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Charles Knox-Vydmanov

@knoxvydmanov.bsky.social
438 followers 1.1K following 118 posts

Researcher, trainer, policy analyst. Social protection, disability, public finance, pensions. Independent consultant, previously ILO and HelpAge International.

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Reposted by Charles Knox-Vydmanov
Chris Giles @chrisgiles.ft.com · 15/10/2025
There is no need for a moral panic about the UK's welfare system. Far from perfect but recent discourse is nuts Spending is controlled, not spiralling Worklessness is near record lows My column www.ft.com/content/ee67...
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Niko Väänänen @nikovaananen.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Chile just passed the biggest pension overhaul since ditching social insurance for individual accounts in 1981. A major shift in a system once seen as the poster child for privatization. www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/...
On March 20, Chile's president promulgated a law introducing significant changes to the country's old-age pension system, including creating new social insurance benefits, increasing employer contributions, raising the guaranteed pension, encouraging more competition among individual account providers, and changing individual account investment options. The law, which received congressional approval on January 29 after 2 years of negotiations, represents the most substantial overhaul of Chile's pension system since the country switched from a social insurance pension model to a mandatory individual account model in 1981. By shifting to a mixed contributory pension model—with both social insurance and individual account components—and making other key changes, the government seeks to improve pension adequacy for current and future retirees, particularly for women and low-income individuals. The government estimates that the reforms will increase benefits for 2.8 million retirees by 14 percent to 35 percent over the next few years.
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Tom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
This has, understandably, been overshadowed by far bigger developments But this is interesting because, barring pensions, contributory social insurance has only ever been weakened in my years of watching these things. I’m not sure it’s ever been strengthened since the late 60s
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André Gama @andre-gama.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
What a fantastic piece of work by Marielle Phe Goursat and @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social ! As countries strive to make #socialprotection more #inclusive, strong evidence is essential to support policy options that protect the rights of persons with disabilities. www.ilo.org/publications...
ilo.org
Fostering inclusion: Advancing social health protection for persons with disabilities in Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Viet Nam
This report explores the extent to which persons with disabilities in Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Viet Nam are able to access social health protection.
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
This is also a mistake on much pension policy thinking globally: "pensions are popular as older people vote". A lot of younger people worry about older parents/grandparents, and about their own old age.
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Ugo Gentilini @ugentilini.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
New Lancet article on universal #cashtransfers for children: "universal child cash benefits should be at the forefront of the broader economic policy portfolio as an investment in a nation's health, sustainability, and global competitiveness". Shaefer et al www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
Wonderful nuggets from the archives of the UK's social security system 👇
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Christina Behrendt @cbehrendt.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
Happy Sunday! Sharing our paper on enhancing the gender-responsiveness of social protection policies, with a strong emphasis a life-cycle approach to system-building. www.ilo.org/publications...
ilo.org
Making social protection work for gender equality: What does it look like? How do we get there?
This paper outlines the perspective and approach of the ILO’s Universal Social Protection Department to enhancing the gender-responsiveness of social protection policies, anchored in international soc...
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Daniel Béland @danielbeland.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
New paper available in open access: “How to Design a Program for the Poor that is Not a Poor Program: Explaining the Political Sustainability of the Guaranteed Income Supplement” #poverty #pensions #GIS #Canada #cdnpolitics @cpsa_acsp @OHLJ @MISCCAN digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol61/i...
digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca
How to Design a Program for the Poor that is Not a Poor Program: Explaining the Political Sustainability of the Guaranteed Income Supplement
Created in 1967 as a temporary program aimed at supporting low-income people during the maturation of the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) has since become a per...
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Reposted by Charles Knox-Vydmanov
Louise Murphy @louisemurphy.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
On a related note, the recent (supposed) increases in economic inactivity due to ill health, and rising claims for health-related benefits, has been used to justify claims that we have a "spiralling" benefits bill. But when we look at welfare spending forecasts *in the round*, this just isn't true
Chart showing: Total welfare spending as a proportion of GDP, outturn and forecast: UK
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Declan Gaffney @greyskiesthinking.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Borrowing 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
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Bluntly defining eligibility to disability benefits based on assessed incapacity to work is problematic from a disability inclusion perspective. However, the experience of the UK also suggests it may - perversely - push up the costs of such systems.
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Very cool
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Reposted by Charles Knox-Vydmanov
David Evans @daveevansphd.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Dean Karlan of USAID highlights when to do an impact evaluation versus when to simply monitor versus when to do A/B testing.
