Reposted by Christopher RocksBilly Carpenter @billycarpy.bsky.social · 25/06/2025My only question with the signing would be whether we have enough midfield depth once Nørgaard converts to #9. 91555
Reposted by Christopher RocksJonathan Derbyshire @jderbyshire.ft.com · 14/06/2025Louis Moholo-Moholo, 1940-2025. One of the giants of the South African jazz diaspora in the UK. RIP. 081
Christopher Rocks @christopher-rocks.bsky.social · 09/05/2025At £118.75 a week, low statutory sick pay is a real issue. One figure we didn’t include: households with a full-time worker spend £193 a week on essentials like food, housing, fuel and power. Even among lower income households, it’s £128. SSP doesn’t cover the basics. 0118
Reposted by Christopher RocksTom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 24/04/2025I was staggered to learn just how much pay typically swings about from month-to-month, even for the steadily-employed c/o @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social @stephenpjenkin1.bsky.social @nyecominetti.bsky.social We're all on @voxeu.org setting out their findings cepr.org/voxeu/column... 1122
Reposted by Christopher RocksDan Neidle @danneidle.bsky.social · 06/04/2025It's a scandal. We cannot create reliefs like R&D tax relief. I's generous, vague, and impossible to police - a dangerous combination. Better to have narrowly focussed reliefs which are only available to a much smaller number of businesses doing really serious R&D. 410314
Christopher Rocks @christopher-rocks.bsky.social · 04/04/2025Interesting piece on a hard topic – the risk of overdiagnosis in mental health and the need to respond to distress with care. 020
Reposted by Christopher RocksBillie Morgan @billiedsm.bsky.social · 30/03/2025☕️Sunday morning read ☕️ Sacha Romanovitch, Chair of the @healthfoundation.bsky.social Commission For Healthier Working Lives has written in the @financialtimes.com about how to keep people with health conditions in employment. First 3 clicks are not paywalled!giftarticle.ft.comHow to keep sick people in employmentSupport often comes too late — after workers have left jobs and when they have little chance of going back 002
Reposted by Christopher RocksSam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 26/03/2025This little bit of the OBR report is a very technocratic description of an almighty row between them and DWP.... 1365
Reposted by Christopher RocksThe Health Foundation @healthfoundation.bsky.social · 26/03/2025Responding to today’s Spring Statement, our Chief Executive, Jennifer Dixon says the Chancellor's cuts risk compromising people's health, with changes to benefits that will leave many people worse off, in worse health and less able to return to work. Read our full response ⬇️ buff.ly/YZ6EXKJ 1910
Reposted by Christopher RocksJonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 22/03/2025Genuinely serious, realistic appraisal of our current predicament from @anthonypainter.bsky.social. Highly recommended. anthonypainter.substack.com/p/brexterity...anthonypainter.substack.comBrexterity Britain - no way out?Without confronting the impairment of Brexit and austerity directly, the Government risks sinking into the same quicksand that swallowed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. 815157
Christopher Rocks @christopher-rocks.bsky.social · 19/03/2025As noted, cuts to health-related benefits risk worsening living standards and health. The case for reducing eligibility for PIP as a route to work doesn’t stand up - perhaps because a real answer would highlight the need for investment, while the government’s main aim is to say it’s spending less. 110
Reposted by Christopher RocksStephen Evans @stephenevans.bsky.social · 19/03/2025Mini flurry of new DWP reports yesterday: 1. Impact of extra Work Coach time on employment: www.gov.uk/government/p... 2. Estimates of lost output etc due to ill health preventing work www.gov.uk/government/s... 3. Data on durations on incapacity benefits. www.gov.uk/government/s...gov.ukThe impact of additional Jobcentre Plus support on the employment outcomes of disabled people 121
Reposted by Christopher RocksLouise Murphy @louisemurphy.bsky.social · 18/03/2025This summarises today's Green Paper well: cuts are guaranteed while additional financial support is speculative. Cuts to PIP and UC-health will not be consulted on, so are almost certainly going to be scored by the OBR next week - but plans to compensate those who lose out are uncertain... 146
