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Hannah Fearn

Editor, Independent Voices@hannahfearn

Hannah Fearn is a columnist, writer and reporter for the Independent and other titles. She was previously Voices Editor, and before that covered social affairs for The Independent and Independent on Sunday. She has a special interest in inequality, poverty, housing, education and life chances.

<p>Every single piece of policy that is passed by the government – from planning rules to prison policy, social care funding to education reform – is passed without any discussion about the unique impact it might have on women</p>
Voices

A minister for WAGs: Seriously, that’s what the next government needs…

<p>The housing crisis now touches every age demographic and every part of the economy</p>
Voices

The root of Britain’s homelessness epidemic? Landlords – good and bad

<p>American comic Arj Barker asked a woman with a baby to leave his show in Melbourne </p>
Voices

Heard the one about the baby kicked out of a comedy club?

<p>The chancellor announced a rise in the threshold for repayment of child benefit from £50,000 to £60,000 a year</p>
Voices

Hunt’s Budget shows why mothers like me feel abandoned by the Tories

<p>The latest research shows a positive impact on users – one trial even found alleviated symptoms in 56 per cent of patients </p>
Health and Wellbeing

The headset that could help people cure their depression in 10 weeks

<p>Anyone hoping that things will improve financially once their children fly the nest should listen carefully</p>
Voices

When it comes to cash, guess what’s the worst age for being a woman...

<p>Being screamed at by a helpless newborn for 16 hours a day is definitely a cocktail for unstable mental health</p>
Voices

How I got the emergency mental health care I needed after giving birth

<p>It’s time to abandon the safety blanket of calling half, or more, of the country ‘middle class’ </p>
Voices

‘Middle class’ is meaningless: we need new ways to talk about society

<p>Many new homeowners will be making repayments up to retirement age </p>
The Longer Read

Are we entering the age of the marathon mortgage?

<p>Part of the ceiling in Sabrena Rahman’s apartment collapsed following a water leak from the flat upstairs </p>
Home News

Disabled mum driven from damp and mouldy home for three years

<p>Jaden Smith, Lily-Rose Depp and Brooklyn Beckham</p>
Voices

The truth about nepo babies is much more complex than you think

<p>As the UK faces myriad challenges, some people are deciding it’s time to leave </p>
Long Reads

‘Everything feels bleak’: The people leaving Britain for a new life

<p>What is this obsession with dressing small girls in impractical clothing unsuited to the business of getting outside and playing? </p>
Voices

Why can’t I find warm winter clothes for my little girls?

Voices

Why can’t I find warm winter clothes for my little girls?

<p>What is this obsession with dressing small girls in impractical clothing unsuited to the business of getting outside and playing? </p>
<p>For many people, the next two years could be the moment at which the housing market finally becomes accessible</p>
Voices

There’s some brilliant news for first-time buyers

<p>The traditional links between public services and Labour are breaking</p>
Voices

Keir Starmer’s Labour isn’t prepared for the next generation of voters

<p>Shorthouse also rules out ever becoming an MP</p>
Voices

Where have all the young Tories gone?

<p>‘I need that time when no one is asking me to do stuff, and when I’m not in meetings, to actually get my job done’ </p>
Lifestyle

The rise of leavism: Do you also use holidays to catch up on work?

<p>‘I need that time when no one is asking me to do stuff, and when I’m not in meetings, to actually get my job done’ </p>
Lifestyle

The rise of leavism: Do you also use holidays to catch up on work?

<p>Awaab Ishak died at the age of two due to severe mould exposure in his home</p>
Voices

Money buys better health – this proves it

<p>For many owning a house is out of reach </p>
The Longer Read

Thanks to the cost of living – shared ownership isn’t what some hoped

<p>Hancock believes that he can evolve his public image</p>
Voices

Tonight’s the night – the Matt Hancock reveal you’ve been waiting for

<p>The word ‘hotel’ is a misnomer because of the baggage it brings along with it</p>
Voices

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘hotel’?

Women

‘Vampire facials’ for the vagina could cure the worst of the menopause

<p>Moving into a smaller home in mid-life has more than just financial benefits</p>
The Longer Read

Why aren’t older people downsizing to smaller homes?

<p>So far, Hunt has refused to say anything in response to the call for benefits to be uprated in line with inflation</p>
Voices

Does the Department for Work and Pensions have a soul?

<p>It’s not official government policy – which is just as well</p>
Voices

‘Tax cuts for mums’ won’t work – who can afford children anyway?

<p>Moving into a smaller home in mid-life has more than just financial benefits</p>
The Longer Read

Why aren’t older people downsizing to smaller homes?

<p>So far, Hunt has refused to say anything in response to the call for benefits to be uprated in line with inflation</p>
Voices

Does the Department for Work and Pensions have a soul?

<p>It’s not official government policy – which is just as well</p>
Voices

‘Tax cuts for mums’ won’t work – who can afford children anyway?

