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Rachelle Earwaker

@rachelleearwaker.bsky.social
1.6K followers 1.9K following 70 posts

Economist and Kiwi in London. Likely yapping about housing and the absolute state of things.

PostsRepliesMedia
Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
Today's immigration white paper has been gutting to hear about. "An island of strangers" is such not the kind of language we should be hearing from the PM. It doesn't treat anyone with dignity, and some of the proposals raise big qs for sectors like care.
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
I can't think of anything else in the last 4 years that could have possibly meant weak economic growth.
Screenshot of text from the i paper saying "“The theory that higher migration numbers necessarily lead to higher growth has been tested in the last four years,” he said. “We’ve had the highest net migration when the last government lost control, to nearly one million, and stagnant growth. And so that link doesn’t hold on that evidence.”
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Katie Schmuecker @katieschmuecker.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
Today bills go up. @jrf-uk.bsky.social October cost of living tracker found 60% of low income families had gone without essentials in the previous 6 months - a figure barely changed in 2.5 years. This increased to 88% where a family receives disability benefits. And that’s before the cuts
Bar graph showing number low income households going without the essentials:  
May 2022 6.9 million
Oct 2022 7.2 million
May 2023 7.3 million 
Oct 2023 7.3 million 
May 2024 7 million 
Oct 2024 7 million
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Katie Schmuecker @katieschmuecker.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Extraordinary story just published in @thetimes.com And one that rather gives the lie to the idea that the Government’s cuts to disability benefits is driven by a moral mission about work. It’s about fiscal rules… www.thetimes.com/article/f80d...
thetimes.com
Rachel Reeves to announce further benefit cuts
Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, was forced to seek further cuts after the Office for Budget Responsibility rejected her welfare savings estimate
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Ruth Curtice @ruthcurtice.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Yesterday's welfare announcements have very concentrated impacts for individuals who lose eligibility (and some gains for others). Case studies just published - only the government knows how many people will suffer £9k losses. Shouldn't they tell us?
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megan @meganmay.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
The government’s proposal in the health and disability green paper that people should have to be awarded 4 points for one of the daily living activities in order to receive PIP is absolutely mad. Thousands of disabled people will be thrown off PIP and pushed even further into poverty.
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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall's speech today laid out plans to cut disability and sickness benefits by billions. ❌ No truly moral choice would leave disabled people without support designed to allow them to lead a dignified life, or facing hardship. 1/4
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Cutting support for disabled people completely undermines some of the positive employment support changes proposed by Liz Kendall today. The govt could have made these positive changes using their tax lever, putting the cost on those with the broadest shoulders, not some of the most vulnerable.
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Peter Matejic @statspeter.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Thanks to @theguardian.com for covering @jrf-uk.bsky.social work (see www.theguardian.com/society/2025...). “A government that came to office pledging to end the moral scar of food bank use clearly should not be taking steps that could leave disabled people at greater risk of needing to use one.”
theguardian.com
Keir Starmer to unveil drastic disability benefit cuts despite opposition
Changes could deny benefits to people who need help to wash or to remember to go to the toilet
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
If these numbers in the Times are correct, these cuts would take a huge amount of money away from severely disabled people, and it’s completely morally indefensible. Rachel Reeves needs to look to tax to address the fiscal situation, not our disability support.
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Some news! After 5+ years of my dream job @jrf-uk.bsky.social, next week is my last. I think it's rare to really love your job. But having the best colleagues, and getting to work on such important issues everyday has meant I have. Time to learn new things at the BBC which will be VERY different!
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
About to enter the wild world of trying to buy the world’s tiniest flat in London - does anyone have any recommendations for housing solicitors? Everyone I’ve talked to so far has only said PLEASE DO NOT USE THE ONE I DID which feels fun and alarming
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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
1 in 7 workers experience ‘major earnings instability’. Not having security and stability in earnings can seriously impact your ability to pay your bills and cover expenses. Especially if you don't have savings. We've funded @resfoundation.bsky.social's report on unstable pay in the UK 🔽 1/3
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Really brilliant to have worked with the team on unstable pay as @jrf-uk.bsky.social funded this work. It helps to fill a huge data gap on month to month volatility of earnings from work - and shows low paid, young, and temporary workers are most likely to experience volatility. Do have a read!
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
Not to make my workplace sound unserious, but we have a meeting room called “Collabadabadoo”
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
April is looking v scary with the energy price cap increasing by 6.4%, and a huge suite of other bills about to increase too: water council tax, social rents. Private rents are also still soaring (up ~9% on last year). All the while benefits are only increasing by 1.7% and LHA stays frozen Dire
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Inflation is up by 3%, but private rents are up by 8.7% across the UK and 11%(!!!) in London. Across GB, it means paying ~£100 more per month on average since Jan 24, or ~£200 more per month since Jan 23. In London, £220 more per month since Jan 24, or ~£400(!) more per month since Jan 23.