Reposted by Christopher RocksAnnie Irvine @annieirvine.bsky.social · 18/03/2025The rise in distress can be absolutely real and *at the same time* not (fully) explain why people are unable to work. For that, we need to also look at precarious work, broken education & a welfare system that only offers one way to describe your barriers to work: www.health.org.uk/features-and...health.org.ukUnravelling the rise in mental health-related inactivityDr Annie Irvine on why we need a much more holistic approach to understanding capacity in order to tackle mental health-related inactivity. 083
Reposted by Christopher RocksDr Lucy Foulkes @lucyfoulkes.bsky.social · 17/03/2025Overdiagnosis of mental disorders is making headlines again, this time thanks to Wes Streeting. But it is true? (thread) www.theguardian.com/politics/202...theguardian.comWes Streeting: there is overdiagnosis of mental health conditionsHealth secretary says too many people are being ‘written off’ and that is driving ministers’ changes to welfare 63918
Reposted by Christopher RocksTom Pollard @pollardtom.bsky.social · 16/03/2025The government is right to try to 'de-risk' the journey into work for people on incapacity benefits, through the kind of 'right to try' they are trailing today Taken along with the plans to improve employment support announced last year, it could have formed a transformative agenda But... 1/3 155
Christopher Rocks @christopher-rocks.bsky.social · 17/03/2025Good to see this - it reflects one of seven recommendations from the @healthfoundation.bsky.social's Commission for #HealthierWorkingLives. The government must move beyond short-term fixes and invest in long-term support for work and health. More in the Commission’s final report:health.org.ukAction for healthier working livesThe Commission for Healthier Working Lives’ final report sets out the need for a new approach to work and health, outlining seven key recommendations to lay the foundation for long-term change. 102
Christopher Rocks @christopher-rocks.bsky.social · 14/03/2025As the government considers reforms and possible cuts to incapacity and disability support, we need a long-term vision for work and health – prioritising prevention and early support to help people stay in work and improve health. 010
Reposted by Christopher RocksIain Porter @iainkporter.bsky.social · 14/03/2025Yesterday, a Government press release claimed the number of people “considered too sick to work” had "quadrupled" since the pandemic (a "383% rise"). This is incorrect. In fact, it’s not even close. It's more like 40%. This thread explains why 🧵1/7 12188155
Reposted by Christopher RocksOriane Nermond @oriane-nmd.bsky.social · 10/03/2025New paper on supporting workers' health and access to better work. As part of a wider programme of research to inform the Commission for Healthier Working Lives led by @healthfoundation.bsky.social. learningandwork.org.uk/resources/re...learningandwork.org.ukSupporting workers’ health and access to better work 011
Reposted by Christopher Rocksjoefd.bsky.social @joefd.bsky.social · 10/03/2025‘Good work and good health go hand in hand’ Minister Sir Stephen Timms welcomes the Commission for #HealthierWorkingLives 042
Reposted by Christopher RocksCentre for Ageing Better @ageingbetter.bsky.social · 24/02/2025❓ Being told you should ‘act your age’, ‘slow down’ or ‘that’s ‘too young’ for you’. ❓ Becoming ‘unemployable’ in your 50s. ❓ Being told you’re 'surprisingly tech-savvy’ or ‘you shouldn’t wear that at your age'. buff.lyWe need to change the way we think about ageing | Age without limitsThe Age Without Limits campaign aims to change the way we all think about ageing and support a growing movement of people and organisations working to make society more age-inclusive. 113
Reposted by Christopher RocksAlison McGovern @allymcgovern.bsky.social · 06/02/2025Important research published today on the work aspirations of DWP health & disability customers. Worth reading in full. Some of the testimony here is really important. www.gov.uk/government/p...gov.ukWork aspirations and support needs of health and disability customers: Interim findingsThis report presents the employment aspirations, attitudes to work and support needs of health and disability customers. 13423
Christopher Rocks @christopher-rocks.bsky.social · 27/01/2025Great to see this report from @timewise.bsky.social. Better work design, including flexible working, has an important role to play in maintaining health and helping employers retain workers with health challenges. It's good to see the sector-specific insights, as they’re often overlooked. 011
Christopher Rocks @christopher-rocks.bsky.social · 23/01/2025Helpful new analysis from the team. Increasing mental health challenges are evident across a range of data sources, but it’s a complex picture. Dr Annie Irvine’s blog unpacks some of this complexity, which isn’t always recognised in the welfare system: www.health.org.uk/features-and...health.org.ukUnravelling the rise in mental health-related inactivityDr Annie Irvine on why we need a much more holistic approach to understanding capacity in order to tackle mental health-related inactivity. 010
