At @jrf-uk.bsky.social, one of the issues we’re currently thinking about is how you can bolster the protections and safety nets available for self-employed people, particularly on low incomes; if you’re working on something similar, please get in touch!

Plus, practical recommendations on how the UK could chart a path from UC improvements for the self-employed all the way to a comprehensive employment insurance system for working people

Currently, self-employed people can be put in a really precarious position if they fall ill, losing 81% of their incomes; this report sets out a number of the problems with our current support systems, and what the UK can learn from other countries

Interesting new report out from @thefabians.bsky.social today on why the UK needs to extend sick pay protections to the self-employed 👇

Disability benefit cuts likely to create more deep poverty and hardship than even the bleak forecast from the Government’s own limited assessments

Really important work from @trusselluk.bsky.social & WPI Economics finds c440,000 people will be pushed into hunger and hardship as a result

💼 Too many people in the UK struggle to make ends meet, despite being in work.

In a new Comment piece, @abbyabhaya.bsky.social and @morganbestwick.bsky.social explore how the Employment Rights Bill can and must fix insecure work, improve sick pay and boost flexible jobs.

Read more: bit.ly/3SHzfRH

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall's speech today laid out plans to cut disability and sickness benefits by billions.

❌ No truly moral choice would leave disabled people without support designed to allow them to lead a dignified life, or facing hardship. 1/4

And the confirmation that agency workers are included in new secure work rights is really positive. Previous JRF work shows how essential these new secure work rights will be to ending insecurity for lower-paid workers and tackling hardship www.jrf.org.uk/work/jobs-th...

To build on the foundation of these positive improvements to sick pay, the government should also put in place a process for reviewing the rate of sick pay in the longer term, to make sure it adequately protects workers who need time off for their health.

But while these improvements to sick pay are really positive, there are still worries about the group of lower-paid workers who may lose out compared to now if the new lower rate of sick pay is set at whichever is lower - either 80% of your earnings or the SSP rate.

For the UK's statutory sick pay system, removing the income threshold that locks out lower earners and abolishing waiting days are essential steps on the way to having a lab mkt that actually enables people to balance work with health needs without having to face hardship or fall out of work.

Significant new rights for workers announced earlier this week, including the extension of new secure work rights to cover agency workers, and reforms to statutory sick pay questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-stat...