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Editorial

This issue explores how continuity and change shape caring relationships, revealing a gap between the ideal of consistent care and the often fragmented realities faced by care providers and recipients across diverse settings. Read more of the article

Polly Morland’s A Fortunate Woman and care continuity in adult social care 

Duncan U. Fisher, discusses how Polly Morland’s' A Fortunate Woman' highlights the vital role of care continuity in healthcare and calls attention to its neglect in undervalued adult social care work. Read more of the article

The economic and social contribution of the high-wage immigration programme in Canada

Canada's immigration system, particularly for high-wage foreign workers, plays a crucial role in addressing labour shortages, driving innovation, and contributing to economic growth while fostering diversity and ensuring worker protections. Read more of the article

Rewriting the rules of the gig economy: Can regulation really change the game?

Angel Martin-Caballero highlights how gig platforms disrupt labor markets, worsening conditions and posing regulatory challenges. He asks: Have things improved, or are precarious jobs just evolving? Read more of the article

Are internships opportunities or barriers for young working-class people?

Naomi Wells examines how unpaid internships deepen inequality, with a Labour ban potentially reducing opportunities. Companies must address socioeconomic biases to improve access to internships and jobs. Read more of the article

Reshaping responsibility: Platforms, clients and the online gig economy

Karthika Nadarajah highlights how digital platforms reshape gig work, but client accountability is lacking. Shared responsibility models and clearer roles can balance fairness with innovation in the gig economy. Read more of the article

Confusion and contradiction: Navigating work and disability benefit rules  

Annie Harper and Yolanda Herring show how people on disability benefits face contradictions: they must prove total inability to work, enduring stigma and fraud checks, while being pressured to return to work, reflecting a belief that full citizenship depends on 'productive' employment. Read more of the article

Falling off the benefits cliff 

Merryl Eaton stresses that expanding asset limits and enacting a child tax credit can ease the benefit cliff and improve life for hardworking citizens, allowing them to work without being penalised. Read more of the article

The future of debt advice: Where have all the debt advisers gone? 

Nicole Dayaram suggests if debt advisors want to improve the quality of advice and ensure good outcomes for clients, they need to invest in advisers and provide them with the right working conditions to ensure they stay.   Read more of the article

People-powered welfare: Including lived experience in redesigning employment support  

Niall Cooper and Jane Perry emphasise the importance of including individuals with lived experience in reforming the employment support system to effectively address economic inactivity and enhance welfare policies. Read more of the article