How to increase affordable housing: six innovative options

The shortage of supply and the unaffordability of homes are key elements of Britain’s housing crisis. Gina Netto draws on research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to outline six potential solutions which could increase the supply of affordable housing

'Hard-to-Reach' or ‘Easy-to-Ignore’? A rapid review of place-based policies and equality

Executive summary   This review details the findings of a rapid evidence synthesis of academic literature, grey literature - research findings and evaluation - and statistical analysis on place-based policies and dimensions of equality. The main findings of the review with relevance for Scotland are:   The evidence for the ways in which particular equalities groups may benefit, or not, from place-based policies is quite sparse and we can make few definite conclusions.   Overall, in place-based policies, socio-economic inequality is much easier for policy-makers to understand and focus on, compared to the complexities of exclusion and deprivation faced by equalities groups.   The differing spatial distribution of equalities groups in Scotland suggests any future place-based policies should have equalities as a key focus.   17 per cent of those responding to successive waves of the Scottish Health Survey, classifying themselves as not heterosexual, also live in the 15 per cent most deprived neighbourhoods, making this group disproportionately represented in these neighbourhoods.   In the past there has commonly been a wholly unintentional "blindness" to equalities in place-based policies, with a presumption that all will, or can, benefit equally from improvements in socio-economic outcomes.   Place-based policies can explicitly focus on equalities groups, but often in a negative or problematising way - for example disabled people as a group needing to gain employment to reduce welfare benefits expenditure.   Scotland has a long history of place-based policies and continuing small, local projects focused on equalities groups. The lessons from these should be more broadly disseminated.   Engagement with place-based policies by local residents is often quite low; one large programme in England only managed to reach 20 per cent of residents in the targeted deprived neighbourhoods.   Place-based policies are particularly effective at delivering physical renewal and environmental improvements.   The holistic nature of place-based policies means they are often associated with improvements in wellbeing and place attachment outcomes. In the most ethnically diverse neighbourhoods in England there is evidence that some outcomes for certain BME groups were particularly improved by place-based policies.   Place-based policies often fail to make sustained improvements in socio-economic outcomes because the root cause of problems is outwith the neighbourhood, at the scale of the town, city or greater.   We recommend:   An ongoing focus on improving equalities data at a neighbourhood level, particularly using the 2011 Census as a basis for understanding ongoing trends.   Community Planning partners should also ensure they are using whatever equalities data is broadly available - particularly around gender and age.   Equality Impact Assessments based on a broad evidence base, and using techniques such as logic modelling, should be embedded into the implementation of any future place-based policies to assure an equalities focus even if statistical data at the neighbourhood level is not available.   The new statutory duties on equalities outcomes and positive duties may also be effective policy tools for CPPs to deliver an equalities dimension to place-based policies

Destitution in the UK

This report defines destitution in the UK, looking at how many people are affected, who they are, and the main pathways in and out of destitution. It looks at the impact and experience of those people directly affected

Resilience, smartphone use and language among urban refugees in the Global south

The formidable challenges faced by urban refugees in the Global South have received considerable attention, calling for new approaches to support their resilience. Although critical interest in resilience and the role of digital technology in enabling refugees to navigate their new surroundings has been growing, little attention has been paid to the influence of language and literacy in processes of resilience-building and the use of such technology. This is important due to the diverse linguistic resources which refugees bring with them and the central role of language in adapting to contexts of forced displacement. We develop a conceptual framework for examining refugees’ transnational use of smartphones and apply the framework to data collected from participatory workshops with fifty-four Rohingya refugees in Malaysia. Results revealed varying degrees of digital literacy, linguistic capital and literacy in three main languages: the Rohingya language which refugees bring with them, Bahasa Malaysia, the national language of Malaysia and English, which is widely spoken in Malaysia. These variations significantly shape resilience-building strategies. Greater attention to the role of language and literacy in refugees’ use of digital technology will contribute to better understanding of the capacity for resilience among these individuals and more effective digital solutions

Dominant Language Acquisition in destination countries: Structure, Agency and Reflexivity

This article advances understanding of the structural and agentic factors which influence how migrants in low-paid work reflexively acquire the dominant language of destination countries. Bourdieu’s theories on the symbolic power of language and habitus, and theories of reflexivity by Archer and others underpin our analysis of how migrants acquire English in the UK. Analysis of data generated from in-depth qualitative interviews with thirty-one migrants from EU and non-EU countries in low-paid work reveals that the agency of migrants in increasing proficiency in the language is shaped by access to resources, conscious and unconscious reflexive processes, aspects of embodiment and perceptions of identity by the self and others. We argue that closer attention to the social, political and economic context in which migrants acquire the dominant language of destination countries is needed, as well as greater awareness of the multi-dimensional nature of reflexivity and the constraints on agency

Ethnicity and low wage traps: favouritism, homosocial reproduction and economic marginalization

This article analyses the relationship between cultural difference, social connections and opportunity structures using interview evidence from low-paid workers and managers in local government, the health service, facilities management and housing. Exploring the operation of homosocial reproduction it reveals the double-edged nature of informality and the role of favouritism in particular in perpetuating ethnic advantage and privilege. While demonstrating that uses of homosocial reproduction need to be sensitive to intersections of identities or categories of difference, the article adds further evidence of the persistent gap between equal opportunities policies and practice for ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom labour market. The article concludes that stronger forms of positive action, and even positive discrimination, are needed to address the low pay traps and restricted opportunities of ethnic minority workers