Pay: the lost decade
Date: 13. November 2013
James Plunkett
Recent good news on the jobs front should not obscure the fact that real wages have been falling for at least four years. Overall, the wage squeeze has created a lost decade for pay
New Office for National Statistics data out this morning confirms what many workers will already know: the wage squeeze continues. In fact, wages have now been falling in real terms for four years.
Why the Bank of England should target wages as well as unemployment
Date: 6. November 2013
Matthew Whittaker
After months of relative inaction, MPC meetings are about to get very interesting again. While rate increases should be some way off yet, improvements in a range of economic indicators mean that ever more attention is set to shift towards the question of how and when monetary policy tightens. While calls for action are likely to build, the avoidance of premature movement will be vital. With the upturn in its infancy, household budgets still squeezed and millions of families exposed to repayment difficulties associated with debts built-up in the pre-crisis years, increases in rates that predate sustained improvements in household incomes risk choking off the recovery.
Kickstart institutional investment to build new homes for generation rent
Date: 30. October 2013
Katie Blacklock
Investors have long enjoyed a love/hate relationship with property. An asset class dominated by commercial real estate, it delivers diversification and a reasonable yield in the good times. But in difficult times, upward-only rent reviews vanish, and fund managers are left wrestling with high voids and bad debts.
Who will benefit from the tax break for married couples?
Date: 21. October 2013
Donald Hirsch
and
Matthew Whittaker
David Cameron’s announcement of a marriage tax allowance has attracted significant interest. The policy will make £1,000 of personal income tax allowance transferable between adults who are married or in a civil partnership, provided the higher earner is a basic-rate taxpayer and their partner is not paying income tax.
How to revive build to rent
Date: 18. October 2013
Vidhya Alakeson
The private rented sector is fast becoming the only housing option for low to middle income families. Even with Help to Buy, home ownership is too great a stretch for many, especially in expensive areas and they are very unlikely to get access to affordable housing. The UK’s private rented sector though remains characterised by older properties, short term tenancies and variable quality. What’s more, the market is dominated by small buy-to-let landlords who own one or two properties each – just one tenant in ten rents from a professional, large landlord. Families in “generation rent” deserve a better deal and private finance can provide part of the answer.
How to ensure a rise in the personal allowance delivers on its promise
Date: 17. October 2013
Matthew Whittaker
Income tax cuts, or the promise of them, seem likely to play a big part at the next election. Having delivered on what was initially a Liberal Democrat policy to raise the personal tax allowance to £10,000, both sides of the coalition appear keen on further increases after 2015. For its part, Labour says it will re-introduce the 10p starting band if elected. Such policies come with sizeable invoices, but they form key strands of attempts to ease the squeeze on (and to appeal to) “hard pressed families”.
Another Tory-Lib Dem coalition in 2015? It's no done deal
Date: 17. October 2013
Gavin Kelly
The polls suggest the next election will be tight, so we can expect 18 months of speculation about the likelihood of a hung parliament and the coalition deals that might result. Expect every policy announcement to be scrutinised as much for what it says about future coalition talks as it will be for its actual content.
Higher income tax thresholds won’t benefit the lowest-paid
Date: 15. October 2013
James Plunkett
No manifesto for 2015 will be complete without a promise of a tax cut. Yesterday we got our first glimpse of what the Tories might offer. Senior party figures say they want to raise the personal allowance to £12,500, matching a pledge made by the Liberal Democrats. Ministers have pitched the higher allowance as a way to help the lowest earners. There may be good reasons to raise the allowance, but helping the lowest-paid isn’t one of them.
It's time to be honest about who gains from tax cuts
Date: 14. October 2013
Gavin Kelly
The news that George Osborne is likely to match the flagship Liberal Democrat commitment to raise the personal tax allowance to £12.5k in the next parliament is further proof of what became apparent during the conference season: the government’s economic message is jerking awkwardly between painting a bleak account of the years of austerity still to come and sunny promises of major tax cuts just around the corner.
Gavin Kelly Resolution Foundation living standards childcare James Plunkett Housing inflation tax credits Squeezed Middle tax Vidhya Alakeson wages coalition inequality Matthew Whittaker minimum wage new statesman Debt Spending Review female employment low pay Squeezed Britain Universal Credit autumn statement growth USA women work incentives Budget 2012 generation rent giselle cory household income IFS institutional investment Labour living wage politics social mobility welfare affordability Audit budget 2011 cameron Commission on Living Standards distribution earnings economy Ed Miliband education employment fiscal choices interest rates labour market living low pay commission low to middle income older workers skills social care spending round sr2013 unemployment zero hours Affordable Housing America budget child benefit child poverty cost of living David Cameron debt target degree Guardian income jared bernstein joe coward lee savage Lib Dems living costs measuring poverty middle class Obama poverty recession recovery tax cuts uk 10p arrears benefits borrowing Commission cpi cuts david willetts debt forgivenes dilnot Donald Hirsch fiscal forbearance gearing George Osborne good life great stagnation household household debt housing market huffington post ippr Ipsos MORI jobs gap lane kenworthy Low earners matthew pennycook mortgages Nick Clegg pay pension Pensions personal allowance personal allowances polarisation precarious work prices prospect q2 growth regional renting rpi shared ownership social housing social mobility foundation Sophia Parker standards sutton trust tax changes tax relief think tank think-tank underemployment Wage squeeze 2013 Work working poor zero hours contract 'Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings' 'earnings squeeze' 'squeeze' 'wage stagnation' #ows £10000 2011 2012 50p 99% a matter of time Alan Johnson Alex Hurrell allowance andrew haldane Anna Vignoles apprenticeships ASHE assets Australia bank of england below minimum wage benefit freezes borgen Boris Johnson budget 2013 care assistant centreforum chancellor childcar choices CiF citizens UK Coalition politics Conor D'Arcy conservatives Cost of Motherhood costs council tax council tax benefit CPIH daniel chandler datablog de-coupling debt peril deficit department for education dependency election election 2015 enforcement equity release family felicity dennistoun Financial Times first-time buyers food prices full employment gap GDP gender gingerbread gregg growth without gain HELP Committee higher rate higher rate tax relief hmrc holmes homeownership hourglass household finances household spending illegal in work income inequality income tax increase Independent indignados international jobs John Van Reenen jrf Labour Party Left Foot Forward liberal democrats living wage foundation LMIs low middle earners Low Pay Britain low pay threshold low to middle income earners low wage low wage work machin marginal tax rate marriage tax allowance matt whittaker matthew hancock mayhew median real wage median wage Mervyn King Middle Britain miminum wage minimum income standards missing out mobility monetary policy Montague mortgage market national minimum wage netmums new statesman blog new year newby newham niesr nil hours number paid below minimum wage nursery world OBR occupy occupy wall street OECD older ons over 50s paul gregg pay and pensions pay progression pensions relief personal personal finance pledge cards policy politicans poll population precarious employment predistribution prescription charges priorities private rented private rented sector private sector growth progression prospect magazine prs public sector public services public spending ratios reduce credit card reform Regions Rented Sector resolution foudnation retirement robin wales routine jobs RPIJ rss savings Senate shereen hussein social society southern cross spending cuts squeezed state state pension age steve machin tax and benefit changes tax and benefits Tax Benefits The Spirit Level threshold tories travel time Treasury trends unison university US election van reenen VAT voters voting wage wage growth wage inequality Welfare Debate welfare state White Paper workers Working part time lower skilled job young people Youth unemployment youth wages
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