Living standards· Inequality & poverty· Political parties and elections A living standards election? What the year ahead could mean for family - and political - fortunes Wednesday 6 September 2023 The cost of living crisis has not only dragged on longer than anyone hoped, it has evolved. As the focus has moved from energy bills to food prices, alongside rising rent and mortgage costs, the impact on different groups has changed. It will change further in the run in to a 2024 general election, with … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030· Living standards· Labour market· Inequality & poverty· Housing Shared prosperity What would it take to see a return to rising living standards for all? Tuesday 4 July 2023 Britain is stagnating. Productivity growth is flatlining, workers today are earning the same wages as their predecessors in 2007, and living standards growth had slowed to a crawl even before today’s cost of living crisis. So we need a clear strategy for returning to rising, and widely shared, prosperity. Against that backdrop, it is important … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Incomes· Prices & consumption· Inequality & poverty New year, renewed squeeze? The outlook for living standards in 2023 and beyond Monday 9 January 2023 Britain’s cost-of-living crisis has been brutal this winter – even with significant government support – as bills rise and real wages fall. Inflation should ease in the year ahead, but government support is also being scaled back and rising interest rates will feed through into higher mortgage costs. The outlook is highly uncertain. How are … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Inequality & poverty Unfair treatment Assessing the scale of workplace discrimination, and efforts to stamp it out Tuesday 8 November 2022 Anti-discrimination laws have been with us since the 1960s, but despite this discrimination against workers based on protected characteristics such as race, gender and disability remains prevalent in many workplaces today. This can affect who gets which job, and means the world of work feels very different for different people. And while there are routes … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Inequality & poverty The long view of living standards What drives income growth and inequality in modern Britain? Monday 4 July 2022 Britain is in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis that is squeezing the incomes of households across the country. That crisis is particularly challenging because it comes against a backdrop of low-income growth and high inequality. Turning these worrying trends around is a key task for the 2020s, with history providing an important guide to … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Living standards· Inequality & poverty A standard recovery? The outlook for living standards, poverty and inequality Monday 18 January 2021 2020 was tough for household living standards, even with unprecedented support to increase benefits and pay wages through the Job Retention Scheme. While the start of 2021 looks grim, a swift vaccine roll-out holds out the promise of an economic recovery to come. But this unprecedented crisis may be followed by an abnormal recovery for … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Inequality & poverty· Wealth & assets The hidden rise (and fall?) of the Top 1% Live online panel discussion Thursday 21 May 2020 For decades the incomes of the Top 1 per cent pulled away from the rest of society, before crashing back down in the 2008 financial crisis. But what has happened since then? Unfortunately, data on the incomes of the very rich often does a bad job of assessing how much they really receive, with capital … Continued READ MORE
Inequality & poverty Growth vs equality: Trade-offs or complements? Book launch for ‘Unbound: How Inequality Constricts Our Economy and What We Can Do about It’ by Heather Boushey Tuesday 12 November 2019 Tuesday 12 November, 6-7.15pm, Resolution Foundation offices, Westminster The US and UK have among the highest levels of inequality among advanced economies, and have remained stubbornly high across successive governments. Some policymakers have argued that that policies to prevent inequality rising, or to bring it back down, would cause wider harm by reducing economic growth. … Continued READ MORE
Inequality & poverty Structurally unsound Tackling embedded social inequality in the UK Tuesday 8 October 2019 Britain is a more inclusive and open society than it was, but structural inequalities persist. These inequalities – covering race, gender, class, sexuality and health – are not always obvious, but they are embedded and tilt the balance against too many. READ MORE