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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
The @bankofengland.bsky.social forecasts expect consumer price inflation to increase to 3.7% over 2025 Families who are already struggling to pay their bills face rising energy and water bills 📈 They're in desperate need of more pounds in their pockets, as the Chancellor has promised 1/2
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
All eyes on the BoE's (welcome) cut to the bank rate today, but really concerning that energy and water bills are set to push inflation up to 3.7% in Q3 this year. With over 7 million low-income households already going without essentials, this is v bad news for putting pounds in peoples pockets.
screenshot of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee report saying "The November Report projection was for CPI inflation to increase further in the near term, to around 2¾% by the second half of 2025. Headline inflation is now expected to rise more sharply, to 3.7% in 2025 Q3, in large part reflecting recent developments in global energy costs and regulated prices." with "3.7% in 2025 Q3" highlighted in yellow
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
The Chancellor's speech today barely mentioned the people that make up the economy. She started her speech saying that it's about pounds in people's pockets. But with 14.3 million people in poverty, including 4.3 million children, too many don't have the £'s that will help grow the economy.
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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
This year the UK Govt say they will publish an 'ambitious' cross-government child poverty strategy Any respectable child poverty strategy must include action on social security including to abolish the two-child limit and introduce a protected minimum amount of support to UC 5/5
"Our social system is not only failing to do its job but, worse, actively pushing some people into deeper poverty, through cruel limits and caps. The good news is that change is possible and can be achieved quickly." Paul Kissack, Chief Executive
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Our latest UK poverty report is out today, highlighting that rates of child poverty remain unacceptably high. Almost 1 in 3 children in the UK are in poverty, amounting to 4.3 million children. Economic growth on it's own is not our ticket out of child poverty - we need urgent, targeted policies 👇
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Giggling a lot here
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
The big joy of being home for summer 💚
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
With the Bank Rate holding at 4.75%, it adds to the litany of poor economic indicators we've seen this week that everyone, but especially low-income families, have been confronted with: - rising inflation - soaring rents - more expensive water bills on the horizon Not a great Christmas present.
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
🚨🏠 New private rent stats also out this morning, with rents across the UK up 9.1% in the year to November 2024. In London, up 11.6%! These are HUGE monthly increases: Compared to a year ago, on average, it's an extra £110 per month in Great Britain and an extra £230(!!) per month in London
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
CPI inflation up to 2.6%, with sticky core inflation rising to 3.5%. Our latest research showed that the impacts of high rising costs, alongside still soaring housing costs, mean 7 million families are still going without essentials & living standards are still set to fall this parliament.
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PoliticsHome @politicshome.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Over 1.5m families have taken out loans to pay for special occasions like Christmas and birthday gifts, new @jrf-uk.bsky.social research shared with PolHome shows "We know it's what quite a lot of people are turning to," said economist @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social @nadinebh.bsky.social reports
politicshome.com
Over 1.5m Families Have Taken Out Loans To Pay For Christmas And Birthdays, New Research Shows
Over 1.5m families are taking out loans to pay for presents like celebrations like Christmas and birthdays, new research shared with PoliticsHome s...
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Essential reading ahead of Keir Starmer's speech this morning: Our latest @jrf-uk.bsky.social analysis shows that living standards are set to continue to fall over this parliament for those on the lowest incomes, with the biggest % falls for those in the bottom 20%. Housing costs are a HUGE driver
Line graph showing disposable incomes after housing costs for quintiles, from 2019 to 2029. Households in the lowest 20% of incomes see the biggest proportionate fall in their incomes, while no income quintile sees improvement over the forecast period. Line graph showing disposable income after housing costs for the bottom 40% of households, from 2019 to 2029. Before housing costs income is broadly flat from 2024, with a dip in 2028. However housing costs continue to increase, means after housing costs income falls from 2024 to 2028.
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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
The benefits of Keir Starmer's plan for change must be felt by the worst off 📢 New research shows average disposable incomes for the bottom 40% will be £440 lower by 2029 than this year. Lowest-income households will be hit hardest. 1/6
A graph showing real percentage change in household disposable income after housing costs by population quintiles from October 2019 - October 2029. Every quintile is set to drop in disposable income with the lowest incomes dropping the most.
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Our latest @jrf-uk.bsky.social COL survey is out & it's a dire picture for living standards. We find ZERO CHANGE since May 24 in low income families going without essentials & being in arrears. We project this group will be £440 p/y worse off in Oct 29 after housing costs, compared to now. 🧵1/x
Bar graph showing the number of households going without essentials, including food insecurity and the number on arrears remains completely unchanged between May 2024 and October 2024.
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Yasmin Ibison @yasminibison.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
New @jrf-uk.bsky.social research reveals Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani families are up to 5x more likely to be living in persistent very deep poverty compared to white families in the UK. We must continue applying a race equity lens to analysis of poverty. www.jrf.org.uk/race-and-eth...
jrf.org.uk
Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani households at higher risk of very deep, long-term poverty
Bangladeshi, Black African and Pakistani households are 2 to 3 times more likely to experience persistent very deep poverty, compared to white households.
