Living standards· Prices & consumption Higher energy prices could leave typical British households £480 worse off this year Mike Brewer and the RF team unpack what the current conflict in the Middle East means for living standards 15 April 2026 by Mike Brewer This post was originally published on our Substack. Never has the phrase ‘fog of war’ been more apt. The fighting in the Middle East had looked all set to escalate just before dialing down, and nobody knows if an incomplete truce can hold. Reacting to every development, oil and gas prices have seemed almost as … Continued READ MORE
Demographics· Intergenerational Centre Wanted: two children People still want kids, so why is the number of births at a 150-year low? RF's Charlie McCurdy on the material constraints that lie behind the recent British baby bust. 2 April 2026 by Charlie McCurdy This post was originally published on our Substack. Back when my mum was my age – I’m in my early-30s – she had three kids. I don’t have any yet, and lots of my friends are in the same boat. I hope you (and my family) don’t mind this personal insight. I say this only … Continued READ MORE
Ventures March Workertech Round-up 31 March 2026 by Aish Moothan To assuage the (considerable) volatility from the news these days, we’ve rounded up some positive (promise!) stories from across our portfolio. For our headline, we’re pleased to share the news of our investment into Blend, a video-based microlearning platform built for the deskless workforce. Read the full announcement below to learn more about the fast-growing company and … Continued READ MORE
Housing· Macroeconomic policy The huge homeownership hurdle Hannah Aldridge, Senior Research and Policy Analyst at the Resolution Foundation, explains why having a decent salary isn't always enough to get a mortgage, and what we can do about it. 27 March 2026 by Hannah Aldridge I’ve reached a point in my life where many of my peers are homeowners who talk about things like ‘kitchen triangles’[1]. As someone who doesn’t own their home, I nod smile and remind myself that I’m not alone. That’s what the data says anyway – the number of mortgagors is falling, more so among low … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Inequality & poverty· Welfare A clearer picture of household incomes – but no cause for complacency on poverty The latest Households Below Average Income release uses survey data linked to benefit administration records for the first time – but what does this mean for poverty rates? 27 March 2026 by Alex Clegg The Department for Work and Pensions has published its latest release of Households Below Average Income (HBAI), its flagship data source on household incomes and poverty. This release provides outturn figures for 2024–25. Our focus on the living standards of low and middle income households at Resolution Foundation means we are always very excited by this publication. But this year’s release is particularly significant as it marks the first time DWP has published estimates of household incomes that combine people’s responses to the survey with information from … Continued READ MORE
Social mobility The long shadow of childhood poverty Beating the odds to attend university isn't enough to remove the poverty penalty 24 March 2026 by Greg Thwaites Here’s some uncomfortable reading for you. If you grew up in deep poverty and managed to get yourself a university degree – already a long-odds achievement – you will still earn thousands of pounds a year less than your more privileged peers a decade into your career. Even if you studied the same subject, at … Continued READ MORE
Ventures February WorkerTech Round-Up 27 February 2026 by Aish Moothan For the shortest month of the year, February sure has been busy for our colleagues at the Resolution Foundation! We published Unsung Britain this month, a report that culminates an 18-month research and analysis on the living standards of the 13 million working-age families across the poorer half of the country. We’ve summed up the … Continued READ MORE
Lifting living standards Resolution Foundation’s priorities for 2026 and beyond 27 February 2026 by Ruth Curtice One of the things I have always admired about Resolution Foundation is that it fulfils its mission with both a head and a heart. The head insists on rigorous analysis and knows that higher living standards for the majority require higher economic growth. The heart highlights the plight of those who are especially vulnerable to … Continued READ MORE
Unsung Britain· Living standards Unsung Britain: working harder, getting nowhere How recent decades have squeezed the households who can least afford it 10 February 2026 by Mike Brewer Britain is not a country at ease. Over the past 18 months, in conversations we’ve had with over a hundred squeezed workers, carers and others in places from Warrington to Worcester, there has been persistent sense that life has become harder. For many, the deterioration feels recent and rapid. But the data suggests something more … Continued READ MORE
Productivity & industrial strategy· Economic growth UK productivity grew more in the last year than in the previous seven combined A breakdown of a genuinely surprising number, and what it means for the Bank of England 6 February 2026 by Greg Thwaites Here’s some good news that might have passed you by. UK productivity – how much the economy produces per hour worked – grew more in the past year than in the previous seven years combined. I know. It doesn’t feel like that. GDP per person has barely moved since before the pandemic – up just … Continued READ MORE
Ventures January WorkerTech Round-Up 30 January 2026 by Aish Moothan While entire years feel like they go by in a flash in recent times, January manages to hold on to its title for (what feels like) the longest month of the year. Is it the 78th of Jan today? This past January has been full of major headlines on the global stage, but we’ve been razor-focused on … Continued READ MORE
