Welfare Universal Credit: winners and losers 17 November 2011 by Vidhya Alakeson Iain Duncan Smith has found an extra £300m for childcare in his Universal Credit, but women who want to work longer hours will lose out. The result is only going to make households worse offEarlier this month, the government announced the level of support that would be available for childcare under Universal Credit when it … Continued READ MORE
Living standards Willetts plays snakes and ladders 7 September 2011 by Vidhya Alakeson Social mobility has become something of a hot topic for the coalition. February’s Social Mobility White Paper made it the government’s number one social policy goal. Yet arguments over tuition fees have rather drowned out much of what they have to say on the topic, particularly when it comes to education and skills. So it … Continued READ MORE
Housing ‘Generation rent’ needs a helping hand 1 September 2011 by Vidhya Alakeson Without a clear signal from government of its commitment to build-to-let development, we are unlikely to see investment take off in a new type of private rented sector Yesterday’s report from the National Housing Federation predicted that by 2021 home ownership in Britain will have fallen to its lowest levels since the mid 1980s. 64 per … Continued READ MORE
Housing Making a Rented House a Home 8 August 2011 by Vidhya Alakeson Published today, the Resolution Foundation’s Making a Rented House a Home outlines the shocking fact that the average low to middle income household buying a home today would have taken 31 years to save for a deposit , compared to 8 years in 1983. Last week a report by the estate agents, Savills, revealed that for the … Continued READ MORE
Housing The long-term problem for “generation rent” 20 June 2011 by Vidhya Alakeson We need to stop relying on home-ownership as the only way to build wealth if we’re to have an adequate social care system.It’s been a bad few weeks for social care. First the faltering of Southern Cross, then Panorama’s revelations about abuse at residential homes. Now, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission reveals shocking levels … Continued READ MORE
Housing On housing, while Ed has got it wrong, Boris has the answer 13 June 2011 by Vidhya Alakeson In his speech on social responsibility today, Ed Miliband argued that low income working people and those doing voluntary work should be given priority for council housing.While this might help position his leadership, it is misguided as a piece of housing policy. Shifting ordinary working families into social housing to replace more vulnerable groups does not fix a housing … Continued READ MORE
Housing Homeownership is history. Housing policy should cash in on the private rented sector 8 June 2011 by Vidhya Alakeson Karen and Darren are much like other parents in their mid-30s; juggling work and the needs of four children. With two decent salaries from full-time, skilled jobs and help from tax credits and child benefit, they should be comfortably off. But at the end of each month, there is nothing left. Despite their best efforts … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Wake-up call on childcare 17 March 2011 by Vidhya Alakeson Speaking at the Liberal Democrat’s Spring Conference, Nick Clegg once again took up the cause of hard working families in Britain – his ‘alarm clock Britain’, the people who want to get up and get on. But changes to the childcare tax credit announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review and due to come in this … Continued READ MORE
Living standards The Spirit Level: is income equality the sole solution? 14 January 2011 by Vidhya Alakeson Earlier this week, the ippr hosted a seminar with Richard Wilkinson, author of The Spirit Level. Wilkinson presented data set after data set to make one basic point: more equal societies have better social outcomes such as rates of mental illness and teenage pregnancy, not just for those at the bottom but for everyone. A wealthy, … Continued READ MORE