50th Anniversary Blog Series

2017 marked the 50th anniversary of the SPA. To celebrate this milestone we commissioned 50 blog posts from leading experts in the field, edited by Kevin Farnsworth and Zoe Irving. You can read all 50 of these posts below.

“Social policy matters. Rigorous, independent, robust study of it matters, as does teaching the next generation to be more policy-literate. At 50 the SPA is as important to all of these as ever, helping to develop, integrate and safeguard the subject and its members and contribute to better social policies.”

(50 words to mark 50 years, Adrian Sinfield)

Inequality persists in the UK in large part due to a moral economy that valorises competition and meritocracy and denigrates lack of financial success.

No 50: Why do high rates of poverty and economic inequality persist in the UK?

July 5, 2019 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Karen Rowlingson The UK is one of the wealthiest countries in the world and yet levels of poverty and economic inequality are extremely high. In 2016, the top 1 per cent in the UK […]

Racism and ethnic discrimination are rife within higher education. The Social Policy Association is taking steps to address these problems within its discipline.

No 49: Addressing ‘race’ and ethnicity in social policy

July 3, 2019 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Steve Iafrati and Jane Millar Social policy has always been a dynamic discipline that has readily identified new social challenges and been at the forefront of recognising ways of improving society. Amidst a contemporary […]

A social policy focus on security in the Middle East and North Africa neglects all other forms of welfare and social security.

No 48: Social policy in the Middle East and North Africa must be about more than security

June 28, 2019 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Rana Jawad The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has some of the worst social and economic indicators of human development in the world, which exacerbate drivers of conflict in this region. They […]

Though the size of the global middle class is growing, their political power is shrinking in the face of austerity.

No 47: Farewell to the middle class?

June 26, 2019 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Zoë Irving On Tuesday 22nd May 2019, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights released the final report on his country visit to the UK. His conclusion that the evaporation […]

Do far-right Austrian politics foretell the future of European populism?

No 46: Conservative and far right social policy in Austria

June 24, 2019 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Mark Foord In 1988, Thomas Bernard, writer and critic of the silence surrounding Austria’s Nazi past, premiered his final work ‘Heldenplatz’. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the ‘Anschluss’ (the annexation of Austria into Nazi […]

The government of López Obrador in Mexico is letting down the poor with its austerity and poorly crafted social policy.

No 45: Contradictions from the left in Mexico

June 13, 2019 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Luis Huesca Reynoso and Ricardo Velázquez Leyer In 2018, for the first time in Mexico’s history, a left-wing government was in a fair and competitive election, just when governments in other Latin American countries began to veer […]

Australian data debunk the myth of welfare takers

No 44: In it together: why receiving benefits is far more common than we think

April 9, 2019 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Peter Whiteford In January 2019 the Australian shadow spokesperson for employment services announced that the Australian Labor Party would reduce the number of job applications that unemployed people receiving benefits were required to make […]

How does social policy differ between Canada and the US?

No 42: Social policy change in the United States and Canada

February 20, 2019 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Daniel Béland and Alex Waddan Canada and the United States are often described as liberal welfare regimes. They rely more extensively on social assistance-style programs and tax-subsidized private benefits and services than is the […]

Sex workers want rights, not rescue. Dr Kate Brown explains why and how.

No 41: Rights not rescue – What social policy can learn from sex workers

December 13, 2018 S-P-A-Administrator 0

by Kate Brown During National Anti-trafficking Week in October 2016, the UK’s anti-trafficking commissioner reported that “more victims [are] being identified, referred for appropriate support and restored of their freedom”. In the same week, an […]