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Scot Hunter

@scothunter.bsky.social
314 followers 526 following 44 posts

Analyst @ Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Sociology PhD Univ. Stirling (2019-2024). Interested in communities and place, health inequalities and ethnic labour market penalties.

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Reposted by Scot Hunter
Katie Schmuecker @katieschmuecker.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
What would a bold policy offer look like that supported communities to be connected, confident and in-control? What if we acknowledged community spaces, organisations, groups and activities are essential? These are questions we have been asking at @jrf-uk.bsky.social
Image of people people doing activities together in a bright colourful community centre
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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
New report out today! Today, we’re releasing ‘Essential but unequal: the need for social infrastructure in every place’, our first report in our new Communities and Place policy workstream. Hear our Principal Policy Adviser @katieschmuecker.bsky.social explain more in this video
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Scot Hunter @scothunter.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
People with fewer community spaces, groups & activities are turning away from the two-party system in greater numbers. New @jrf-uk.bsky.social analysis of the recent elections shows that community need may be an even stronger predictor of anti-establishment voting than deprivation alone. 1/6
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Oliver Skånberg-Tippen @oskanberg.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Frustrated with the election pundits talking as if votes only 'swing' from one party to another. I did some analysis of the results, and my modelling (based on votes only, not polls) suggests that the largest movement since 2024 local elections (by a long way) is from 'Did Not Vote' -> Reform
A Sankey diagram, titled "Voter flows, UK local elections 2024 to 2026"
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Scot Hunter @scothunter.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Your postcode should never determine whether your child reaches their first birthday, or whether alcohol takes you too soon. Today, two sets of data from the landed that tell a grim story (but not an inevitable one).
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Peter Matejic @statspeter.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
The story in yesterday’s poverty data? A small rise in poverty in Labour’s first year, up by 500k to 13.4 million in 2024/25. ⬆️working-age adults in poverty went up by 300k ⬆️number of pensioner in poverty went up by 200k ↔️child poverty stayed flat. More action needed! 1/7
An infographic saying that there were around 13.4 million people were in poverty in 2024/25, a rise of 500,000 in overall poverty between 2023/24 and 2024/25.  This was made up of:
4.0 million children (no change)
7.7 million working-age adults [up 300k]
1.7 million pensioners [up 200k]
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Katie Schmuecker @katieschmuecker.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Pride in Place’s commitment to community-led investment in neighbourhood is so needed. But new JRF analysis maps the areas overlooked for funding in England: disproportionately in the north and some ranked as facing among the greatest challenges. They should be priority for expanding the programme.
Map of doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods in England (economically deprived with weaker social infrastructure of community groups, spaces and activities). Red dots mark neighbourhoods in the most deprived 10% that have not received phase 1 or 2 Pride in Place funding. They are disproportionately in the north of England.
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Yasmin Ibison @yasminibison.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Greater economic security for families is a key aim of the Government, and my new @jrf-uk.bsky.social paper sets out the role of social infrastructure - community spaces, active community groups and everyday connections - in helping deliver this goal. www.jrf.org.uk/neighbourhoo...
jrf.org.uk
Why social infrastructure matters for economic security
Economic security isn’t just about money, local connections and community support matter too. Pride in Place is a key intervention, but new analysis identifies two key challenges.
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Yasmin Ibison @yasminibison.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Govt’s Pride in Place targets areas with economic deprivation and weaker social infrastructure. Yet, our analysis reveals 2 challenges. We find 430 doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods in England (home to approx 3.5 million people) are unfunded, incl many ranked as facing the greatest challenges 1/3
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Scot Hunter @scothunter.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Men and women living in the most deprived areas of England and Wales are far more likely to die from causes that are preventable or treatable than those in the least deprived communities.
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Joseph Elliott @jelliott94.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
A new way to explore UK Poverty data ⬇️ Poverty is deepening. Developing solutions to tackle this problem starts with clear, accessible evidence. To make our data more accessible we’ve published all charts, maps and tables from our UK Poverty 2026 in a new, interactive dashboard.
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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
⛓️ ‘Where jobs went, so did the things that held communities together' Poverty affects the whole of the UK, but it’s not distributed evenly. Our analyst @scothunter.bsky.social sets out where poverty is most acute, and the action needed for all communities to thrive, no matter where they are.
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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Poverty is deepening. 🔎 Our #UKPoverty2026 report was launched this morning. People in very deep poverty now make up the biggest group of people in poverty, at 6.8 million people. This is unacceptable for the fifth richest country in the world, and it has consequences.
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Scot Hunter @scothunter.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
The new Welsh IMD shows persistent disadvantage across Wales. While there has been some minor adjustments to the methodology, the overall picture is similar to that of the 2019 release.
