Guest Blogger blog posts
No matter how old we get, the role of teacher is perceived as one of authority. Authority can of course symbolise oppression, a dangerous imbalance of status, or the powerful versus the powerless. But authority isn’t...Read more »
Since our launch, the Better Work Network has grown rapidly to include over 260 members. The high levels of interest in our work reflect the sobering reality of the growing significance of the issues of low...Read more »
For many people in the criminal justice system who do not have English as their first language, the experience of prison can be doubly debilitating. The Prison within a Prison report by The Bell Foundation concludes...Read more »
I’m Mason and I am the new finance apprentice at Learning and Work Institute. I have only been at L&W a few weeks, but in my short time here, I am really enjoying gaining valuable skills...Read more »
What a great opportunity to hear from key note speakers Angela Rayner MP and Baroness Buscombe at Learning and Work Institute’s Employment and Skills Convention! I attended the breakout session ‘Tackling the Disability Employment Gap’ which...Read more »
Robots and Brexit are the two phenomena most commonly talked about when people discuss the future of work and the workplace. But there is a third major change coming to the world of work, that everyone...Read more »
We all know that work should be a reliable route out of poverty. It isn’t right that over 4 million workers have been caught up in the rising tide of poverty; but we can turn the...Read more »
The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) believes that apprenticeships can drive improvements in workforce productivity at all levels. The programme should also be a vehicle for social justice. Other key stakeholders feel the same,...Read more »
While successive governments have touted ‘work as the best route out of poverty’, the rising tide of working poor across the UK tells another story. The growth in high risk, low remuneration jobs – typified by...Read more »
Over the last few years, much has been said about the need for reform in prison education (e.g., the Coates Review, 2016). The logic is that educated inmates are more likely to gain employment and lead...Read more »
The motivation behind Step Up was simple – to stay true to our charitable mission! Walcot Foundation has made grants for the relief of poverty in Lambeth for more than 350 years but Step Up is...Read more »
Policy in Practice was invited to host a session on how Universal Credit is supporting people into work at the Employment and Skills Convention 2018. Policy in Practice’s Benefit and Budgeting Calculator helps people on the...Read more »
We all agree that the world of work is changing. As technology continues to disrupt the way we work and AI replaces manual jobs more and more emphasis will be placed on developing those skills that...Read more »
Last week I spoke on a panel at the Employment and Skills Convention 2018. The debate, entitled ‘Moving up or moving out: skills for getting unstuck’, was apposite because – perhaps now more than ever – having a...Read more »
Work should provide a route out of poverty, but in our country, eight million people in poverty live in a working household. Families with children are the most likely to be locked in poverty despite being...Read more »
“It is hit and miss what you get on Universal Credit,” says Elaine, single mum to a seven year old, as she tries to manage her family finances. Elaine is one of a growing number of...Read more »
Recently the newspapers heralded the ‘record high’ number of people in work in the UK, as the unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, the lowest it has been since records began.[1] While, of course, this is a...Read more »
The Positive Transitions—Supporting Young Adult Carers in Learning and Work conference provided ample opportunity for rich conversation amongst it’s attendees. While the highlight of the event was the notable presence of HRH The Princess Royal, Learning...Read more »
Hello, my name is Lucy Prentice, I am 20 years old and a full-time carer for my mother. I have been a carer since the age of 11 when my mother suffered a raptured brain aneurysm. ...Read more »
Apprenticeships are a key government policy to support transition to the labour market, social mobility, economic growth and improved productivity. While evidence shows that the benefits to apprentices, to businesses and to our wider economy and...Read more »
When I got into housing, 40 years ago, it was a different environment to the one we have today. There were only a few Housing Associations, a reducing private rented sector and the main alternative to...Read more »
As far as I know Victor Hugo never wrote an apprentice into the story of Les Miserables but whilst I was reading Apprentice Pay – sticking to the rules I couldn’t help humming a few lines...Read more »
A couple of weeks ago, on this blog, Tony Wilson argued that it was “time to pause UC…slow down and be prepared to change course”. He raised the issues of slow processing times for Universal Credit...Read more »
My name is Sam. I was a care leaver in 2011 who arrived on the shores of Swansea – then the beloved Swansea Metropolitan, to study Education (and transition to become a Primary School Teacher). The...Read more »
My name is Habib Rezaie. I came to the UK from Afghanistan in 2006 at the age of 16, as an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child. At age 12 I lost both of my parents and went through...Read more »
By Sam Thomas, Policy manager at Making Every Adult Matter www.meam.org.uk For many people experiencing multiple needs, moving towards work is an important ambition. Achieving social justice requires a focus on those with the furthest to...Read more »
11 July 2017 by Guest Blogger
An estimated one million people aged over 50 in the UK are involuntarily out of work. Currently, employment support is not serving these people well – they are more likely to be workless, and more likely...Read more »
11 July 2017 by Guest Blogger
To everyone’s relief and possibly to some’s disappointment, no Charleston dance moves or party hats were involved in this session. The limelight was on Steps Ahead Mentoring, a volunteering programme run by the CIPD, that aims...Read more »
11 July 2017 by Guest Blogger
Policy in Practice is tracking the changing living standards on more than 444,000 low income households across London. At IntoWork 2017 Deven Ghelani told delegates how, by combining housing benefit and council tax support data from...Read more »
7 July 2017 by Guest Blogger
By Dr Wanda Wyporska, Executive Director at The Equality Trust We often hear the term “social justice” bandied about by politicians, but what does it actually mean, and what does it look like? Too often it means a...Read more »