Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerAnthony Painter @anthonypainter.bsky.social · 29/09/2026And, let's be honest, the barbarians are at the gates. Not really a time to split hairs if the broad thrust can work. 0182
Reposted by Ben Baumberg Geigerlastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 29/09/2026This is my favourite Borges story. 721748
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerPedro Magalhães @pcmagalhaes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026The Atlas of Social Attitudes is now live: www.atlasofsocialattitudes.eu What is it, what can you do with it, and why did we build it? A short🧵. (1)atlasofsocialattitudes.euAtlas of Social AttitudesExplore comprehensive public opinion data from the European Social Survey and the European Values Survey. Discover insights across topics, countries, an... 33325
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerIain Porter @iainkporter.bsky.social · 22/09/2026The first benefit cap stats have been published since the 2-child limit was scrapped. 165,000 families - containing over 370,000 children - are now hit by the benefit cap. That’s 50,000 more families than before. 1/4 22526
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerHetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 17/09/2026AI is screwing up journal papers: Journal editor asks authors of 10 submitted papers to meet and discuss their paper. Of the 7 that showed up, 3 were unable to answer basic questions about the paper and 3 had difficulty when asked further questions on technical details… medium.com/@TmlrOrg/ask...medium.comAsking Authors About Their Own PapersBy Nihar B. Shah 1315684
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerDaniel C. Blight @danielcblight.bsky.social · 14/09/2026***URGENT PLEASE SHARE*** University of Brighton management have announced today that they ‘give notice of termination of all collective agreements’. This is a fundamental erasure of workers' rights. Management have announced the termination of all contractual documents, which includes: 13597706
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerSarah O'Connor @sarahoconnorft.ft.com · 14/09/2026In both China and the west, the gig economy has become a sort of safety net/labour market shock absorber. But automation is coming for a lot of this work. Which means the biggest impact of AI/robots might unfold in the dark, in the part of the economy hardest to track. www.ft.com/content/a2c3... 415868
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerGiles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 12/09/2026aleximas.substack.com/p/will-ai-so... The best blog ever written on AI and growth, by a clear margin. By @aleximas.bsky.socialaleximas.substack.comWill AI soon lead to double-digit growth?Probably not. Here is why. 810334
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerRob de Vries @rob-devries.bsky.social · 08/09/2026BBC article is probably the best summary of mine and @benbgeiger.bsky.social's BSA chapter. Includes the important point that non-pensioner welfare spending **has not** been rising (as a % of GDP) chahttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4grdk95vgnobbc.co.ukPublic opposed to disability benefit cuts, major survey suggestsAround 7% of those polled wanted disability benefit cuts, according to the latest British social attitudes survey. 112
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerSam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 08/09/2026One reason England does so well is our second generation immigrants outperform their peers which is not true in most OECD countries. We are also very good at integration. And it's v sad that this is never acknowledge in debates on immigration. 592405851
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerRob de Vries @rob-devries.bsky.social · 08/09/2026@benbgeiger.bsky.social and my report for BSA on attitudes to disabiltiy benefits is out today. Basic message: politicians shouldn't assume that there is a strong public appetite for cuts to disability benefits natcen.ac.uk/publications...natcen.ac.ukBSA 43 | Attitudes to welfare | National Centre for Social ResearchThis chapter analyses public attitudes towards spending on disability benefits and relevant trends in attitudes to welfare spending more broadly. 067
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerResolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 27/08/2026As we said late last year, local housing allowance rates and market rents should be relinked annually to prevent this constant cost of living squeeze for low-income renters. This should be a top priority for any new Government. Full details here ⬇️ buff.ly/jYw8YaAbuff.lyHousing Outlook Q4 2025 • Resolution FoundationIn 2012, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) levels were linked to the 30th percentile of local rents and automatically revised to reflect market changes. However, since the systematic link with market… 143
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerResolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 27/08/2026The gap between the support low-income private tenants can get and market rents in their area has now reached 21%. It's approaching the record gap of 23% when support was last increased in 2024, but the government has given no plans to increase support until 2030. 176
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerInclusion London @inclusionlondon.bsky.social · 17/08/2026The Timms review is hosting 15 national workshops online and in person to shape the recommendations that form part of its final report. We want Disabled people to be part of shaping these recommendations. There are 300 participant places available. Register as a participant here: buff.ly/ZtlUstRbuff.lyTimms Review: register your interest in a shaping recommendations workshopWe use some essential cookies to make this website work. 017
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerDorothy Bishop @deevybee.bsky.social · 16/08/2026New blogpost deevybee.blogspot.com/2026/08/acce... inspired by recent depressing experience as a peer reviewer. AI-generated #fraud is getting very hard to detect. #peerreviewdeevybee.blogspot.comAcceleration of the arms race between fraudsters and honest researchersI was recently asked to review a paper that piqued my curiosity. From the abstract it sounded as if it was a secondary analysis of a datas... 59552