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Ugo Gentilini @ugentilini.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Got 30 minutes & looking for a podcast? Here is the deal — check out what happened with #cashtransfers over the past 2500 years! Tune in for a converation with the great Tim Phillips about my book #TimelyCash out today: lnkd.in/eHttxJKR Thanks for having me @voxdev.bsky.social, it was lot of fun.
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Tom Shakespeare @tomshakespeare.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Happy International Day of Persons with Disabilities!
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Carlos Galian @cgalian.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
The Global Wages Elephant chart? Check the new ILO Global Wage Report 2024-25: www.ilo.org/publications...
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Koen Vleminckx @koenvx.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Walter Korpi revolutionized social policy research by highlighting the power dynamics behind welfare states, introducing the “power resources theory,” which links class-based mobilization to welfare outcomes. RIP www.su.se/swedish-inst...
su.se
Professor Walter Korpi Passes Away at 90 - Swedish Institute for Social Research
It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of an outstanding sociologist and a vital contributor to SOFI’s success. Professor Emeritus Walter Korpi passed away on November 19, at t...
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Great development for someone like me who is interested in issues of poverty measurement and social protection (and also a lover of maps)! The likes of Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowntree were pioneers in the development of surveys that are core to our understanding of poverty and inequality.
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Oliver Kim @global-developments.org · 27/11/2024
🚨 New Blog! 🚨 GDP is everywhere in development. But in Zambia in 2010, the national accounts were prepared by just one (1!) person. How much can we trust developing country GDP? A 🧵 and post on Morten Jerven's 2013 classic, Poor Numbers, on how African GDP is actually made—
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Costanza de Toma @cosdetoma.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Ask people to devise a package of #socialprotection schemes + give them a simple costing tool 🛠️ to play with to help co-create their vision 💭 Simple but powerful! 💪 The learning continues in #Dakar on day 3️⃣ of our #publicfinance course.
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Valentina Barca @valentinabarca.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Yes! Would have been another great example for our paper on Pushing the Boundaries of Social Protection Administrative Data Analysis and Use! ;) socialprotection.org/discover/pub... --> bsky.app/profile/knox...
socialprotection.org
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Magnus B Rasmussen @magnusrasmussen.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
If you see something interesting and want your followers to also see it, hitting like will not help. This is not twitter. Retweet is the way to spread stuff.
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Really striking findings, and also highlights the potential of administrative data for long-run impact evaluation of social protection schemes. @valentinabarca.bsky.social
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Mr. Peter Ombasa @ombasa.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Hi team, happy to be with many Social Protection Experts in the forum. Lets share what's knew around the globe including opportunities for the advancement of the field of Social Protection
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Here's what I think is the biggest misconception about fiscal space for social protection (or anything else for that matter) in low- and middle-income countries. Look at this chart... government expenditure as a % of GDP is flat, if not falling. So there's no fiscal space, right? 1/4
A line chart showing government expenditure as a % of GDP in Armenia, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Sierra Leone between 2024 and 2029. The levels of government expenditure range from about 15% of GDP (in Sierra Leone) to around 30% of GDP in Armenia. The levels of revenue are relatively flat by this measure, and falling in some countries.
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sppamela.bsky.social @sppamela.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Excited to be at the WB-UNICEF course on disability inclusive SP this week with govt officials from 13 countries. Will share links to pages and materials shortly. Lots to learn and share.
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Really enjoyed this @socialprotection.bsky.social podcast with two of the great minds in the world of social protection information systems ( @valentinabarca.bsky.social and Rodrigo Assumpção). Much agreement, but also some cordial debate! socialprotection.org/learn/podcas...
socialprotection.org
Ep. 44 | Social Registries and Beyond | socialprotection.org
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David Brady @davebrady72.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Korpi and Palme’s “Paradox of Redistribution” is a justly classic piece any social policy scholar should know. Like others, I felt obligated to revisit and engage with it. eclairs.fr/wp-content/u...
eclairs.fr
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Tia Palermo @tiapalermo.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Our review in AJPM found that social assistance programs in the US reduce child maltreatment. - 16 out of 27 studies (59%) and 10 out of 12 high quality (83%) studies showed reductions in maltreatment #socialprotection #VAC #violence #maltreatment www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Oh wowzer! What a treasure trove of evidence on inflation and cash transfers. And couldn't be more timely! This is a policy issue we often discuss, but great to have more concrete evidence on approaches to indexation and their consequences.
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
A wave of new social protection people joining overnight and this morning! Added to this starter pack go.bsky.app/FP9qJZV I am also adding the same people to this list which you can pin as a feed: bsky.app/profile/did:... (or you can just make your own custom one!)
