Visit the Commission on Living Standards website

The Commission on Living Standards is an independent and wide ranging investigation into the pressures facing people on low to middle incomes. Its work is focused on the long term economic trends that are changing the nature of life on a low to middle income in modern Britain, from jobs and pay to the cost of living and family working patterns.

The Commission brings together a wide range of leading thinkers to examine these trends, ranging from private and public sector employers to economists, experts in public opinion and representatives of parent networks. The Commission’s work will be evidence led and independent, and will engage politicians from across the spectrum.

It is hosted by the Resolution Foundation, a think tank that works to improve the lives of low to middle earners.

Since 2003, long before the 2008-09 recession, wages have been flat for Britain’s 11 million low to middle earners. The group’s share of national earnings has seen a long term decline, and the tax-benefit system is doing more to raise household incomes. Other trends, from the rising costs of home ownership to changing working patterns, add to a set of pressures that are fundamentally changing the reality of life on low to middle income.

These trends are particularly concerning in light of a 30 year squeeze on living standards in the United States. The majority of working people in America have seen little or no improvement in their incomes for a generation, despite strong GDP growth over the long term. Whilst the Commission in no way assumes the UK faces a similar fate, it is now timely to consider what economic and social choices will help reduce the chance of such an outcome.

The Commission is meeting regularly up to the summer of 2012, considering research produced by the Resolution Foundation, as well as contributions from a range of other organisations. Its work is being supported by a series of major public events to capture a wide range of perspectives, and it is engaging directly with people living on low to middle incomes.

If you are interested in contributing to the work of the Commission, or have comments on its plan of work, please contact James Plunkett

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