Humansolutions Bulletin - November 18th 2016

Neil has now produced a short video giving an overview of the programme. Neil will be happy to hear from you if you have any questions. Click here to view the video  

‘It’s important to forgive and forget’ is a widely used piece of folk wisdom. However, it’s not that simple. For someone to feel under pressure to forgive, they must have been hurt, betrayed or abused in some way. It is therefore questionable how realistic it is to expect someone to be able to find forgiveness in those circumstances. It can be not only unrealistic, but also unfair. To put someone under pressure to forgive when they are wrestling with the pain and insecurity they are experiencing can be seen as unhelpful and even as cruel. When they are already feeling ‘wronged’, they can then be made to feel that they are ‘in the wrong’ for continuing to hold feelings of…

In a bizarre recent story a woman was told by the Government that she was to have her social security withdrawn due to a suspected fraudulent claim. The private company contracted by HMRC to search for fraud in the tax system, Concentrix, had determined that she was not living alone as she had claimed, but was instead cohabiting. Her partner, according to Concentrix, was the 19th century philanthropist Joseph Rowntree, a confusion that had emerged as a result of the woman living in a house provided by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. This isn’t the only case where Concentrix has stopped people’s tax credits for bizarre reasons, they’ve also accused people of marrying their sister. However, to just blame Concentrix misses…

This report explores the relationship between disability and poverty among the older population. It emphasises the additional living costs that disabled people face, and the importance of taking disability costs into account when making poverty assessments in the older population. The report considers alternative directions of reform for the system of public support for older people with disabilities, and casts doubt on some of the suggestions that have been made for improving the targeting of public support for older disabled people… Click here to read more

Is there anything more difficult? Showing up day after day, week after week, sometimes for years, as your movement slowly gains steam, as your organization hits speed bumps, as the news goes from bad to worse... Showing up, it turns out, is the hardest part of making a difference ... Click here to read more 

Ten years ago, the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 (later replaced by the Equality Act 2010 on 1 October 2010) were introduced, marking the beginning of greater legislative efforts to tackle the unfair treatment of UK employees of all ages. Since then, there have been many landmark cases demonstrating that discrimination related to age remains with us in the 21st century workplace. A number of cases have also tested the robustness of the legislation, often leading to an outcome that sets a precedent for workplace policy development. The simple use of language within some job adverts was one of the first areas to fall foul of the legislation. For example, phrases such as “youthful enthusiasm” and “candidates in the first five years…