very important role, working with some brilliant analysts (and others!)

Joseph Rowntree Foundation@jrf-uk.bsky.social · 3mo ago

📢 We're hiring a Principal Policy Adviser to lead our Work and Care policy areas! Are you a visionary leader with the arguments, policies and ideas to address the challenges underpinning poverty in the UK? We'd love to hear from you! Full job description and application: https://bit.ly/4sTq807

We may yet see a fall from 3.3% in the April data (out in May) because of falls in the April energy price cap, and falling wage growth and a fading impact from higher employer NICs causing a falling inflation rate in services. But sadly the predicted return to ~target level won't happen.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation@jrf-uk.bsky.social · 4mo ago

📉 Before the conflict in the Middle East, inflation was expected to fall to close to 2% in the middle of 2026. Today's CPI figure for March shows things are moving in the opposite direction, and this is before the impact of higher energy prices hits household bills. 🧵 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

See a resurrected JRF chart showing how disappointing real wage growth has been since September 2024, compared to the year before then. And this is before any impacts from the Iran conflict. Earnings up £1.40/wk over last 17 months, compared to £11.60/wk up in the prev 12 months.

How long have you got to live and live healthily? It’s well known that people in less deprived areas live longer. Let’s look at a boy born in 2023 in the most deprived tenth of areas. They can expect to live 10 years fewer than a boy born in the least deprived tenth of areas.

This is a precis of an excellent paper from @jelliott94.bsky.social, Rosie Worsdale and Ruby Blower at JRF. Do skim the thread or better still, read the paper.

Joseph Elliott@jelliott94.bsky.social · 4mo ago

It's a bit of a myth that rents are constantly increasing faster than earnings or overall inflation - on average, they're not. So what *is* the problem of unaffordability in the private rented sector? And what does this mean for how we go about fixing it? Our take 🧵⬇️

The story in yesterday’s poverty data? A small rise in poverty in Labour’s first year, up by 500k to 13.4 million in 2024/25. ⬆️working-age adults in poverty went up by 300k ⬆️number of pensioner in poverty went up by 200k ↔️child poverty stayed flat. More action needed! 1/7

On 26th March, new poverty stats are out. They'll look different though, with one of the biggest ever changes in methodology. Read why this is short-term pain for long-term gain, and why the changes are a bit like this Formula 1 season: linkedin.com/pulse/next-g...

Next generation poverty statistics

On the 26 March, we will see new, improved poverty statistics in Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)’s Households Below Average Income Statistics. Here's what you need to know.

linkedin.com

Speedy analysis from @jrf-uk.bsky.social . This is how modelled household incomes evolve over the Parliament after deducting housing costs. It's a disappointing picture. Let's hope the Government beat the forecasts, although the headwinds from the current conflict shouldn't be underestimated.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation@jrf-uk.bsky.social · 5mo ago

🔔 New analysis alert! Our modelling finds that average annual household disposable incomes are projected to grow by just £40 over the course of the current parliament (from April 2024 to April 2029) after adjusting for inflation.

Pleased to talk through @jrf-uk.bsky.social evidence on the impact on society of the pandemic today at @ukcovid-19inquiry.bsky.social. We need to learn from people's insight and lived experience, and I want to thank everyone we worked with or who provided info during extraordinarily stressful times.

UK Covid-19 Inquiry@ukcovid-19inquiry.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Peter Matejic (Chief Analyst, Joseph Rowntree Foundation) will give evidence to the Inquiry this afternoon.

Following #UKPoverty2026, more warning signs flashing. As well as describing problem of insufficient income from work, the Minimum Income Standard helps the solution as the key data source for the Real Living Wage ‪‪@livingwageuk.bsky.social‬‬. Even with falling inflation, costs continue to bite.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation@jrf-uk.bsky.social · 6mo ago

More than two-thirds of households struggling to afford a decent life are in work. New research from @lborouniversity.bsky.social funded by JRF, sets out the scale of the problem. A 🧵

Do send in any questions - we have an excellent team of analysts ready to answer any questions you have!

Joseph Rowntree Foundation@jrf-uk.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Want to find out more about #UKPoverty2026? Has a stat, the methodology or something else grabbed your attention? On Wed 4th Feb from 12-2pm, we'll be hosting an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit with our analysis team. Questions open on Monday. www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics...

You can probably tell this isn't my natural forte (!), but we wanted to get the message out about how action is needed to lower poverty levels in the UK. If you want to hear more (including from me), join our webinar at 10.30: www.jrf.org.uk/events/uk-po....