Monetary policy· Household debt Why your mortgage bill might rise as rates fall Everything you need to know about 2026's mortgage mystery 15 January 2026 by Simon Pittaway This article was original shared on the Resolution Foundation’s Substack. I’ve been writing about rising mortgage rates for some time now. During that time, mortgage interest has become an increasingly big deal. Last year, around 8 million British households stumped up a total of £65 billion in mortgage interest – almost double the £35 billion … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19 Who did we protect during the pandemic? And who fell through the cracks? How the economic interventions in response to the Covid pandemic impacted equality – and what we could do better next time 7 January 2026 by Mike Brewer If it isn’t too early in the new year for a throwback, a few weeks ago I appeared at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, talking about how well (or not) the economic interventions had been designed with inequality in mind. The economic shock caused by the pandemic was felt very unevenly across the economy, reflecting the sectors … Continued READ MORE
Ventures December WorkerTech Round-Up 19 December 2025 by Aish Moothan ‘Tis the season…for Spotify Wrapped. So we did our own version of this tradition, recapping some of the exciting milestones that Resolution Ventures and our portfolio companies have seen in 2025. And since we know a lot of founders are gearing up for a fundraise ahead of the new year, we’ve also rounded up funding … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events Fiscal repair and cost-of-living relief: How Reeves fared on the Budget’s twin challenges 3 December 2025 by James Smith This article was originally published on LSE Inequalities. After months of speculation and expectations (mis)management, we at last know the contents of Rachel Reeves’ second Budget. The backdrop to this event was a deteriorating economic outlook and sticky inflation, as well as stretched public finances, with political pressures from all sides. To make matters worse, there was … Continued READ MORE
Ventures November WorkerTech Round-Up 28 November 2025 by Aish Moothan This month was bookended by the publication of the Keep Britain Working Review’s final report and the much-awaited (and heavily trailed) Budget. For those in the world of Workertech, there were outtakes from both these announcements, which we discuss below. A big thanks to our colleagues in the Resolution Foundation who crunched the numbers and … Continued READ MORE
Pensions & savings· Welfare Is welfare spending ‘out of control’? 25 November 2025 by Alex Clegg The run up to this Budget has seen more than its fair share of rumours, leaks, briefings and counter-briefings. But if there’s one thing we know for sure, it is that tax rises are coming. The public finances have deteriorated since the Spring Statement; there have been high profile U-turns on cuts to Winter Fuel … Continued READ MORE
To grip the problems in the public finances we need to be honest about why they’re in the state they are 19 November 2025 by David Willetts This article was originally published on Conservative Home. The process of preparing this Budget has been so messy and inept that we have lost sight of the economic and financial realities behind it. Here are the basic facts. The deterioration in the public finances in 2029 since the last Budget is estimated by us at … Continued READ MORE
Tax Taxing Questions: Rental Income How Labour can raise the revenue we need 6 November 2025 by Adam Corlett This article was originally published on 25th October in Taxing Questions: How Labour can raise the revenue we need edited by Joe Dromey and Iggy Wood for Fabian Society. Rental Income As Jeremy Hunt said in 2024, there is an unfair double tax on work. Take-home pay is reduced not just by income tax, but … Continued READ MORE
From Review to reality Making a success of the Keep Britain Working review 6 November 2025 by Ben Baumberg Geiger and Louise Murphy There’s always a danger that official reviews end up generating a lot of talk and symbolic gestures, but don’t set out meaningful steps for change. That’s the challenge faced by the just-published review by Charlie Mayfield into ill-health and disability and the workplace, ‘Keep Britain Working’. But it’s a challenge that the Review meets head-on, … Continued READ MORE
Ventures October WorkerTech Round-Up 31 October 2025 by Aish Moothan As the clocks turn back and the nights grow longer, attention turns to those left in the dark: the young people who’ve quietly disappeared from work and education. Nearly a million in the UK are now classed as NEET, many struggling with poor health, low confidence, or disconnection from the systems designed to support them. This … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances Three things you need to know to communicate the public finances 29 October 2025 by Ruth Curtice Originally published by the OECD here: Three things you need to know to communicate the public finances Britain’s annual Budget isn’t until 26th November but has already been dominating headlines for months. In my former role as Fiscal Director at HM Treasury, the weeks leading up to the Budget involved the occasional late night as … Continued READ MORE
Ventures September WorkerTech Round-Up 26 September 2025 by Aish Moothan This month we’re pleased to share some big news of our own Resolution Ventures has launched a new £9 million WorkerTech fund, dedicated to backing start-ups that use technology to improve work in sectors marked by low pay and insecure employment. The fund has already secured £6.75 million at first close, with support from a … Continued READ MORE
Wealth & assets· Scotland How does the Scottish social security system deal with wealth? 25 September 2025 by Ed Pybus One of the least talked-about elements of the UK’s means-tested benefits system is that claimants are expected to reduce their savings to below a certain level before they are entitled to any means-tested support. This has become so established in the UK system that it is rarely discussed. This means wealth – as well as … Continued READ MORE
Housing Latest planning data casts doubt on the Government’s ability to deliver 1.5 million additional homes 18 September 2025 by Hannah Aldridge Data on planning decisions out today shows that 7,000 planning applications for residential developments were granted in the second quarter of 2025, as shown in Figure 1. This is the lowest quarterly level since comparable records began in 1979. Over the past year as a whole (the 12 months to June 2025), 29,000 residential applications … Continued READ MORE