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Katie Schmuecker @katieschmuecker.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
📣New @jrf-uk.bsky.social research on ethnicity and persistent very deep poverty*. Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Black African families are 5x more like to experience it than white families. We wanted to dig into the reasons…
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Nearly Legal @nearlylegal.co.uk · 26/11/2024
The MCHLG impact assessment on Renters' Rights Bill puts the core cost to landlords at £22 per property per year over 10 years (though then saving £9 per property per year in letting agent costs). So £13 per year. www.gov.uk/government/p...
gov.uk
Renters’ Rights Bill: Impact assessment
Impact assessment relating to the Renters’ Rights Bill.
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
While rents soar, and the govt chooses to keep LHA frozen, @jrf-uk.bsky.social's latest Oct 24 COL tracker shows that for low income private renters on housing benefits: - 82% are going without essentials - 62% are paying more than 40% of their income on rent - 19% are in arrears with their rent
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
❄️When I left the house today, my weather app said it felt like -5 degrees outside Our latest @jrf-uk.bsky.social COL tracker from October tells us that around 1 in 4 low income households (2.9 million families) couldn't afford to heat their homes in the last 6 months. So worrying ahead of winter.
screenshot of my weather app saying it felt like -5 degrees in london this morning
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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Today’s ONS private rent and house prices figures show rent price inflation increased by 8.7% in the 12 months to October 2024, up from 8.4% in September. 📢 This is the 15th consecutive month that annual rent price inflation has been above 8%. 1/5
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Need for a food bank is 69%(!!!) higher than five years ago.
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Katie Schmuecker @katieschmuecker.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
As temperatures drop, @jrf-uk.bsky.social latest cost of living tracker shows in Oct: 🥶 a quarter (24%) of low income households couldn’t afford to heat their home in the last 6 months At £91 per week the basic rate of universal credit falls well short of what is needed to cover life’s essentials
A snowy scene
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Peter Matejic @statspeter.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Good thread from @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social. Another way of looking at this, is that UK rents have gone up by almost a quarter in the last three years, since rents started rocketing, but only went up by 5% over the three years before that. In London, the increase over the last three years is 27%!
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
New private rent stats out today for Oct 24 show an annual increase of 8.7% in GB and 10.5% in London, equating to £105 more per month on average in GB and £204 in London, compared to Oct 23. These are big rises, and come on the back of the decision taken to keep LHA frozen at the Budget. 🧵 1/x
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
'What's good for Māori is good for everyone' SO PROUD Toitū Te Tiriti 🖤🤍❤️ www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu...
rnz.co.nz
'What's good for Māori is good for everyone' - hīkoi ends with peaceful protest
The capital turned into a sea of black, white and red today, as more than 42,000 people supporting te Hīkoi mō te tiriti overflowed Parliament's grounds and onto the streets.
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Toitū Te Tiriti. Sending all of my aroha and solidarity to everyone in Aotearoa - I wish I could be there to add my voice outside Parliament today. Divisive bills that stomp on our treaty, a treaty that is bigger than all of us, have no place in our country. www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
theguardian.com
Tens of thousands to converge on NZ parliament as march to protest controversial Māori rights bill reaches capital
Up to 50,000 expected to take part in the last stage of the nine-day protest which began last week in opposition to the Treaty of Waitangi bill
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Joseph Elliott @jelliott94.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
Joseph Rowntree Foundation are recruiting two analysts to join our Insight and Policy Team. 📊🧑‍💻 Perfect role for early-career researchers with an interest in social policy, economic security, poverty, and more! Apply below ⬇️ (Please share) jrf.octo-firstclass.co.uk/candidates/c...
jrf.octo-firstclass.co.uk
Octo Candidates - Application Form - Vacancy Details
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 16/10/2024
📢📢Tune in to @itvnews at 6:30pm today to hear about our new @jrf_uk report on the impact of LHA policies from 2011 -2025, and our warning about what will happen to private renters in poverty and how much worse off they will be if the Government does not unfreeze LHA in the Budget.
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 09/10/2024
The Renters Rights Bill has it's second reading today! The Bill is welcome and overdue. But it has missed the opportunity to tackle affordability. Putting the onus on tenants to go to a tribunal if their rent is increasing above "market rate" is not the answer. www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...
thetimes.com
The Renters’ Rights Bill needs to protect tenants from rent rises
The affordability crisis in the private rental sector is feeding into growing homelessness. New legislation must tackle this broken system
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Rachelle Earwaker @rachelleearwaker.bsky.social · 12/09/2024
Some BIG data news: @jrf-uk.bsky.social has launched our cost of living dashboard! We've been tracking the financial impact covid and the COL crisis has had for low income households since October 2021, & now you can explore some of the data we have gathered in an interactive way 🧵1/x
Screengrab of JRF's new Cost of living dashboard - with the timeseries for all low income households going without essentials or being in arrears for the last five to six waves of the survey.
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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 21/08/2024
🗣️ These really are record levels of rent inflation. But if general inflation has come back down in target range, why are rents still so high? Senior Economist, Rachelle Earwaker, explains: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5z9...
youtube.com
Economist Explains Why Your Rent Is Still So High
YouTube video by The i paper
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