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Joseph Elliott @jelliott94.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
> Home purchased for £4k in 1970, now worth £4m > That's £3.945m more than if it had just increased with inflation > Her house has effectively gained £72k in value every year in today's prices > Her house earned around double what the average UK earner did each year
I bought my home for £4000 in 1970, I worry about the mansion tax
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Yasmin Ibison @yasminibison.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Every child, no matter their background, deserves to have a good start in life. Ethnic minority children were disproportionately impacted by the two child limit which widens ethnic disparities in child poverty rates. Scrapping this cruel policy to lift 450000 children out of poverty is a huge win!
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Peter Matejic @statspeter.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
A child poverty strategy with the 2-child limit in place would *not* be a credible child poverty strategy. *All* of the growth in child poverty since the 2011/12 low point is for children in scope of this policy.
Between 2011/12 and 2023/24, child poverty rose by 900,000 in total.  This is entirely due to increases in poverty in families with three or more children, with a small fall in poverty for smaller families over the period.
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Iain Porter @iainkporter.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
No one in the UK should experience destitution - wherever they were born – and destitution should never be an acceptable outcome of policy. But some policies announced in the Home Secretary’s asylum statement risk increasing destitution. 🧵1/7 www.gov.uk/government/p...
Image showing front cover of Government's statement on asylum and returns policy (titled 'Restoring Order and Control').
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Yasmin Ibison @yasminibison.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
🚨New deprivation data reveals continual deep regional divides across many areas in England. High levels of deprivation are concentrated in many ex-industrial northern and midlands towns and coastal areas, where manufacturing and tourism industries have been lost.
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Yasmin Ibison @yasminibison.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Spoke to the BBC about the drivers of deprivation and the impact on families. There's a clear link between living in hardship & feeling socially/politically disconnected. To make meaningful progress, communities must be involved in decisions affecting their lives. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
What is life really like in one of England's most deprived towns?
Hastings in East Sussex is one of the most deprived local authorities in England, data shows.
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Joseph Elliott @jelliott94.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
ONS have published new private rented affordability analysis for 2024. Ratios of rents to incomes dipped in 2022/23 as incomes climbed faster than rents. Rents have been catching up so affordability has worsened again and seems likely it will continue to worsen through 2025...
Figure 1: Private rents have been consistently above 30% in England, below 30% in Northern Ireland, and usually below 30% in Wales
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Dan Fisher @dx-fisher.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
👉OUT NOW!👈 "A Handbook of Integration with Refugees: Global Learnings from Scotland" Edited with @alisonphipps.bsky.social and @esaldegheri.bsky.social The book is FREE to download from www.multilingual-matters.com
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Scot Hunter @scothunter.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
The latest figures released yesterday on premature mortality in England and Wales reveal another stark and persistent inequality: From March 2021 to December 2023, people living in the most deprived areas were 64% more likely to die prematurely than those in the least deprived places.
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Scot Hunter @scothunter.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Bar chart titled "Healthy life expectancy at birth, by sex and deprivation level (IMD decile), England". The chart compares healthy life expectancy for men (dark blue bars) and women (light green bars) across ten deprivation deciles, from most deprived (Decile 1) to least deprived (Decile 10), based on the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD).

In Decile 1 (most deprived), healthy life expectancy is approximately 51.1 years for men and 50.5 years for women.
In Decile 10 (least deprived), it rises to about 70.1 years for men and 70.2 years for women.
The chart shows a clear upward trend in healthy life expectancy as deprivation decreases, with a nearly 20-year gap between the most and least deprived groups.
Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), 2020–2022 data.
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Stirling Criminology @stirunicriminology.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Congratulations to our students who graduated @stir.ac.uk 👏💐🎓🎉 Hooray for Dr Beth Cairns, Dr @scothunter.bsky.social, & Dr Jade Hooper getting PhDs! 📸 Academics: @niallhsmith.bsky.social @urbaneprofessor.bsky.social @dianamiranda.bsky.social @drashleyrogers.bsky.social @drhannahgraham.bsky.social
Photo of criminologists Dr Ashley Rogers, Dr Hannah Graham, and Dr Diana Miranda in graduation gowns and smiling.Photo of Prof Peter Matthews and Dr Niall Hamilton-Smith, with Dr Ben Matthews in the background, all wearing graduation gowns at a University of Stirling graduation.Photo of Dr Marina Shapira wearing her graduation gowns and cap, smiling.
