Adobe Acrobat PDF

Poverty and the Big Society: views from the community sector

E-pamphlet to stimulate debate within the voluntary and community sector about the Big Society and its potential for delivering greater social justice and reducing poverty.

It is made up of six contributions which emerged from a roundtable discussion with some 16 organisations, organised by NPI in November 2011, with various community groups and grantmaking charities.

On the margins: local authority service provision for Scottish Gypsy Travellers

Scottish Gypsy Travellers have a long history of facing discrimination in Scotland. In 2001, the Scottish Parliament’s Equal Opportunities Committee conducted an inquiry that highlighted continuing discrimination and adopted a number of recommendations for Scottish authorities. Eight years later, Amnesty International Scotland was asked to investigate the issue and this document provides a report of the findings.

The association between childhood cognitive ability and adult long-term sickness absence in three British birth cohorts: a cohort study

Paper which aimed to test the relationship between childhood cognitive function and long-term sick leave in adult life and whether any relationship was mediated by educational attainment, adult social class or adult mental ill-health.

Data from the 1946, 1958 and 1970 British birth cohorts was used. Initial study populations included all live births in 1 week in that year.

So far so good: age, happiness, and relative income

In a simple 2-period model of relative income under uncertainty, higher comparison income for the younger cohort can signal higher or lower expected lifetime relative income, and hence either increase or decrease well-being. With data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and the British Household Panel Survey, this paper confirms the standard negative effects of comparison income on life satisfaction with all age groups, and many controls.

Parenting on a low income

Report that presents a review of research evidence to help inform voluntary and public sector agencies in the development of services.

It has been produced by About Families, a partnership which seeks to ensure that the changing needs of parents, including families affected by disability, are met by providing accessible and relevant evidence to inform service development.

Re-moralising 'vulnerability'

Paper that discusses some of the practical and theoretical implications of the utilisation of the concept of ‘vulnerability’ in contemporary social policy. The analysis questions how far a seemingly protective and therapeutic emphasis on vulnerability has more stigmatising and exclusive effects.

Educational equality for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and young people in the UK

This article provides evidence that, in the field of education, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities suffer manifestly unequal outcomes. Drawing particularly on the authors’ first hand experience of working to advance educational equality for these communities in one area of London, the article explores some of the reasons why this is the case, highlighting the day-to-day experiences of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller families.