Unequal and gendered: assessing the impacts of austerity cuts on public service users

Hastings, A. , Matthews, P. and Wang, Y. (2021) Unequal and gendered: assessing the impacts of austerity cuts on public service users. Social Policy and Society, (doi: 10.1017/S1474746421000543) (Early Online Publication)

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Abstract

A decade of austerity has amplified concern about who gets what from public services. The article considers the socio-economic and gendered impacts of cuts to local environmental services which have increased the need for citizens to report service needs and effectively ‘co-produce’ services. Via a case study of a UK council’s decade of administrative data on citizen requests and service responses, the article provides one of the first detailed analyses of the unfolding impact of austerity cuts over time on public service provision. It demonstrates the impact of austerity across the social gradient, but disproportionately on the least affluent, especially women. The article argues for the importance of detailed empirical examination of administrative data for making visible, and potentially tackling, long standing inequalities in public service provision.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:The research reported in this article was made possible by the Economic and Social Research Council’s support for the Urban Big Data Centre (ES/L011921/1 and ES/ S007105/1).
Status:Early Online Publication
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Hastings, Professor Annette and Wang, Dr Yang
Authors: Hastings, A., Matthews, P., and Wang, Y.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
Journal Name:Social Policy and Society
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
ISSN:1474-7464
ISSN (Online):1475-3073
Published Online:06 December 2021
Copyright Holders:Copyright © The Author(s) 2021
First Published:First published in Social Policy and Society 2021
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
190698Urban Big Data Research CentreNick BaileyEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC)ES/L011921/1S&PS - Urban Big Data
304042UBDC Centre TransitionNick BaileyEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC)ES/S007105/1S&PS - Administration