Work· Social security We can’t overlook education and benefits if we want to reduce the NEET rate Focusing too much on work to reduce the rising NEET rate risks overlooking two key areas 9 June 2026 by Alex Clegg This article was initially published on our Substack. The Interim Report of the Milburn Review made a stark warning about a ‘lost generation’ of young people. It was backed by two sets of data the same day revealing grim milestones – ONS figures revealed that the number of 16–24-year-old NEETs (young people not in education, employment or training) has surpassed … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Inequality & poverty· Social security 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 security· Savings & debt 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
Social security What the latest Universal Credit Health data tells us about benefit claims across Britain 12 September 2025 by Louise Murphy New data out this week shows that the proportion of UC claimants in receipt of UC health continues to rise: over a third (37 per cent) of people in receipt of UC are in the health group, up from 32 per cent a year ago. This reflects both the ongoing migration of claimants from legacy … Continued READ MORE
Social security What should the Government prioritise when tackling its welfare trilemma? 22 May 2025 by Ruth Curtice U-turn if you want to – a sensible culture of government allows politicians to reverse their mistakes. But also U-turn with care. With too many swerves, leaders lose their grip on the wheel. Ultimately, you have to know where you are heading or you will get lost. The Labour Government is simultaneously under pressure to … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Inequality & poverty· Social security Five takeaways from new living standards data 22 March 2024 by Adam Corlett and Lalitha Try The annual release of DWP’s Households Below Average Income (HBAI) figures is far less timely than other economic indicators and, as it is based on survey data, it is noisy. Yet, together with the ONS’s separate income survey data (expected later in Spring), it provides key insights into how living standards have changed for different … Continued READ MORE
Work· Childcare· Social security Mums hold the key to getting Britain working again Boosting workforce participation in the 2020s 25 February 2023 by Louise Murphy 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 READ MORE
Social security System collision The interaction of Universal Credit and Child Benefit withdrawal is creating a mess 3 January 2023 by Gavin Kelly If there is anyone out there still harbouring the quaint idea that it’s the super-rich who face the highest marginal tax rates in the land, they should think again. There are various contenders for that dubious prize but we can now announce a clear winner: the small but fast-growing group of families receiving Universal Credit … Continued READ MORE
Social security A cut to benefits would batter millions of households Liz Truss’s threats of a real-terms cut would ramp up inequality and hamper growth 10 October 2022 by Lalitha Try The chancellor’s mini-budget has spooked the markets, stoked a rise in interest rates, and now caused a full-blown and very public cabinet row over whether to cut benefits for millions of working-age families. Some ministers are urging the prime minister to press ahead with the cut and end Britain’s “Benefit Street culture”, while others have spoken out … Continued READ MORE
Social security Boris Johnson is wrong to downplay the impact on families from the Universal Credit cut Rising inflation and surging energy bills come as the government takes £20 a week off families in the Universal Credit cut 6 October 2021 by Torsten Bell Today was a big deal for Boris Johnson who delivered his speech to the Conservative Party Conference. But it’s an even bigger day for low-and-middle income households across Britain, for all the wrong reasons. As the PM stepped up onto stage, their income took a step down with Universal Credit cut by £20 a week. … Continued READ MORE
Social security· Covid-19 The UK should not weaken safety nets mid-storm As more workers are laid-off this autumn, the grim reality of meagre support will become clear 11 August 2020 by Gavin Kelly Resisting pressure to spend more on disadvantaged groups is seen as part of the job by battle-hardened officials in the UK Treasury. But stripping away benefit increases that have only just been introduced is rather different and doing so in the midst of an economic collapse would, to put it mildly, be something extraordinary. Yet … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Work· Social security· Covid-19 Key take-aways from the Chancellor’s package of measures to support workers in the coronavirus crisis 22 March 2020 by Mike Brewer and Laura Gardiner The Chancellor’s announcements on Friday 20 March were unprecedented in their scale and reach, and absolutely vital for supporting firms and family incomes in the face of the current crisis. Here are five key take-aways on how these changes will affect families, and three next steps for the Government to consider. 1. At a … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Social security Coronavirus and the benefits system: What support is available? 