Analysis and action on living standards
Assessing the welfare system and its effect on living standards during the coronavirus epidemic
The Chancellor will be announcing details for ‘Phase 2’ of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS) later today or tomorrow. With 8.4 million jobs furloughed – one-third of all private sector employees – any changes to the JRS will have a big impact both on the scale of the unemployment crisis and on the speed of the economic recovery. None of this is easy. Here we set out three big decisions confronting the Chancellor, and some of our proposals on how he could proceed.
The Resolution Foundation is an independent think-tank focused on improving living standards for those on low to middle incomes. We work across a wide range of economic and social policy, combining our core purpose with a commitment to analytical rigour.
The coronavirus pandemic is having a profound impact on the UK economy, as well as other economies around the world. In our work on this topic we consider the scale and nature of the economic shock, and what practical support is needed to help limit the living standards hit to households.
This is the second Macro Policy Outlook, providing a policy-focused take on the economy. In this edition, we bring together the insights from new research into the impact of coronavirus on the economy with the latest data on its effects, in order to draw out the lessons for policy makers.
The Resolution Foundation calculates the real Living Wage – a voluntary hourly pay rate that is based on what families need to get by. The current national rate is:
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