Publications

This paper examines the impact of devolution on social welfare for older people and the associated administration of age equality. Analysis of policy discourse, rights and stakeholders’ views reveals divergent practice in the constituent nations of the UK. In normative terms this is shown to present a tension between universal welfare rights and entitlements –…

The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Autumn Statement of 2011 that the public sectorpay freeze would come to an end in 2012/13, with public sector pay awards of 1 per cent planned overthe next 2 years thereafter. Emphasis was also placed on making public sector pay more responsive tolocal labour market conditions. Evidence…

In this paper we use the most recently available data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, April 2011, to examine the size of the gender pay gap in Wales. The paper looks at how the gender pay gap varies across industries and occupations in Wales and analyses how the gender pay gap has…

This article draws on investigations of worker response to two factory closures to develop recent discussions around mobilization theory. With many shared characteristics between the factories, both located in the garment manufacturing sector, and with similar workforces and union organization, certain key distinguishing features between the two provide insights into why worker protest became effectively…

The south Wales’ valleys had been at the centre of the Industrial Revolution in the 1920s and so at the cutting edge of skilled practices developed in the mining and steel industries. Men came to these remote and typologically impressive places, settled, created communities, brought up families and passed down their skills. The last working…

This is a final report for the Welsh Government New Ideas Social Research Fund project entitled ‘Public Sentiments Towards Immigrants and Minorities: The Difference Wales Makes?’ The aim of this project was to investigate public sentiments in Wales towards immigrants and minorities. The monitoring of what people think about immigrants and minorities has come to…

During an ethnographic research project exploring young people’s perceptions of living in a post-industrial semi-rural place, boys aged 13/14 years revealed their semi-clandestine motorbiking activities across mountains trails. It was found that riding motorbikes and fixing engines were potential resources for young boys’ transitions into adult working-class masculinity and sources of competence, pride and enjoyment…

This research report, commissioned by NOMS Cymru, evaluates the provision of Women’s Turnaround Services (WTS) by the North Wales Women’s Centre (NWWC), based in Rhyl, North Wales between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2011. The Women’s Turnaround Service was piloted in North Wales in May 2009 and fully established by April 2010. The WTS…

Recent economic, social and political change has generated greater uncertainty in the housing options of young people. The recession has also highlighted challenges such as the lack of available credit and high youth unemployment. The report explores: • the key drivers shaping the housing experiences of young people; • the impacts of key drivers of…

Since 1999 it was the view that parliamentary devolution had enabled Welsh Governments to pursue a wide range of imaginative policies across the whole gamut of educational provision. More recently, however, the focus of political discourse has shifted to the perceived failures of Welsh schools. This ‘crisis of Welsh education’ has provided the basis for…