Flat pay, little wealth and a shrinking safety net. Whatever happened to the millennials?

What does the Intergenerational Audit say about UK Millennials

by

Recently, there’s been good news for millennials from across the pond where the latest data suggests their living standards are catching up with (and on some measures surpassing) previous generations. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for British millennials. It’s now been five years since the Resolution Foundation’s Intergenerational Commission first laid out the state … Continued

Britain’s inheritance boom could further decouple people’s retirement age from their state pension age

It’s inheritance and where you live which are the barriers to retirement

by

The UK’s state pension age is going up – and perhaps faster than expected. The age at which you can draw the state pension is due to rise from 66 to 67 by 2028. And the Government is now reportedly considering bringing forward the rise to 68 from 2046 to the 2030s, as part of … Continued

The system has worked for Boomers at every stage of their lives

If Tories do not wish to be seen as a party for older people, they must give the younger generation a break on housing and wages

by

Lucy Burton’s powerful article last week on the wealth of many of our pensioners was absolutely right. Their incomes are higher. Their wealth is greater. The state is being reshaped around services and payments for them. Many pensioners challenge her by saying that what they get now is a fair return after they have paid in during … Continued

How Britain became a gerontocracy

The pensions boost is further proof that Britain is run for the benefit of the older generation — paid for by the young, writes David Willetts

by

Last week’s announcement of the return of the triple lock for pensions makes it clear where real political power lies in Britain. Pensioners are promised a 10 per cent increase next year, matching inflation, while basic pay is rising at just 4 per cent. This is the latest example of a deep-seated trend: our country … Continued

Three reasons to be concerned about job losses among older workers

A U-Shaped crisis 

by

Young people have been at the epicentre of the Covid-19 crisis. The severe restrictions and lockdown closures of social sectors of the economy – such as hospitality, retail, arts and leisure, where young workers are concentrated – has led millions of our youngest workers to be put on furlough or, worse still, lose their jobs. … Continued

The current consumption crisis will be important for the future jobs market recovery

by

Britain’s jobs crisis is concentrated in low-paying sectors like hospitality, retail, arts and leisure that have been hardest hit by lockdown and ongoing social distancing measures. In 2019, 32 per cent of 18-29-year-old employees worked in these sectors. But those who tend to spend the greatest proportion of their disposable income on these more pleasurable … Continued

Demographics
·
Political parties and elections

The middle aged, not the middle class, are the new swing voters

by

An election is coming. You may have noticed. The early phase of any campaign is the contest about what the election will actually be about – where the battle lines will lie. You want it to be all about Brexit if you’re gunning for the Conservatives or Liberal Democrats, and everything but Brexit if you’re … Continued

What is generational fairness?

David Runciman speech on intergenerational fairness and political representation

by

This article summarises a speech by Professor David Runciman at a recent Intergenerational Centre event exploring what the concept of generational fairness means for our politics, economics and society. You can watch the full event on our event page. This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the Resolution Foundation. In the coming months … Continued

Young people are no longer footloose and fancy free – and rent rises are to blame

by

Millennials, eh? They never stand still. Always on the move, with their ‘portfolio careers’, side hustles in the gig economy, and no loyalty to the companies they work for. With an attitude like that, it’s no wonder they struggle to find decent work and pay. There’s only one problem with this common trope though. It’s … Continued

Wrong time, wrong place – leaving education in the middle of a downturn

by

Modern economies are supposed to deliver improving living standards – incrementally year-on-year, with big gains decade-on-decade. That is why it is so shocking that a 30-year-old today earns no more than a 30-year-old a decade ago, according to previous research by the Resolution Foundation’s Intergenerational Commission. This is an earnings freeze on a scale unprecedented … Continued

Coming of age during a downturn can cause scarring – and it takes up to a decade to heal

by

Recessions are bad for people’s standard of living. And they’re particularly bad for young people. That’s the painful lesson we learnt after the 1980s recession where, for most of that decade, at least one in seven people under 30 were unemployed. We know a lot about the unemployment scarring of the 1980s – from the … Continued

More ambition, less risk – building on the success of auto-enrolment

by

We often find it harder to celebrate policy successes than decry policy failures. So you might have missed a policy success which we are marking this week. We are about to have completed the successful initial rolling-out of automatic enrolment into occupational pension saving. Millions of employees will enjoy higher living standards in retirement as … Continued

Demographics
·
Intergenerational Centre
·
Political parties and elections

My Generation, Baby: The Politics of Age in Brexit Britain

by

Generational politics is nothing new, but the extent of the profound generational cleavage that has emerged in British electoral politics is novel. The Brexit vote and the 2017 general election put generational politics centre‐stage, eclipsing in some ways the traditionally dominant role of class. Our two main parties now rely on age‐based coalitions of support—on … Continued

All aboard the Millennial Express – longer commutes for less pay

by

The ONS serve to uplift and depress analysts like me in equal measure. And today they served up the latter, with new figures showing that the number of people commuting for more than an hour to get into work has increased by almost a third (31 per cent) since 2011. Longer commutes are good news … Continued

Public spending
·
Tax
·
Intergenerational Centre
·
Political parties and elections

Britain is set to replace the era of austerity with a new era of tax rises

by

The main message that has united both main party conferences over the last fortnight is that the era of austerity is over. For Labour that means more spending on new things – from universal childcare to a mass programme of nationalisation. And for many Conservatives it means a return to what they love doing best … Continued

Demographics
·
Intergenerational Centre
·
Political parties and elections

Demography is the new class war

by

The real question about this year’s Labour Party conference is what on earth everyone will talk about for four days. The supposed Brexit barney will be a damp squib and leadership rows have disappeared. So here’s a suggestion to fill the awkward silences: it’s time Labour talked about the arrival of generational divides in our … Continued

Loading
No more posts found