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerThe Bear @bearlypolitics.co.uk · 22/07/2026This could very well be the most important story in politics for the last decade and a half. Please read and share this equally harrowing and illuminating account by @carolecadwalla.bsky.social of just how dark the money in politics pit really goes. Absolutely mind blowing.thenerve.newsFarage, the money launderer and me: a decade of denialThe Reform leader’s relationship with the UK media has enabled him to operate with impunity for years. This past fortnight, that impunity finally appeared to be coming to an end. Carole Cadwalladr, wh... 54782496
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerJosimarFootball @josimarfootball.bsky.social · 14/07/2026New! Ny! Every World Cup is meant to have a legacy, this one could be the moment when the process of reclaiming and reforming the governance of football begins. By @davidgoldblatt.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2026/07/14/d...josimarfootball.comDystopia - josimarfootball.comEvery World Cup is meant to have a legacy, this one could be the moment when the process of reclaiming and reforming the governance of football begins. 13216
Ben Baumberg Geiger @benbgeiger.bsky.social · 13/07/2026New post: **On “What’s really going on with mental health?” in the FT** ...following-up @jburnmurdoch.ft.com piece about our research over the weekend, based on research with @chrishenking.bsky.social inequalities.substack.com/p/on-whats-r... 032
Ben Baumberg Geiger @benbgeiger.bsky.social · 09/07/2026The Timms Review steering group - which I'm one of 15 members of - has published its interim report into PIP, available from www.gov.uk/government/p... The Review has found that while PIP is valued, it is not fit for purpose. The steering group will make their final recommendations in autumn. 021
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerDan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 01/07/2026What if Andy Burnham could raise £15bn – without a tax rise? There's one catch. He'd need to solve the UK’s biggest and least-discussed tax problem. Almost half of all small business corporation tax isn't being paid - and nobody knows why. Thread: 42540271
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerResolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 23/06/2026How much power do workers in precarious sectors feel they have to shape their working conditions? They told us, not a lot ⤵️ 0113
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerPeter Beresford @peterberesford.bsky.social · 15/06/2026Check out these user led organisation job opportunities tell your friends and colleagues please shapingourlives.org.uk/join-our-team/shapingourlives.org.ukJoin Our Team! - Shaping Our LivesWe are looking for a Communications and Marketing Officer and a Head of Projects - click here to learn more about our recruitment process. 036
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerStephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 16/06/2026This is very good and, I think, persuasive: 2910621
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerRuth Curtice @ruthcurtice.bsky.social · 12/06/2026Since defence spending’s recent peak in the mid-80s non-pensioner welfare has grown from around 4.8.% of GDP to 5.1% now. Importantly, non-pensioner welfare is now about the level of the mid-90s, below its global financial crisis peak, but has seen some rise from its level immediately pre-pandemic. 112225
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerRuth Curtice @ruthcurtice.bsky.social · 12/06/2026The chart focused on working-age welfare. But it contained two mistakes. First, it focused only on benefits delivered by DWP but that means it appears that spending rises as the administration of some benefits changed from HMRC to DWP (with the switch from tax credits to UC this matters a lot). 313816
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerRuth Curtice @ruthcurtice.bsky.social · 12/06/2026As debates rage about where to get the money for higher defence spending, it’s important we have a clear picture of how we spent the peace dividend while it was around. Thread 🧵⤵️ 13299158
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerPer Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · 10/06/2026If anyone had any doubt about what kind of publisher Frontiers is, this is a shocking whistleblower account 04837
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerManasvini Singh @vinisingh.bsky.social · 08/06/2026New WP, just in time for #ASHEcon26! What started off as a project to learn LLM use for text analysis turned accidentally into a paper about stigma. [1/n] 26524
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerResolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 03/06/2026Falling payroll jobs in the latest ONS stats, alongside a growing population mean the employment rate must be falling. We estimate a 16+ unemployment rate in February of 60.8 per cent, substantially down on the 2023 high point of 62.0 per cent. More in our Substack ➡️ buff.ly/rBt8UM1 011
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerAnna Dent @annadent.bsky.social · 29/05/2026They seem to be constructing an actual deep state - a parallel digital infrastructure with no transparency or accountability. 112
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerHenry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 29/05/2026‘Bonkers’: the audacious plan to create a 1 million-person city near Cambridge as.ft.com/r/dbdd2e1b-c...as.ft.com‘Bonkers’: the audacious plan for a 1mn-person city near CambridgeShiv Malik, a former journalist, conceived his vision of timber skyscrapers after chronicling how young people were struggling 8276
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerTrish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 23/05/2026Every summer I repost this article on how to spot drowning. Please read it and pass on. In the last few years I’ve had SIX messages from people who saved a kid’s life after clicking on the link from my feed. slate.com/technology/2...slate.comDrowning Doesn’t Look Like DrowningDrowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect. 253133989736
