Covid-19· Incomes· Living standards· Inequality & poverty New data shows households were struggling even before coronavirus 26 March 2020 by Adam Corlett …fall in 2017-18. These are figures not normally seen outside periods of recession and reflect the high inflation seen following the Brexit vote. So, the coronavirus recession is arriving only… READ MORE
Incomes· Living standards· Inequality & poverty Charting the UK’s lost decade of income growth 5 March 2020 by Adam Corlett …and the period of high inflation that followed the Brexit vote: a double whammy for household finances. The long march of pensioner living standards progress Of course, these averages hide… READ MORE
Social care· Living standards· Inequality & poverty· Welfare The child poverty crisis needs pushing up the agenda in Britain’s ‘Brexit’ election None of the main party manifestos will end child poverty 27 November 2019 by Laura Gardiner Both the main parties have learnt lessons from the 2017 election. The Conservatives have learnt not to scare the horses with big new policies. Their 2019 manifesto is very much… READ MORE
Living standards· Incomes· Prices & consumption· Inequality & poverty· Welfare The benefit freeze has ended, but erosion of the social security safety net continues Expected benefit uprating in April 2020 16 October 2019 by Adam Corlett …post-Brexit boost to living standards. Alternatively, the government might be forced to act by a recession. Whatever the cause of that recession, benefit increases would likely need to be an… READ MORE
Living standards· Incomes· Inequality & poverty Last year saw living standards stagnate and poverty rise 28 March 2019 by Adam Corlett …But if they can ever finish debating Brexit, they should consider what course they’d like poverty to take in the 2020s and how exactly they intend to achieve that. … READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Inequality & poverty· Economy and public finances Is rising inequality helping to swell the coffers for Fortunate Phil? 12 March 2019 by Torsten Bell …But it’s really because everyone knows Brexit votes this week will overshadow the Spring Statement as deciding our country’s future trumps forecasting it. On the economics, at first glance ‘luck’… READ MORE
Labour market· Inequality & poverty· Pay The £3.2bn pay penalty facing black and ethnic minority workers 27 December 2018 by Kathleen Henehan It’s that time of the year when everyone does their reviews of 2018. The political review of the year will inevitably be dominated by the thrills and spills of Brexit…. READ MORE
Childcare· Inequality & poverty· Welfare A history lesson wouldn’t hurt – at least when it comes to child poverty 24 July 2018 by Torsten Bell and Adam Corlett …an autocrat to worry about. But a history lesson or two for policy makers wouldn’t go amiss over the summer break, because amid the growing Brexit-related chaos something else is… READ MORE
Living standards· Inequality & poverty· Brexit & trade· Economic growth Dis-United Kingdom? Inequality, growth and the Brexit divide 25 May 2018 by Matthew Whittaker …an unprecedentedly toxic combination is therefore especially worrying. Brexit: not just economics, stupid At first glance, the link between economics and the vote for Brexit appears obvious. Figure 1 details… READ MORE
Living standards· Budgets & fiscal events· Inequality & poverty· Economy and public finances Should the Office for Budget Responsibility also forecast inequality? 2 March 2018 by Adam Corlett The strengths and weaknesses of economic forecasting are under scrutiny, perhaps like never before. How might GDP perform under different Brexit policies compared to a world with no Brexit? Is… READ MORE
Incomes· Living standards· Inequality & poverty· Brexit & trade We’re getting poorer, but it’s not (just) Brexit 6 October 2017 by Matthew Whittaker …parts of the UK’s economy – from productivity to housing to skills – would have been the central challenge even in the absence of Brexit. Delivering Brexit is an additional… READ MORE
Living standards· Prices & consumption· Inequality & poverty· Welfare The living standards issue that’s bigger than Brexit for lower income households 9 September 2017 by Matthew Whittaker Love it or loathe it, the long shadow of Brexit is set to dominate our political weather for some considerable time to come. With good reason of course. The long-term… READ MORE
Living standards· Incomes· Inequality & poverty· Cities and regions When it comes to living standards, geography matters 24 May 2017 by Matthew Whittaker …UK households since the financial crisis of 2008. But the distribution of gains and losses matters too – especially in the context of a vote for Brexit that reportedly exposed… READ MORE
Living standards· Incomes· Inequality & poverty Let’s avoid a poor rerun of the 1980s 1 February 2017 by Torsten Bell …or by Brexit despite what some may argue. Instead it’s driven by policy choices – the tax and benefit plans inherited by Theresa May from David Cameron. Significant working age… READ MORE
Living standards· Incomes· Inequality & poverty Living Standards 2017: the past, present and possible future of UK incomes 31 January 2017 by Adam Corlett and Stephen Clarke …can help support even more people into work, and begin to address the country’s chronic productivity problem. These things, alongside the handling of Brexit negotiations, should be government’s focus for… READ MORE
Incomes· Living standards· Inequality & poverty Inequality has reached a 30-year low. So should we still care? 10 January 2017 by Matthew Whittaker …growth we’ve been used to in previous times. This picture chimes with our analysis of the Brexit vote. Alongside demographic and cultural factors, we found that economic considerations played into… READ MORE
Living standards· Incomes· Inequality & poverty The “just managing” need deeds, not words 15 October 2016 by Laura Gardiner Theresa May has identified the fortunes of “just about managing” working families as her priority in post-Brexit Britain. A new government’s rhetoric precedes real outcomes against which it can be… READ MORE
