Mums hold the key to getting Britain working again

Boosting workforce participation in the 2020s

by

Britain has built up a lot of economic problems over the past 15 years – weak investment and productivity growth, contributing to an unprecedented pay squeeze and stagnating living standards. But there has been one metric at which we have excelled – getting more people into work. Sadly this success story has been undone somewhat since the … Continued

Concerning rise in NEETs driven by uptick in youth unemployment

New ONS figures show a sharp rise in the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training

by

This morning, the ONS published new figures outlining the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Overall, 788,000 16-24-year-olds (11.5 per cent) found themselves NEET in the last three months of 2022. And there has been a sharp rise in the number of young people who are NEET in … Continued

Good news in the latest labour market data for the Bank and the Chancellor, but bad news for the general public

by

This morning’s labour market stats bring good news and bad news. An uptick in workforce participation is good news for everyone, while signs of weakening pay pressure might ease the Bank of England’s inflation concerns. But a wider cooling of demand (seen in falling vacancies, and rising unemployment and redundancies) don’t bode well for workers. … Continued

Five take-aways from the 2022 ASHE release: a bad year for pay growth, but good news on pay inequality

by

The ONS published their annual release from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) on October 26th. It’s not the timeliest data – it was collected from a survey of employers all the way back in April, and we already know from other data sources how pay has evolved through to July and August. … Continued

Pay

Low unemployment belies a labour market in poor health

by

Today’s labour market data showed unemployment hitting its lowest rate since 1974. On the face of it, this is cause for celebration. But a shrinking labour force, not a rise in employment, drove the fall in unemployment, and this is a cause for concern. A record number of working-age people are now inactive due to … Continued

Feeling poor and working more – again

by

Today’s labour market data tell us a bit more about how the labour market is responding to high inflation and the cost of living shock. We see some things we would expect, some things which may be surprising, and much that remains unresolved. Real wages fall at the fastest rate on record The most eye-popping … Continued

Labour market tight, household budgets tighter

by

Tuesday’s labour market data showed that many of the trends of recent months remain in play. The labour market tightened further, participation continued to disappoint and real pay packets kept falling, while nominal pay growth hasn’t yet shown clear signs of accelerating.  The labour market is tight The labour market is now very tight on … Continued

Good headline news on NEETs hides a worrying rise in economically inactive young men

by

This morning the ONS published the latest figures outlining the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Overall 692,000 16-24-year-olds (10.2 per cent), including 642,000 18-24-year-olds (12 per cent), found themselves NEET at the end of last year. On the surface, this is worth celebrating: the number and proportion … Continued

If fewer workers migrate to Britain, our own will need greater mobility

Migration policy can complement an economic strategy, but it can’t stand in for one.

by

One of the main benefits often cited of leaving the European Union was that the UK regained control of its borders, with the Prime Minister arguing that bringing in a more controlled migration regime would be key to enabling the UK to become a high wage economy. Others fear that the shift to a new, … Continued

The Chancellor has prevented a grim winter of redundancies – but has failed to fix the faults with his jobs support package

by

On Thursday, Rishi Sunak announced that the Job Retention Scheme – where employees can be put on furlough and still get 80 per cent of their wages covered by the government – will continue to the end of March. Self-employed workers can get another three-month grant of 80 per cent of their pre-crisis profits. There … Continued

Covid-19
·
Labour market

Millions of furloughed workers have returned to work – but support for hard-hit sectors will be needed beyond October

Analysing the HMRC Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme data

by

This morning, HMRC published its latest round of statistics on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS). For the first time, we have a time series of the number of furloughed workers, as opposed to the cumulative total, meaning we can see how use of the scheme has evolved since the start of April. Here are … Continued

Covid-19
·
Labour market

Any further questions?

From 'The Full Monty: Facing up to the scale of the COVID-19 jobs crisis'

by

We often have more questions submitted for our event Q&A sessions than we’re able to answer. Where this is the case, we’ll endeavour to respond to a selection of the most interesting or most representative questions that went unanswered. The questions below were submitted to our panel for the event  The Full Monty: Facing up … Continued

Covid-19
·
Low pay
·
Pay

Any further questions?

From 'From loud claps to hard cash A new settlement for Britain’s low-paid workers'

by

We often have more questions submitted for our event Q&A sessions than we’re able to answer. Where this is the case, we’ll endeavour to respond to a selection of the most interesting or most representative questions that went unanswered. The questions below were submitted to our panel for the event From loud claps to hard … Continued

Loading
No more posts found