Welfare Credit where it’s due? Assessing the benefits and risks of Universal Credit 9 March 2015 by David Finch and Vidhya Alakeson and Mike Brewer The government’s plans for Universal Credit (UC) were first set out in November 2010, and its concept has received broad cross-party support. But the process of implementation has been dogged by a series of delays – the OBR now anticipates that it will not be fully rolled out until at least 2020, potentially 3 years … Continued READ MORE
Housing The Home Stretch: coping with high housing costs 8 December 2014 by Laura Gardiner and Vidhya Alakeson Despite the strain that high housing costs cause, millions of people on modest incomes continue to live in high cost areas and are somehow coping. The Resolution Foundation report explores six ‘coping strategies’ – working more, increasing the term of a mortgage, getting help from friends and family, over-crowding, lowering standards and doubling up. It … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Universal Credit: A policy under review 9 September 2014 by David Finch and Adam Corlett and Vidhya Alakeson Resolution Foundation has brought together an expert panel of labour market economists, welfare specialists, employment practitioners and other experts to review the current design of Universal Credit and its likely impacts and propose changes that would make the policy more likely to support people to get into and progress in work. The cumulative impact of … Continued READ MORE
Labour market enforcement· Labour market Zeroing In 25 March 2014 by Vidhya Alakeson and Conor D’Arcy The use of zero hours contracts should be reformed to ensure that flexibility can be maintained and workers’ rights strengthened to help eradicate misuse. This report makes a number of recommendations that respond to these concerns and seek to strike a better balance, providing protection and choice for workers while ensuring flexibility is maintained for … Continued READ MORE
Childcare· Welfare Careers and Carers: Childcare and maternal labour supply 23 January 2014 by Vidhya Alakeson and Giselle Cory Around two-thirds of mothers say the cost of childcare is an obstacle to them working more, reveals a new report from independent think tank the Resolution Foundation. In a survey conducted by the Resolution Foundation and Mumsnet for the report, 67 per cent of mothers in work and 64 per cent of those not working … Continued READ MORE
Housing One foot on the ladder: how shared ownership can bring owning a home into reach 20 November 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson and Giselle Cory and Hannah Fearn A major expansion of newly built shared ownership could help low and modest income working families across the country onto the property ladder, while keeping their housing costs affordable. One foot on the ladder shows that shared ownership – where buyers purchase at least 25 per cent of the equity in a home and pay a low rent … Continued READ MORE
Housing Building Homes for Generation Rent 10 October 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson and Katie Blacklock and Sandra Halilovic and Tim Rothery and Nick Salisbury A low-risk income return of 4.7 per cent should be achievable for institutional investors putting money into the private rented sector – a move which could also help solve Britain’s housing crisis for families on modest incomes. Building Homes for Generation Rent identifies a £140 million property portfolio, made up of almost 800 rental homes around … Continued READ MORE
Housing Home Truths: How affordable is housing for Britain’s ordinary working families? 15 July 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson and Giselle Cory One third of Britain is effectively off-limits to lower-income working families looking to rent a home privately because they can no longer afford a property in those parts of the country. An alarming new report, Home Truths, is the first to give a comprehensive assessment of where less affluent families can reasonably afford to live, … Continued READ MORE
Labour market enforcement· Labour market A Matter of Time: The rise of zero-hours contracts 25 June 2013 by Matthew Pennycook and Giselle Cory and Vidhya Alakeson It is not hard to see why zero-hours contracts can appear attractive to employers. They allow for maximum flexibility to meet changing demand. They can facilitate the management of risk, reduce the costs of recruitment and training, and they can, in certain circumstances, enable employers to avoid particular employment obligations. Yet it is clear that … Continued READ MORE
Housing The challenges of build to rent for UK housing providers 24 June 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson This briefing note looks at the challenges that build to rent poses for housing providers. It is based on a six month project conducted by the Resolution Foundation and Social Finance to develop a financing model for institutional investment in a build to rent portfolio of 778 rental units nationwide aimed at middle income households. READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances Resolution Foundation analysis of the 2013 Budget 8 April 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson and Alex Hurrell and Matthew Whittaker The Chancellor’s fourth Budget was a relatively quiet affair. While pre-announced changes mean that millions of households will face further reductions in benefit and tax credit receipts from April, the latest financial statement said nothing new about welfare cuts (though it confirmed that departmental spending is set to be tightened still further). READ MORE
Childcare· Welfare Counting the Costs of Childcare 28 October 2012 by Vidhya Alakeson and Alex Hurrell Counting the Costs of Childcare finds that high childcare costs mean that a woman working full-time could bring home as little as £4 a week in extra pay. In the most extreme case, a second earner working full-time at the minimum wage in a family where her partner is already working full-time at the same … Continued READ MORE
Housing Making Institutional Investment in the Private Rented Sector Work 19 July 2012 by Vidhya Alakeson With one low to middle income family in four shut out of home ownership, there is an urgent need for high quality purpose-built rental homes offering more secure tenancies than typically found in today’s buy to let sector. In a context of significant cuts to public investment in housing, the Resolution Foundation proposes that new … Continued READ MORE
Labour market The price of motherhood: women and part-time work 9 February 2012 by Vidhya Alakeson British women are paying a shockingly high price for motherhood as they are forced into lower-skilled, part-time work after having children, according to the findings of our new survey with Netmums. The poll of over 1,600 part-time working mothers revealed almost half (48%) of mothers on low to middle incomes take a lower-skilled part time … Continued READ MORE
Housing Making a Rented House a Home: Housing solutions for ‘generation rent’ 8 August 2011 by Vidhya Alakeson Low-to-middle income households are likely to be shut out of home ownership for a lifetime. High average first-time buyer house prices and more restricted loan-to-value mortgage advances mean that the average low-to-middle income household putting aside 5 per cent of their disposable income each year would have taken 31 years to save a deposit in 2010, … Continued READ MORE
Childcare· Welfare Childcare: failing to meet the needs of working parents 17 June 2011 by Vidhya Alakeson Childcare provision has failed to keep up with changing working patterns, with nearly 70% of all working parents now working ‘atypical’ hours. Many are struggling to find suitable childcare provision as a result. The report shows that at least one partner in 75% of families on low-to-middle incomes and in over 90% of families on higher … Continued READ MORE