9 March 2020 by Karl Handscomb With the continuing increase in coronavirus cases, much of the current debate has rightly focused on Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). The Government’s announcement to extend SSP to day one of absence is welcome, but low earners and the self-employed are not entitled to SSP. This poses a challenge for protecting family incomes from the spread … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Health and disability Would a richer decade have meant a happier one? 31 December 2019 by Gavin Kelly Consider the good fortune of a country far richer than the UK. Its economy is over £300bn bigger and its workers are almost a quarter more productive than Britain’s, enjoying wages that are typically £7k higher. Households are flush enough to spend thousands more on consumption, just as public services are far better resourced. This … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Work· Inequality & poverty· Social security 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 a ‘safety-first’ document. Labour learnt that they have a problem with pensioners – 70-year olds are twice as likely to vote Tory as Labour – … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Scotland· Childcare· Social security A welcome boost for ‘just about managing’ families in Scotland 27 June 2019 by Adam Corlett Yesterday started with a bleak assessment by the Child Poverty Action Group of the impact of ongoing welfare cuts – specifically how the two-child limit on support, which began to be implemented in 2017, is set to push 300,000 children into poverty. But there was better news for Scottish parents later in the day, as … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Childcare· Social security CB40: Happy 40th birthday to child benefit! But will it last another twenty? 2 April 2019 by Adam Corlett Yesterday, the minimum wage celebrated its 20th birthday. Today, child benefit is having a 40th birthday bash. But, as this analysis shows, it’s become a somewhat modest affair, with (record) low generosity, fewer people invited than in earlier years, and particularly complicated arrangements. So today is a good time to step back and take stock … Continued READ MORE
Work· Childcare· Social security How big is the gender parenting gap, and is it improving? 8 March 2019 by Adam Corlett A lot has been written about the gender pay gap, with the typical hourly pay of women in full-time work 9 per cent below that of men – down from 17 per cent two decades ago. But there is another gap lying behind the gender pay gap that gets far less attention, despite being just … Continued READ MORE
Social security Boosting benefit take-up is critical to the success of Universal Credit, but we might not be able to measure whether it’s working 20 December 2018 by George Bangham and Adam Corlett Benefit take-up rates matter. A lot. If households aren’t actually receiving the benefits that government policy entitles them to, their incomes will be lower and the social safety net will not work as intended. The government’s own estimates of benefits take-up suggest that billions of pounds worth of benefits probably go unclaimed each year. Take-up … Continued READ MORE
Social security Three steps to make it a happier new year for Universal Credit 18 December 2018 by Laura Gardiner Universal Credit (UC) was a surprise contender for one of the big stories of the Budget, with the Chancellor announcing a welcome reinjection of cash into the system. UC has (finally) hit another important milestone too – as of December 2018, it is on offer to all new claimants of working-age benefits in jobcentres across … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Health and disability· Work· Housing· Generations All aboard the Millennial Express – longer commutes for less pay 8 November 2018 by Nye Cominetti 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 READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Social security Despite ‘the end of austerity’, April promises another deep benefit cut 17 October 2018 by Adam Corlett Today we learned just how deep the benefits freeze will be in its fourth and final year. In July 2015, having promised £12 billion of welfare cuts – reportedly on the assumption that the Liberal Democrats would argue this down – George Osborne announced exactly that. Chief among these cuts was a further working age … Continued READ MORE
Social security Delaying rollout of Universal Credit is a sensible step – but fundamental reforms are still needed 16 October 2018 by David Finch Today we learnt that the government is preparing a package of measures for Universal Credit (UC) ahead of the upcoming Budget – but what are they changing and what difference might it make? The first thing to understand is that these changes aren’t about the fundamentals of either the generosity or operation of Universal Credit … Continued READ MORE
Social security Universal Credit: the honesty we owe and the changes we need 12 October 2018 by Torsten Bell and Resolution Foundation All is not well in the land of Universal Credit (UC). Cabinet ministers are angsting in private about the challenges of rolling out this government’s single biggest domestic policy reform. Two ex-Prime Ministers are worrying in public that the benefit risks becoming a new poll tax. And Labour has (rhetorically at least) promised to scrap … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Inequality & poverty· Childcare· Social security A history lesson wouldn’t hurt – at least when it comes to child poverty 24 July 2018 by Torsten Bell and Adam Corlett This blog originally appeared on Times Red Box. A few years back there was an outbreak of national angst about no one studying history any more. The House of Lords even managed a debate on it. That worry seems a long way down the list of concerns these days, when everyone has the latest Donald … Continued READ MORE