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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
1 in 6 children in Wales has been in poverty in 3 out of the last 4 years. 🚨 Urgent, radical action from the Welsh and UK governments is needed to avoid lasting consequences. Our report out today with the Bevan Foundation lays bare the state of poverty in Wales in 2025. 1/6
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Katie Schmuecker @katieschmuecker.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Where will the cuts to sickness & disability benefits hit hardest? New @jrf-uk.bsky.social constituency analysis shows the % of working age people receiving these benefits in England & Wales. Some MP inboxes are likely to be brimming, as concern about these plans is widespread
Map showing proportion of working age population in receipt of health related social security, coloured by quintile of constituency. In some coastal areas, south Wales, the North West and Yorkshire and North East, rates are between 15-20%
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Anna Clarke @annaclarke.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
You would kind of hope that the Jobcentre might know where to find workers to fill its own vacancies really wouldn't you?
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Carla Cebula @carlaonion.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Today’s poverty statistics show that the Scottish Government has failed to meet the interim child poverty reduction targets. 240,000 children is Scotland remain in poverty (AHC). To have met the targets a further 40,000 children would need to have been lifted out of poverty.
Line chart showing the trend in relative child poverty (AHC) and the child poverty reduction targets. It shows one-year estimates with large confidence intervals. The rate in 2023/24 is 22% and the interim target (also 2023/24) is 18%. In 2030/31 the final target is 10%.
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Scot Hunter @scothunter.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
All ethnic minority groups in the UK continue to face persistent poverty with no signs of improvement from last year. 📊 New DWP figures show people in Bangladeshi households are still 3x more likely to be in poverty compared to white households, and Pakistani households are 2.5x more likely.
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Joseph Elliott @jelliott94.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
New poverty rate figures show the West Midlands, London and the North West had the highest child poverty rates with over a third of children in poverty. In Scotland (where things are being done differently) the child poverty rate is joint lowest for the UK at 23%.
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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Around 4.5 million children are living in relative poverty after housing costs. 200,000 more since before the pandemic. These are record numbers of children living in poverty. Latest DWP figures on Households Below Average Income has found 🔽 1/3
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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
The Chancellor said today that she would not do anything to put household finances in danger Yet the government’s own assessment shows their cuts to health related benefits risk pushing 250,000 people into poverty, including 50,000 children 📢 Their assessment also found... 1/3
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Rachel Casey @rachelcasey.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Yesterday, the Government’s launched the #PathwaystoWork green paper. It plans to create a “clearer youth phase” by changing benefit rules for young people to support its new Youth Guarantee. Key takeaways 🧵1/7
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Peter Matejic @statspeter.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
@jrf-uk.bsky.social has analysed caseload data and can see much of the forecast growth in PIP spending is directed at people with significant difficulties across a range of areas. Over half of the growth in spending is from people in receipt of the higher rate in both PIP elements.
Stacked bar chart showing that the vast majority of the forecast increase in caseload and  expenditure on PIP is from recipients in receipt of both elements (80% of caseload growth, 89% of spend growth) or one at the enhanced rate (increases to 84% of caseload growth, 92% of spend growth).
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Scot Hunter @scothunter.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Very pleased to have a part in this
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Professor Peter Matthews @urbaneprofessor.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
And that's it - the Final Report for LGBT+ Welfare and Assets in Great Britain published. Many thanks to @nuffieldfoundation.org for funding this research. To our knowledge, nothing of this scale has ever been done in the UK: lgbtqwelfare.stir.ac.uk
lgbtqwelfare.stir.ac.uk
LGBT+ Welfare and Assets in Great Britain | Welfare Access, Assets And Debts Of LGBT+ People In Great Britain
The LGBT+ Welfare and Assets in Great Britain project was the first major research project to seek to understand the experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or trans- people accessing social security...
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Scot Hunter @scothunter.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Crying at the conference
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Scot Hunter @scothunter.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
My first ever 'fresh off the press' type post 📃 (!), thrilled that our first peer-reviewed article from our @britishacademy.bsky.social funded research on the intentions to stay of young people in Armenia 🇦🇲 has been published in Diaspora (@uoftpress.bsky.social). utppublishing.com/doi/10.3138/...
utppublishing.com
Indicators of Integration: Assessing the Impact of Perceptions about Rights and Security, Public Outcomes, and Social Connections on Intentions to Stay of Newcomers in Armenia | Diaspora
This article explores the factors that influence intentions to stay in Armenia among different groups of young newcomers (aged 18–35), including ethnic Armenians displaced from Syria and Artsakh. As s...
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Scot Hunter @scothunter.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Wee jaunt to University of Stirling for a super useful and informative weights workshop delivered by Pierre Walthery from the UK Data Service. Cheers @kateohara.bsky.social for organising through the Large Social Surveys group (time to make a blue sky account so I can tag you pls).
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John Attridge @johnattridge.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
Student I was counting on to nod throughout the lecture stopped nodding
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Scot Hunter @scothunter.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Essential content
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Scot Hunter @scothunter.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
We are so back
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