<p>The public discussion this week is no longer about the mythical moral deficiency of those who need to claim benefits</p>
Voices

Has the Tory myth about people on benefits finally shattered?

Voices

Has the Tory myth about people on benefits finally shattered?

<p>The public discussion this week is no longer about the mythical moral deficiency of those who need to claim benefits</p>
<p>NHS staff shortages are playing a part in making appointments difficult to secure</p>
Voices

Why aren’t women having smear tests?

<p>Liz Truss, as Tory leader and PM, may be the perfect exemplar of this relationship</p>
Voices

Think tanks are ruining politics for the rest of us

<p>The unexpected day off also means no schooling and no childcare and little time to make a plan for cover</p>
Voices

The bitter truth? Bank holidays cost some of us far too much

<p>The Queen was the last of a generation whose lives were shaped by being deferent to others</p>
Voices

The age of deference is gone – so why do we keep bowing to the royals?

<p>The Queen was the last of a generation whose lives were shaped by being deferent to others</p>
Voices

The age of deference is gone – so why do we keep bowing to the royals?

<p>The rental market is so heated that some prospective tenants are being asked to find a year’s rent upfront</p>
The Longer Read

Why are single women feeling the worst effects of the housing crisis?

<p>‘This means so much to so many women across the world,’ crowed Conservative MP Vicky Ford on Monday </p>
Voices

Liz Truss is our third female PM – but this isn’t a win for women

<p>We have always known that Shamima was not a dangerous aggressor but a foolish teen brainwashed by online propaganda, material and doctrine created by men</p>
Voices

Shamima Begum deserves a fair trial – now more so than ever

<p>The resistance of the government to invest in childcare over the last decade is hard to fathom</p>
Voices

Why are women’s careers treated as disposable in Britain?

<p>The reason we feel terrible now is because we’re living through a social crisis, only weeks after stepping out of the last</p>
Voices

A ‘growth mindset’ won’t save you from the cost of living crisis

<p>Taking the plunge: life begins again at 40 </p>
Lifestyle

What’s it like to completely start over in your forties?

<p>Mullins is the archetype of a hard-driving business leader who keeps hanging on to the idea that presenteeism boosts productivity</p>
Voices

A message to Charlie Mullins – from everyone working in the heatwave

<p>Suella Braverman may have already withdrawn her application to be the next leader of the Conservative Party</p>
Voices

What Suella Braverman said about benefits isn’t truth – it’s prejudice

Food and Drink

What is ‘cognition nutrition’? It could change the way you eat forever

<p>These ridiculous policies follow a decade of attempts by the Conservatives to link larger families to fecklessness</p>
Voices

Do the Tories want us to have more babies or not? They sound confused

<p>Graduate destination also depends on far more than just achievement at university</p>
Voices

Forcing unis to axe courses is an attack on working class students

Voices

Forcing unis to axe courses is an attack on working class students

<p>Graduate destination also depends on far more than just achievement at university</p>
<p>It is about more than education, the government must create opportunities for people </p>
The Longer Read

What really needs to be done to tackle social mobility?

<p>Fletcher and the government seem to be relying on a lack of understanding of how a splintered rail industry actually functions</p>
Voices

Tories have resorted to sharing misleading information on rail strikes

Food and Drink

For families with allergies, soaring food costs have a higher price

<p>The average deposit in the UK is now more than £57,000 – £74,000</p>
Voices

Young people can’t afford to buy homes – and it’s not due to Netflix

<p>The average deposit in the UK is now more than £57,000 – £74,000</p>
Voices

Young people can’t afford to buy homes – and it’s not due to Netflix

<p>Every woman has been told that smear tests don’t – or shouldn’t – hurt, but they can and they do</p>
Voices

‘Medical gaslighting’ exists – if you’re a woman

<p>The woman said her complaints to Sussex Police about rape threats from the man were not taken seriously enough </p>
Crime

Man jailed for attacking woman abused others ‘due to police failures’

<p>There have been numerous protests about illegal evictions across the UK </p>
The Longer Read

The fight to end illegal evictions

<p>What would you do if your company was on the brink of collapse? </p>
Voices

Half-term holidays are in chaos – but don’t blame the travel industry

<p>Benefits do not support the poorest to live a self-determining and fulfilled life</p>
Voices

The Tories are taking us back to Victorian Britain

<p>There are many reasons why dangerous behaviour can flourish inside Westminster</p>
Voices

Porn, rape – Westminster’s dangerous underbelly is finally exposed

<p>Kit Malthouse is not being entirely accurate when he says any government decision is ‘above his pay grade’ </p>
Voices

These are the five words that expose Boris Johnson’s government

<p>The impact on parents whose children are struggling with mental health conditions is rarely discussed</p>
Health & Families

The pain of parenting a child with mental illness

<p>Every day, I make decisions on what to feed my children </p>
Voices

Oil is being substituted in common foods – but what about allergies?