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Florian Juergens-Grant @floriangrant.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
New WIEGO podcast on how workers can leverage legal frameworks and administrative justice to advance social protection
soundcloud.com
#41 Governance, Social Protection And Law
In the third episode of the governance building block we move on to the discussion of legal frameworks and social protection. How can legal provisions of participation, access to information, transpar
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Extremely excited to find this list... and honoured to be on it! 🥹
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Fascinating post by @andrewharrop.bsky.social on measurement of child poverty in the UK The issues of equivalance scales having "no up-to-date empirical underpinning" is even more acute in developing countries (see this nice paper on the issue: www.developmentpathways.co.uk/wp-content/u...)
A screenshot from the following post on measurement of child poverty in the UK: https://cradle2grave.substack.com/p/all-time-high?r=324zpr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true
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Evan Peck @peck.phd · 20/11/2024
Trying something new: A 🧵 on a topic I find many students struggle with: "why do their 📊 look more professional than my 📊?" It's *lots* of tiny decisions that aren't the defaults in many libraries, so let's break down 1 simple graph by @jburnmurdoch.bsky.social 🔗 www.ft.com/content/73a1...
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
The ILO has created a dashboard on informal employment and it's extremely cool. www.unglobalaccelerator.org/resource/inf... I'm often struck by how much better data availability/curation is on these kind of issues are compared to, say, a decade ago @cgalian.bsky.social @ourworldindata.org
Screenshot of the International Labour Organization's informality dashboard. Link in the post.
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Florian Juergens-Grant @floriangrant.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Sign up for @ugentilini.bsky.social's weekly social protection links for a brilliant way to keep up with a diverse and fast-moving sector - and to ring in the weekend every Friday
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Welcome @knowlesmarco.bsky.social of @unfao.bsky.social to Bluesky! Added to this social protection starter pack, and associated list/feed go.bsky.app/FP9qJZV
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Ugo Gentilini @ugentilini.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
A late newcomer here! Watch this space (and sign-up) for weekly news on #socialprotection from around the world: www.ugogentilini.net And if curious about news from the past 2,500 years… check out my new book — now available in kindle version (and print out Dec 3): academic.oup.com/book/58850
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
@valentinabarca.bsky.social has arrived! A key moment in the growth of our social protection community. go.bsky.app/FP9qJZV
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Fascinating thread on the (weakness) of unemployment benefits in the UK's social protection system ... AND how this is strongly intertwined with issues of health and disability. 1/2
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Tom Pollard @pollardtom.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Ok, I've caved & joined the starter pack bandwagon These are people who will be interesting & useful to follow as the new government sets out its plans around social security, work & poverty Sorry if I've missed off good people - will add to it as more come to mind or join go.bsky.app/8WEVftJ
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socialprotection.org @socialprotection.org · 15/11/2024
#G20 Alert #2030 Sprints 📅 During #G20Social, the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty @nopovertyhunger.bsky.social introduced the #2030Sprints. This initiative aims to scale up proven interventions to uplift the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations. +
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socialprotection.org @socialprotection.org · 15/11/2024
🌟 Hey, #BlueSky! We’re socialprotection.org, your go-to platform for #SocialProtection ☂️From knowledge sharing to global policy discussions, we’re here to connect practitioners, policymakers, and organisations working for SP! 💬 Follow us and share: What does social protection mean to YOU? #sporg
socialprotection.org
socialprotection.org |
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Welcome @socialprotection.bsky.social ! An important moment in the building of our social protection community here on Bluesky Added to the starter pack and associated list/feed go.bsky.app/FP9qJZV
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Florian Juergens-Grant @floriangrant.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Welcome to Bluesky, @socialprotection.bsky.social! @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social @cbehrendt.bsky.social @heinersalomon.bsky.social @rachelstrohm.bsky.social
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Charles Knox-Vydmanov @knoxvydmanov.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Very interesting webinar next week on the impact of digital technologies on minority and marginalised groups in the context of social protection (with a focus on disability). Register here: bit.ly/4hLyjah @desibility.bsky.social @cbehrendt.bsky.social
Flyer for webinar on human rights and privacy in digitized social protection. Information and registration can be found at the link in the post.
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Torsten Bell @torstenbell.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Britain is at last remembering that our pension funds are a major part of the financial plumbing of our capitalism - they’re important for delivering for our individual retirements but also for our collective prosperity www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Rachel Reeves in radical pension shake-up to boost growth
The chancellor wants to merge the UK's pension funds but critics worry about the impact on savers.
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