Reposted by Christopher RocksHerman van de Werfhorst 🟥 @hermwerf.bsky.social · 14/12/2024Financial stress makes workers less productive. 193
Christopher Rocks @christopher-rocks.bsky.social · 23/01/2025Really looking forward to this discussion with a great mix of speakers. Do join us to hear how international approaches could help improve workforce health here in the UK. 011
Reposted by Christopher RocksAlice Martin @alicepmartin.bsky.social · 21/01/2025New survey finds work-life balance is more important to workers than pay (in @theguardian.com today) But the UK has some of the weakest working time protections in the OECD (see chart) - we also have an above average % employees working v. long hours www.lancaster.ac.uk/media/lancas... 042
Reposted by Christopher RocksJonathan Derbyshire @jderbyshire.ft.com · 18/01/2025Fifty years after Keith Jarrett’s Köln concert, this programme tries to make sense of its enduring magic www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...bbc.co.uk50 years of the Koln Concert - BBC SoundsAfter 50 years of Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert Kevin le Gendre unpicks its enduring appeal 0123
Reposted by Christopher RocksDuncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 11/01/2025A metaphor for economic policymaking in a small, open economy like Britain which I am very proud of. Feels apt to dust it off again. www.theguardian.com/books/2022/o... 68518
Reposted by Christopher RocksDr Calum Carson @drcalumcarson.bsky.social · 03/01/2025Important New Year reading here, with this final report of a project exploring regional differences in the disability employment gap. Results show strong correlation between the size of the DEG and levels of economic deprivation across an area: well worth a deep dive into the data (see👇for more).sheffield.ac.ukNew research reveals where in Great Britain people with a disability find it hardest to be in employmentThe five areas in Great Britain where disabled people are least likely to be in employment compared with non-disabled people have been revealed in a new report from the University of Sheffield. 1124
Christopher Rocks @christopher-rocks.bsky.social · 06/12/2024Great to see this report from the Work Foundation. Interesting findings on how important access to flexible working is for enabling people with health conditions stay in work. 053
Reposted by Christopher RocksDeclan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 06/12/2024Borrowing this chart from @jburnmurdoch.bsky.social to add a couple of points. Does the benefit system affect how people report *reasons* for economic inactivity in surveys? It's likely because there is evidence from cross national data that social & economic context influences responses. 1/n 24117
Reposted by Christopher RocksCatherine Hale @catherinehale.bsky.social · 28/11/2024Sharing my response to the #GetBritainWorking White Paper that I posted over on Linkedin in a thread. A cautious welcome: It positions the high numbers of people not working, or seeking work, for reasons of health and disability (notice I don’t use the term ‘inactive’?) as a key problem > 1/9 4199
Reposted by Christopher RocksBen Baumberg Geiger @benbgeiger.bsky.social · 06/12/2024"Britain’s illness-related inactivity crisis looks increasingly like a mirage" - great piece www.ft.com/content/1409.... But @jburnmurdoch.bsky.social goes wrong towards the end... 🧵ft.comWhat if the UK isn’t actually the sick man of Europe?Britain’s illness-related inactivity crisis looks increasingly like a mirage 2114
Reposted by Christopher RocksJonny Gifford @jonnygiff.bsky.social · 25/11/2024📢New research! Investigating the case for not just more jobs but *better quality* jobs. Our IES report for the Commission for #HealthierWorkingLives finds that poor job quality threatens the health of the UK workforce. (1/2) bit.ly/3CH4uYB @employmentstudies.bsky.socialbit.lyExploring the interactions between job quality, industries and health | Institute for Employment Studies (IES)How do different aspects of job quality affect employee health? This report seeks to clarify the evidence on these areas to support the Commission for Healthier Working Lives, supported by the Health ... 164
Reposted by Christopher RocksLouise Murphy @louisemurphy.bsky.social · 18/11/2024Good piece, and reflects much of what we covered in a pre-election @resfoundation.bsky.social report. Policy makers have been playing ‘Whack-a-Mole’: hitting standard rates of working-age benefits, and now some of that pressure is showing up as rising claims for health-related benefits. 13719