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// Issue 29

Issue 29: Editorial

By Richard Machin and Annie Harper

Issue 29 // 16th October 2024

In the new issue of Futures of Work, the authors address the intersections between employment, welfare systems, poverty and debt. Read more of the article

It makes you sick: The mental health impact of the demonisation and policing of benefit claimants

By Allan Reynolds

Issue 29 // 16th October 2024

Allan Reynolds examines how mental health patients expressed anxiety about the transition from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payment, rooted in negative experiences with the Work Capability Assessment, highlighting the broader harmful impacts of harsh welfare policies. Read more of the article

Confusion and contradiction: Navigating work and disability benefit rules  

By Annie Harper and Yolanda Herring

Issue 29 // 16th October 2024

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 

By Merryl Eaton

Issue 29 // 16th October 2024

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? 

By Nicole Dayaram

Issue 29 // 16th October 2024

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

Current challenges and future opportunities for social security claimants and policy 

By Daphne Hall

Issue 29 // 16th October 2024

Daphne Hall suggests that Labour's proposals offer a holistic approach to employment support, shifting the DWP's role toward helping people. However, issues like the NHS and adult social care, which impact the nation's health, also need urgent attention. Read more of the article

The effects of neoliberal capitalism on employment and mental health recovery among people with psychiatric disabilities 

By Megan S. Evans

Issue 29 // 16th October 2024

Megan Evans explains that a capitalist economy relies on having a readily available workforce for low-wage, part-time jobs without benefits. These workers are kept afloat by a minimal social safety net when they are no longer needed by the market. Read more of the article

Implications of AI for the Future of Work for people with Serious Mental Illness  

By Kendall Atterbury

Issue 29 // 16th October 2024

People with serious mental illnesses (SMI) face unemployment rates of 75-85% and rely on inadequate benefits. Kendall Atterbury argues that as automation reduces job opportunities, stigma against those with psychiatric disabilities increases, highlighting the need to address the structural barriers they face in employment. Read more of the article

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

By Niall Cooper and Jane Perry

Issue 29 // 16th October 2024

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