UK Poverty 2026 launch webinar

Join the UK Poverty 2026 launch webinar to hear about all the findings in our flagship report. Thursday 29 January 2026, 10.30am–12pm

jrf.org.uk

Joseph Rowntree Foundation@jrf-uk.bsky.social · 6mo ago

❌ ‘The longer we accept this as normal, the greater the damage it does’ Our Chief Analyst @statspeter.bsky.social gives an overview of the numbers in #UKPoverty2026 of children, working-age adults and pensioners living in poverty, and what the lack of progress means for society 🔽

One of the highlights of this and previous years' reports was working with the Grassroots Poverty Action Group. It's important to hear real stories and struggles, and not just reduce this to a commentary on statistics, up or down. Policies and decisions have real impacts!

Joseph Rowntree Foundation@jrf-uk.bsky.social · 6mo ago

🗣️ “Nothing’s changed? Everything’s changed. It’s worse.” We were privileged to work alongside the Grassroots Poverty Action Group (GPAG) on the foreword of our #UKPoverty2026 report that launched this morning. They also shared their reflections on they key findings in this impactful video ⬇️

This was an enormous amount of work from folk across @jrf-uk.bsky.social and beyond. Do engage with the content and let us know what you think.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation@jrf-uk.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Poverty is deepening. 🔎 Our #UKPoverty2026 report was launched this morning. People in very deep poverty now make up the biggest group of people in poverty, at 6.8 million people. This is unacceptable for the fifth richest country in the world, and it has consequences.

New DWP forecasts show that spending on working-age social security is expected to be stable over the rest of the parliament at 5.1% of GDP This is a slight increase from the Spring, but is mainly for welcome reasons like removing the two-child limit and reversing some of the cuts put forward then

"That would mean the single greatest fall [in child poverty] in one Parliament since records began." Look at how this Parliament could compare to previous ones back to 1964. An excellent foundation to build from, as @katieschmuecker.bsky.social says.

Katie Schmuecker @katieschmuecker.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Lifting more than half a million children out of poverty by the end of the parliament - now that's the government putting its money where its mouth is on its manifesto commitment to reduce child poverty. More to do, but a good foundation to build from.

Scrapping 2-child limit is great, but other Govt changes are terrible: by 2029/30, 750k new claimants miss out on ~£3,000 a year because of UC health changes, but OBR says this will lead to only a 26k rise in employment, so for 97% of newly sick people it's a straight cut.

Iain Porter@iainkporter.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Today the OBR finally published employment impacts of Govt’s (remaining) disability benefit cuts, which weren’t ready in the spring. Confirms @jrf-uk.bsky.social analysis at the time that these huge cuts to disabled people’s incomes come with relatively few expected to move into work. 🧵1/3

All being well, I should be on @itvnews.bsky.social Calendar in Yorkshire this evening, to talk about Budget measures. DYK the number of children benefitting from the scrapping the 2-child limit in South Yorkshire alone would more than fill Brammall Lane (or Hillsborough if you prefer!)

Why does @jrf-uk.bsky.social show a fall while OBR shows a rise in living standards? See jrf.org.uk/cost-of-livi... for an explainer, and this is my latest version comparing like with like, with both series showing a disappointing profile before taking account of rising housing costs.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation@jrf-uk.bsky.social · 8mo ago

🏘️ The average household will now be £850 worse off in 2029-30 than 2024-25. Households in the highest third of incomes face the biggest fall in living standards, declining by 2.9% or £2,230 on average. Those in the middle-income third (0.9% or £300) will see a smaller fall.

Chancellor said lifting 2-child limit means "Biggest reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since records began." Estimated 400k reduction would be, but modelling is always uncertain. What is certain is that removing the 2 Child Limit is pivotal to the fall.

A child poverty strategy with the 2-child limit in place would *not* be a credible child poverty strategy. *All* of the growth in child poverty since the 2011/12 low point is for children in scope of this policy.

Slightly higher earnings growth in latest month of data means real earnings are up 0.4% on the year to Sept 25, equating to £2.20 a week, a huge contrast to the previous 12-month period where growth was more than 5 times higher at 2.4%, £11.60 after inflation.

We learnt today that annual CPI inflation was 3.8% in September 2025. The Universal Credit Act 2025 increases the rate of the standard allowance in Universal Credit by 2.3% after applying this inflation, meaning an increase of around 6.2% in April 2026.