Social reproduction in the shadows: Making lives with 'no recourse to public funds' (Shadows)

英国约有200万人受到“无公共资金”（NRPF）规则的约束，这一移民限制因英国脱欧和《国籍与边境法案》而迅速扩大。影响无证移民和大多数有时间限制居住的移民的NRPF禁止他们获得主流福利、社会住房和包括免费校餐在内的其他支持。现有的关于NRPF的少量研究表明，它使移民陷入贫困，通常持续多年，特别是来自英国前殖民地（如尼日利亚和牙买加）的母亲和儿童，他们已经经历了社会经济劣势。许多受自然资源保护计划影响的母亲由于其移民身份或无法获得托儿服务而不允许工作。根据1989年《儿童法案》，国家唯一可能的支持来自资金紧张的地方当局，而实际上这种支持很少，也很难获得，这些家庭往往无家可归，容易受到剥削和虐待。儿童协会（The Children’s Society）等慈善机构指出，无人陪伴的年轻人——在没有父母陪伴的情况下来到英国——如果他们在18岁之前无法将移民身份正规化，就会面临类似的问题，届时他们将受到NRPF的约束。这个及时的项目提出了一个问题：在这种情况下，移民身份不安全的家庭和无人陪伴的年轻人如何生存？随着时间的推移，NRPF如何影响他们创造和维持生活的方式？在这种情况下，关于儿童是谁和应该是谁的想法（例如，儿童需要“保护”）与受自然保护基金影响的不同儿童群体的日常生活之间的关系是什么？对历史和当前政策的分析如何有助于解释NRPF的目的、持久性和扩展？而且，这如何能促进对NRPF如何塑造当今经验的理解，以便为正在进行的政策辩论提供信息？此前对NRPF的研究主要集中在家庭向慈善机构或当地政府寻求支持的危机高峰时刻。然而，NRPF必须每天进行导航，其影响可能是深远和持久的。阴影项目将通过在较长时间内探索NRPF的日常影响做出新的贡献。我们之前的研究表明，儿童被认为需要照顾和保护的方式与流动儿童的日常生活实际情况之间存在差异。例如，受NRPF影响的儿童谈到不吃饭、用移动电话做作业、住在不适当的住所，尽管根据1989年《儿童法》得到了支助。我们的研究结果表明，尽管孩子们感到并理解他们的日常生活因为他们的移民身份而变得多么不稳定，但他们很少被问及他们的经历。为此，我们的研究将涉及患有NRPF的父母和受NRPF影响的两组不同的年轻研究参与者——无人陪伴的年轻人和与父母同住的年轻人。这是一种新颖的方法，特别是在研究、政策和实践通常将这些群体视为独立的情况下。我们将进行长期的实地考察和采访，并使用创造性的方法，如摄影。除此之外，我们将研究过去和现在围绕NRPF的政策话语，产生关于NRPF如何以及为什么在了解其有害影响的情况下继续扩大的知识。与支持NRPF人员的民间社会组织合作，包括我们的项目合作伙伴-流离失所者集体，肯特难民行动网络，Project 17和南伦敦难民协会-以及我们的一些参与者，我们将通过开放获取的在线，印刷和艺术材料，共同分析和传播关于NRPF长期影响的有力证据。通过这样做，我们将加强实践，制定政策，并为有关移民获得福利支持的公共辩论提供信息。

Around 2 million people in the UK are subject to the 'no recourse to public funds' (NRPF) rule, an immigration restriction being rapidly expanded as a result of Brexit and the Nationality and Borders Bill. NRPF, which affects undocumented migrants and most migrants with time-limited residency, prohibits access to mainstream welfare benefits, social housing, and other support including free school meals. The little existing research on NRPF has shown that it traps migrants in destitution, often for many years, particularly mothers and children from Britain's former colonies (e.g., Nigeria and Jamaica) who are already experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage. Many mothers affected by NRPF are not allowed to work because of their migration status or because they cannot access childcare. With the only potential state support coming from cash-strapped local authorities under the Children Act 1989, which in practice is minimal and difficult to access, families are often left homeless and vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Charities such as The Children's Society point out that unaccompanied young people - who come to the UK as children without parents - face similar problems if they are unable to regularise their migration status before turning 18, at which point they become subject to NRPF. This timely project asks: how do families and unaccompanied young people with insecure migration status survive in these circumstances? How does NRPF impact the ways they make and sustain their lives over time? What is the relationship between ideas about who children are and should be in this context (e.g., children as requiring 'protection'), and the daily lives of different groups of children affected by NRPF? How can analysis of historical and current policy help to explain the purposes, persistence, and expansion of NRPF? And, how can this advance understanding of how NRPF shapes present-day experiences in order to inform ongoing policy debate? Previous research on NRPF has focused on peak moments of crisis when families seek support from charities or local government. Yet, NRPF has to be navigated daily and its impacts are potentially deep and enduring. The Shadows project will make a new contribution by exploring the everyday impacts of NRPF over an extended period. Our previous research suggests there is a discrepancy between how children are perceived as needing care and protection, and how everyday life actually unfolds for migrant children. For example, children affected by NRPF spoke of skipping meals, doing homework on mobile phones, and living in inadequate accommodation, despite receiving support under the Children Act 1989. Our findings show that even though children feel and understand how precarious their daily lives are because of their migration status, they are rarely asked about their experiences. In response to this, our research will involve parents with NRPF and two distinct groups of young research participants affected by NRPF - unaccompanied young people and those living with parents. This is an original approach, particularly as research, policy, and practice generally treat these groups as separate. We will conduct long-term fieldwork and interviews and use creative methods such as photography. Alongside this, we will examine past and present policy discourses around NRPF, generating knowledge about how and why NRPF continues to be expanded despite knowledge of its detrimental impacts.Working with civil society organisations supporting people with NRPF, including our Project Partners -Displaced Collective, Kent Refugee Action Network, Project 17, and South London Refugee Association - and some of our participants, we will collectively analyse and disseminate robust evidence about NRPF's long-term impacts through open-access online, print, and arts-based materials. In so doing, we will enhance practice, shape policy, and inform public debate about migrants' access to welfare support.