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerPaul Bivand @paulbivand.bsky.social · 20/05/2026Looking at the same data over the whole period we have data, new job starts have fallen a lot since covid reopening, and are now well below pre-covid patterns. Job leavers (including to new jobs) have been much more stable. To split out whether job starters or leavers are job changers needs LFS. 2/ 101
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerSusannah Walker @susannahwalker.bsky.social · 29/08/2025In response to my rant yesterday, I was asked how we can make better parks and other public places for teenage girls? What do they want? I have answers to this, so now a positive 🧵. Starting in Sweden, where this was co-designed by teenage girls. 1519995
Ben Baumberg Geiger @benbgeiger.bsky.social · 20/05/2026***How to get disability statistics you can trust*** New post on Inequalities: My last post described the 'disability statistics disaster' - now I explain how to fix it inequalities.substack.com/p/disability...inequalities.substack.comHow to get disability statistics you can trustMy last post described the 'disability statistics disaster' - now I explain how to fix it 164
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerJosimarFootball @josimarfootball.bsky.social · 14/05/2026New! Ny! Fifa and its 'relationship' with the press. A Josimar editorial. josimarfootball.com/2026/05/14/o...josimarfootball.comOmerta - josimarfootball.comThe press remains one of the last checks on Fifa’s power. Gianni Infantino and his media office are cracking down on it. 02710
Ben Baumberg Geiger @benbgeiger.bsky.social · 14/05/2026Brilliant public service in figuring out why the headline doing the rounds is complete nonsense 040
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerEmma Monk @monkemma.bsky.social · 13/05/2026Well, that Express headline was always going to raise a few eyebrows!😳 Starmer is responsible for embracing polygamy to appease Muslims, and so he's increasing their benefits?? That's the implication. After all, this "started in April", right? Wrong! 🧵1/25 16464203
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerPaul Hünermund @p-hunermund.com · 11/05/2026From now on, I'm going to write papers where I take an arbitrary performance metric, restrict the sample to top performers on that metric, and then hunt for negative correlations with everything else in the truncated sample. I'm at a business school, so this should be extremely lucrative. 1028044
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerPer Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · 08/05/2026What can we learn from automating an entire quantitative social science paper, from prompt to finished product? Thread about ongoing work with @natewilmers.bsky.social 1/12 Paper: osf.io/preprints/so... 25276106
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerUCL Social Research Institute @sriucl.bsky.social · 05/05/2026Happening today 021
Ben Baumberg Geiger @benbgeiger.bsky.social · 01/05/2026***The Disability Statistics Disaster*** I don't trust the official UK statistics on trends in the disability employment gap, and neither should you... -> New blog post at inequalities.substack.com/p/the-disabi... 1611
Ben Baumberg Geiger @benbgeiger.bsky.social · 30/04/2026Health Studies User Conference 2026 run by @ukdataservice.bsky.social is coming up on 25th June (London/hybrid), including a paper by Christoph Henking & me on how mental distress, self-identified mental illness, and activity limitations have changed over time... [#1 of 2]ukdataservice.ac.ukHealth Studies User Conference 2026 — UK Data ServiceA comprehensive resource funded by the ESRC to support researchers, teachers and policymakers who depend on high-quality social and economic data. 120
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerPeter Matejic @statspeter.bsky.social · 24/04/2026Join us! This is a very important role, working with some brilliant analysts (and others!) 077
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerResolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 20/04/2026This year’s Universal Credit uplift means that the basic rate of unemployment benefits will go up by more than inflation for the first time since 1983. But the real-terms value of unemployment benefit is still 5% lower than in 2010-11. By contrast, State Pension rose by 20% over the same period. 11011
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerDeclan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 14/04/2026'Ever-expanding welfare budget' klaxon. There is no welfare budget and welfare expenditure as % GDP does not show a consistent rising trend over any timeframe since the 1980s. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...theguardian.comStarmer’s ‘corrosive complacency’ on defence has put UK in peril, says ex-Nato chiefGeorge Robertson says Iran war should be wake-up call to address military underfunding in scathing remarks 65722
Ben Baumberg Geiger @benbgeiger.bsky.social · 13/04/2026**False accusations of fraud: lessons from the Carer’s Allowance Overpayments review** New post at inequalities.substack.com/p/lessons-fr... 033
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerAyaz Manji @ayazmanji.bsky.social · 09/04/2026After a bit of time away from work, I'm getting back into some writing and thinking on mental health and social security. New blog below on what policymakers miss when they focus on overmedicalisation and mental health disabilitysocialsecurity.substack.com/p/why-medica... 022
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerResolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 09/04/2026This year’s Universal Credit uplift means that the basic rate of unemployment benefits will go up by more than inflation for the first time since 1983. But the real-terms value of unemployment benefit is still 5% lower than in 2010-11. By contrast, State Pension rose by 20% over the same period. 21817
Reposted by Ben Baumberg GeigerResolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 09/04/2026Poverty numbers have been revised down, but poverty hasn’t fallen. Head to our Substack, where @alexclegg.bsky.social explains what the DWP's data release last week does and doesn't tell us about poverty in the UK.buff.lyPoverty numbers have been revised down, but poverty hasn’t fallenEconomist Alex Clegg explains what we can learn from the latest data revisions on poverty – and what it doesn’t change. 035