May 4, 2018 Leave a Comment
The latest edition of our newsletter, with details of the launch of our final findings; our international conference; Forces veterans report and blogs is out now. Sign up at the foot of this page to receive your copy.
May 3, 2018 Leave a Comment
The programme for our international conference on 26-28 June is now available. With more than 80 papers, plus top plenary speakers Professors Rik van Berkel and Jane Millar – and our WelCond research findings – this is a must-attend event. The first in a series of books based on WelCond research, Welfare Conditionality by Beth Watts and Suzanne Fitzpatrick, will also be launched at the conference.
Book your place now (closing date 11 June)
April 19, 2018 Leave a Comment
The recommendation has been put forward in a Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) funded report, entitled Sanctions, support and Service leavers: Social security benefits, welfare conditionality and transitions from military to civilian life released today.
The report, by the University of Salford and the University of York, details first wave findings from this major study, linked to WelCond, investigating the experiences of ex-Service personnel and the benefits system.
Read a blog by researchers Katy Jones and Lisa Scullion on the appropriateness of support being offered. And in a blog for The Conversation, the five-strong research team discuss their findings.
April 19, 2018 Leave a Comment
Katy Jones and Lisa Scullion give some early findings from this exciting new project
The Welfare Conditionality project has demonstrated the varied experiences of different groups in an increasingly conditional welfare system. In this blogpost we share some interim findings from a new, linked project: Sanctions, Support and Service Leavers, in which we explore the experiences of former Service personnel in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit (UC), as they attempt to navigate the transition from military to civilian life. Read More
April 13, 2018 Leave a Comment
In this new guest post, a service user gives her experiences of the fear factor and the cumulative effects of welfare conditionality. She discusses the pincer effect of different conditions in the benefit system – and the mental and physical burden on benefit recipients. Read more
April 13, 2018 Leave a Comment
Jeanette Smith (not her real name) lives in the south of England. In this first of a two-part guest blog post she discusses the pincer effect of different conditions in the benefit system – and the mental and physical burden on benefit recipients
I am currently in receipt of ESA (Employment and Support Allowance) and I am due to have a home visit by a ‘Healthcare Professional’ to assess my claim. I requested this due to the fact that I do not feel able to travel to the Assessment Centre in another town. This process took over a month, as they said they had not received the letter from my doctor. I had to keep making new appointments to allow time for this. Read More
March 27, 2018 Leave a Comment
This event presents the first-wave findings of our longitudinal project funded by the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT). This ground breaking project represents the first substantive research focusing specifically on veterans’ experiences of the social security benefits system in their transition to civilian life.
The event will include a presentation by the University of Salford and University of York research team, followed by a panel response including Dr Alan Barrett, Clinical Lead, Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust Military Veterans’ Service; Mark Knight, Armed Forces Lead, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP); and a representative of the Covenant Team from the Ministry of Defence.
As part of the project, we have also been working with Graphic Design students in the School of Arts and Media at the University of Salford. Delegates will also therefore have an opportunity to view some of the initial illustrations produced by the students based on anonymised excerpts from some of the interviews.
This event is free to attend, but registration is required for catering purposes. Please click here to register your attendance. If you have any questions about the event or the project please contact Dr Lisa Scullion: l.scullion@salford.ac.uk
March 19, 2018 Leave a Comment
Much of the recent debate surrounding the controversial rollout of Universal Credit (UC) has focused on the six week wait for UC claimants to receive support. One core feature of UC that has been largely overlooked in this discussion, however, is the disciplinary role of sanctions and the various adverse impacts that they have on individuals. In this new blog, researcher Evan Williams shows how the rise of sanctioning in UK social security has transferred to the new system.
March 19, 2018 Leave a Comment
Researcher Evan Williams shows how the rise of sanctioning in UK social security has transferred to the new system
Much of the recent media, think tank and parliamentary debate surrounding the controversial rollout of Universal Credit (UC) has focused on the harmful six week wait for UC claimants to receive support. One core feature of UC that has been largely overlooked in this discussion, however, is the disciplinary role of sanctions and the various adverse impacts that they have on individuals. This short piece provides some context to the current UC sanctions regime by focusing on sanctioning policy for Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimants – one of the six existing means-tested benefits that UC replaces – under the previous Coalition Government (2010-2015). Read More
March 1, 2018 Leave a Comment
We’ve become aware that some academic colleagues may have had difficulty meeting our conference abstracts deadline of 28 February, because of the current industrial action. So we’ve extended the deadline to 5pm on Friday 9 March. Find full details of our call for papers here. Send your abstracts to the conference email address info@welfareconditionality.ac.uk. The dates for the international conference are 26-28 June 2018.
