Martin Lewis' Money & Mental Health Policy Institute

[Facknats]

Martin Lewis has continued his commendable work (give that man a knighthood) in generating mental health community research which is intended to influence government policy in relation to mental health and financial management.

So far so good. I'm particularly upset however, especially as hard evidence that Universal Credit affects women disproportionately confirms what we all knew, that data collected is done so under the premise of gender identity, with no data on sex recorded.

I can see numerous issues with this:

• Many people beyond the 1% and vocal 'ally' minority (I say that because more often than not, through aggression handmaidens do more harm to the trans community than good) will tick the 'prefer not to say' box because they don't 'identify' as anything, they just either bleed or spunk and their financial circumstance sometimes bears results from that.

• It is a missed opportunity to examine data which provides insight into the financial struggles of distinct demographics. This doesn't serve transgender people or women as diluted data (comparing apples with pears) cannot highlight areas of structural concern.

Regardless of my views on whether gender is simply a cultural machination, would it not be better to include separate options for sex and gender on all serious research initiatives, with the option to opt out of either? I suggested this in my GRA response as it's the only way I can see public research really meeting any substantial needs beyond the naiive demands of the TRA twitterati..

Surely homogenization doesn't actually serve any real purpose where public policy is concerned?

You are right, it can only do harm to the people who need the most support.
I think this is deliberate, and that the powers that be know what the end result will be. As they did with austerity. Its not that they don't know, its that this is whats supposed to happen and they don't care how many are harmed as long as they get the outcome they want.

I admire Martin Lewis enormously. I'd hope that he'd change this if it were to be brought to his attention - say by the Women's Budget Group:

wbg.org.uk

My caveat is that WBG are sound on UC, austerity etc. but somewhat WEP in their wokeness so they might be conflicted. Tho' grief knows how they expect to comment appropriately on women if they tolerate contamination of the data by inappropriate conflation of gender and sex.

surely wbg know that its actual women and not laydees with feelz who are baring the brunt - being the most likely to be caring for both ends of the age spectrum, suffering from having to juggle schools and careers, and taking a hit getting back into work after pregnancy.

WBG's response to the GRA consultation had some useful nuance but I'm a little taken aback by their support for gender rather than sex:

wbg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/GRA-consultation-response-from-WBG-FINAL.pdf