<p>The HRT shortage is devastating many women’s lives </p>
The Longer Read

How the HRT shortage is causing suffering amongst women

<p>The attitudes of those who share his “concern” about hybrid working are dangerous</p>
Voices

Working from home isn’t absenteeism – it is the flexibility women need

Voices

Working from home isn’t absenteeism – it is the flexibility women need

<p>The attitudes of those who share his “concern” about hybrid working are dangerous</p>
<p>‘Poverty’ has become a term that is used in Britain to isolate</p>
Voices

You might be living in fuel poverty – but not even realise

<p>With impossible wait times, attitudes to private health are changing </p>
The Longer Read

Is cheap private healthcare killing the NHS?

<p>Are we really comfortable with abandoning the poorest people?</p>
Voices

Living with Covid means living in a two-tier Britain. Why is that OK?

Women

The pandemic exposed a feminist need for universal basic income

Women

The pandemic exposed a feminist need for universal basic income

Pulling out one’s hair - or trichotillomania - is a form of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
Health & Families

‘I pluck the hair from my scalp like a trophy’: Living with trich

<p>Of course Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is frustrated that the decision to repay a decades overdue debt to Iran took so long to make</p>
Voices

Ransom or debt? The government chooses these words for a reason

<p>‘According to a recent study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) into extreme impoverishment, there are now 1.8m children growing up in what the charity terms “very deep poverty”’ </p>
Independent Premium

The visceral reality of ‘deep poverty’ across the UK

<p>The scheme requires volunteers to open their home for a minimum of six months. When that period comes to an end, what next?</p>
Voices

Homes for Ukraine is the government washing its hands of refugees

<p>Where does the UK Home Office expect refugees fleeing gun fire and bombs to find a printer and photocopier? </p>
Voices

Disband the Home Office to redeem our shame over Ukrainian refugees

<p>Mia was delivered in an underground shelter in Kyiv </p>
Voices

Tempted to look away from the photos of Ukraine? Don’t

<p>After I caught a snippet of the show the flashbacks of my birthing experience started</p>
Voices

‘This Is Going To Hurt’ is important viewing – but I won’t be watching

The Longer Read

What is a Xennial – and how will their worldview affect us all?

<p>A quick glance at social media shows that feelings of numbness and detachment are common </p>
Health & Families

There’s a reason we all feel numb right now

<p>Destitution is a child crying from hunger and a parent eating just one meal a day to make sure their child has as much as they can offer</p>
Voices

The ‘new normal’ for Britain? Poverty and destitution

<p>To make a difference to the lives of private renters, in red wall constituencies and beyond, any decent homes standard would have to be enforceable by law</p>
Voices

Private landlords may benefit from levelling up – how very Tory

Women

How doctors are letting women down when it comes to UTIs

<p>Boris Johnson holds up a birthday cake during a visit to Bovingdon Primary Academy on 19 June 2020 </p>
Voices

I share a birthday with the PM – this is what I did on 19 June 2020

<p>It’s both surprising and disappointing to learn that £5.8bn paid out through Covid support programmes was falsely claimed</p>
Voices

Rishi Sunak is writing off Covid support fraud after slashing benefits

<p>The culture of fear, of blame and of burying bodies to climb a greasy pole is endemic inside politics and throughout the civil service, and even the wider public sector</p>
Voices

Why wasn’t the whistle blown on the Downing Street party sooner?

<p>Since 2013, 340,000 new homes have been sold through the help-to-buy scheme</p>
Voices

The Help to Buy scheme has been an abject failure

<p>It’s both surprising and disappointing to learn that £5.8bn paid out through Covid support programmes was falsely claimed</p>
Voices

Rishi Sunak is writing off Covid support fraud after slashing benefits

<p>The culture of fear, of blame and of burying bodies to climb a greasy pole is endemic inside politics and throughout the civil service, and even the wider public sector</p>
Voices

Why wasn’t the whistle blown on the Downing Street party sooner?

<p>Since 2013, 340,000 new homes have been sold through the help-to-buy scheme</p>
Voices

The Help to Buy scheme has been an abject failure

<p>One of the recorded crimes was, of course, the brutal rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a man serving, at the time of her death, as a Met officer </p>
Voices

When will the Met Police take women’s safety seriously?

<p>Boris Johnson and his government have already tested the patience of an exhausted population this month</p>
Voices

We’re facing a cost of living crisis

Health & Families

The football club launched by fathers to stillborn babies

<p>Boris Johnson’s splintered government is unable to agree within itself on the best action to take </p>
Voices

Boris Johnson wanted to save Christmas – he failed

<p>Boris Johnson is facing questions over an alleged Christmas Downing Street party</p>
Voices

I gave birth alone while Downing Street partied

<p>‘When you are going through something like IVF you really need your support network around you’ </p>
Women

‘The stakes feel horribly high’: The women having to shield during IVF

<p>Prime Minister Boris Johnson at PMQs </p>
Voices

It was his greatest asset – but language is now failing Boris Johnson

<p>The problem of care will be thrown back into the Commons within a decade</p>
Voices

Where are the radical social care ideas?

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