Punitive and ineffective : benefit sanctions within social security

Benefit sanctions are now a central component of the UK’s increasingly conditional social security system. Over the last two decades their reach has been extended beyond Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claimants to include the majority of lone parents, many disabled people and, since the introduction of Universal Credit ( UC) in 2013, low paid workers in receipt of in work wage supplements and housing benefits. Utilising original data generated in a large (n.481 wave a), repeat qualitative longitudinal panel study this paper explores the impact of benefit sanctions on the lives of those in receipt of highly conditional social security benefits. It is concluded that benefit sanctions routinely trigger a range of profoundly negative outcomes that do not enhance the likelihood of people moving into paid work

In-work Universal Credit : Claimant Experiences of Conditionality Mismatches and Counterproductive Benefit Sanctions

Universal Credit is the UK’s globally innovative social security reform that replaces six means- tested benefits with one monthly payment for working age claimants - combining social security and tax credit systems. Universal Credit expands welfare conditionality via mandatory job search conditions to enhance ‘progression’ amongst working claimants by requiring extra working hours or multiple jobs. This exposes low paid workers to tough benefit sanctions for non-compliance, which could remove essential income indefinitely or for fixed periods of up to three years. Our unique contribution is to establish how this new regime is experienced at micro level by in-work claimants over time. We present findings from Qualitative Longitudinal Research (141 interviews with 58 claimants, 2014-17), to demonstrate how UC impacts on in-work recipients and how conditionality produces a new coerced worker-claimant model of social support. We identify a series of welfare conditionality mismatches and conclude that conditionality for in-work claimants is largely counterproductive. This implies a redesign of the UK system and serves as an international warning to potential policy emulators

Rights, responsibilities and redress? : Research on policy and practice for Roma inclusion in ten Member States: Final Report

This report is intended to assist the European Commission, civil society organisations, academics and a variety of key organisations and engaged individuals in furthering understanding of how policy impacts on the lives of Roma in countries across Europe. This report presents the findings from the empirical research in a number of thematic areas. More specifically, Chapter 2 briefly outlines the policy context for this report. In Chapter 3 we consider issues relating to cross-community relations. Employment is the focus of Chapter 4, whilst Chapter 5 focuses on the reporting of antidiscrimination and issues relating to redress mechanisms. Chapter 6 looks at the issues associated with Roma children living in and leaving public care systems. Finally, Chapter 7 discusses a number of cross-cutting issues that permeate the findings across the four main themes, provides some conclusions arising from this research and presents some key recommendations

Rights, responsibilities and redress? : Research on policy and practice for Roma inclusion in ten Member States: Summary Report

The overall objective of the research element was to investigate how the national strategies for Roma integration were being operationalised and delivered within the partner states in respect of combating ‘anti-Gypsyism’. Under this broad remit the research was guided by four specific objectives: 1. To map and explore existing policies and practice for combating anti-Gypsyism and promoting social inclusion in relation to the four core areas outlined above; 2. To consider the effectiveness of existing policies and procedures in combating antiGypsyism; 3. To investigate how existing policy and procedural frameworks are operationalised in practice on the ground; and 4. To explore how policies are experienced by organisations supporting and/or representing the interests of Rom

Precarious Lives : Refugees and Asylum Seekers’ Resistance within Unfree Labouring

This paper is concerned with the interplay between vulnerability, resistance and agency for forced migrants. Such concepts are yoked together as soon as the vulnerability inherent in the life-worlds of many migrants is seen to align not solely with victimhood, but also potentially to act as a springboard for agentic resistance, mobilisation and activism. As such, this paper is oriented towards a critical theoretical, and empirically insightful, engagement with the concept of resistance. Most particularly, we ponder the possibilities for resistance in situations of subjugated unfreedom within realms of forced labour. The backdrop for this paper is a broader research project that aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of severe labour exploitation and unfree labour among asylum seekers and refugees living in the UK (see http://precariouslives.org.uk/). The lives of many refugees and asylum seekers are widely recognised as characterised by poverty, social exclusion and destitution (Crawley 2001; Phillips 2006), yet there is little research documenting their experiences of exploitation and unfree labour and the reasons why they may be engaged in it. It was such a research gap that spurred our broader project, together with concern that government policy is potentially influential in propelling asylum seekers and refugees into severely exploitative working conditions including unfree elements (see fuller discussion in Lewis et al 2014a). This paper homes in on the particular issue of whether, and how, resistance may manifest for asylum seekers and refugees in landscapes of extreme labour precarity

Screening of Exosomal MicroRNAs From Colorectal Cancer Cells

BACKGROUND: Cells release extracellular membrane vesicles including microvesicles known as exosomes. Exosomes contain microRNAs (miRNAs) however the full range within colorectal cancer cell secreted exosomes is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To identify the full range of exosome encapsulated miRNAs secreted from 2 colorectal cancer cell lines and to investigate engineering of exosomes over-expressing miRNAs. METHODS: Exosomes were isolated from HCT-116 and HT-29 cell lines. RNA was extracted from exosomes and microRNA array performed. Cells were engineered to express miR-379 (HCT-116-379) or a non-targeting control (HCT-116-NTC) and functional effects were determined. Exosomes secreted by engineered cells were transferred to recipient cells and the impact examined. RESULTS: Microvesicles 40-100 nm in size secreted by cell lines were visualised and confirmed to express exosomal protein CD63. HT-29 exosomes contained 409 miRNAs, HCT-116 exosomes contained 393, and 338 were common to exosomes from both cell lines. Selected targets were validated. HCT-116-379 cells showed decreased proliferation (12-15% decrease, p \u3c 0.001) and decreased migration (32-86% decrease, p \u3c 0.001) compared to controls. HCT-116-379 exosomes were enriched for miR-379. Confocal microscopy visualised transfer of HCT-116-379 exosomes to recipient cells. CONCLUSIONS: Colorectal cancer cells secrete a large number of miRNAs within exosomes. miR-379 decreases cell proliferation and migration, and miR-379 enriched exosomes can be engineered