Making school cool and the great garden divide Top of the Charts 'Insights' round-up: May 2020 1 June 2020 The latest from Resolution Foundation Chief Executive Torsten Bell’s weekly Observer column, Insights. Read more of the latest economics and policy research in our weekly reading email, Top of the Charts (sign up here). Mortgage holidays are a breeze, but try taking a rent break All recessions are bad, but in different ways. Different industries … Continued READ MORE
Netflix subscriptions and union cards in lockdown Britain Top of the Charts 29 May 2020 Afternoon all, I see we’ve spent the week discussing optimal eye testing strategies, and introducing chunks of the country to the beauty spots of the North East. Good news for the tourism industry of County Durham in the long run, but a catastrophe for getting a grip in the midst of this crisis. Well done … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19 Any further questions? From The safety net in action? Universal Credit’s role in the crisis and the recovery 28 May 2020 by Mike Brewer and Karl Handscomb 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 safety net in action? … Continued READ MORE
Fixing Dodgy Charts, Dodgy Interviews and Dodgy Zooming Top of the Charts 22 May 2020 Afternoon all, We’re heading into that phase of an economic crisis where the stats start to confirm the pain households have been facing. Tuesday’s jobs stats demonstrated that fast-rising unemployment is hitting family finances – with 450,000 fewer employees in April and vacancies down 50 per cent – and today’s public finances update showed that April saw a new … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Labour market Five things we’ve learned from today’s labour market data 19 May 2020 by Hannah Slaughter and Nye Cominetti This morning the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the first major set of labour market data that covers the lockdown period, with data from April on vacancies, claimant unemployment, and employee jobs. Of course, the scale of the crisis has been clear for some time in other data – including Universal Credit claims and … Continued READ MORE
Why blaggers do it better Top of the Charts 15 May 2020 Afternoon all, I hope you’re adjusting to the brave new world of opening things up rather than shutting them down. It’s definitely taking time to adjust to – practically, but emotionally too. I’ve not ventured to the garden centre yet, but just to flag that I’ll be really angry if you lot have ransacked the … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Skills Any further questions? From the event 'The corona class of 2020: How to support young people leaving education amid the crisis' 12 May 2020 by Kathleen Henehan 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 corona class of 2020: … Continued READ MORE
Examining the past and policy prep for the future Top of the Charts 8 May 2020 Morning all, Today the nation’s meant to be celebrating – happy VE day to you all. Here’s the totally clear summary of how you’re expected to celebrate. Ahead of a sunny three-day weekend the government says sunbathing is back on… but only after the weekend (and the sun) have gone. Hurrah at lockdown being lifted. But be “cautious” … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19 Churchill, the crisis and a better deal for Britain’s low paid If we are to have a Churchillian response to the crisis, let’s have the right one 6 May 2020 by Gavin Kelly It was inevitable, perhaps, that the current crisis would result in daily nods to our foremost leader during a time of national crisis. Mr Johnson, a biographer of Churchill, was always going to succumb. And during the PM’s illness a range of lesser known politicians reached for Churchill as they strained to rise to the … Continued READ MORE
Measuring merit fairly and proper pay for carers Top of the Charts 'Insights' round-up: April 2020 1 May 2020 The latest from Resolution Foundation Chief Executive Torsten Bell’s weekly Observer column, Insights. Read more of the latest economics and policy research in our weekly reading email, Top of the Charts (sign up here). In the coronavirus jobs wipeout, the young and low earners suffer most This recession stands out for its scale and speed, … Continued READ MORE
Dark histories and happy hipsters Top of the Charts 1 May 2020 Afternoon all, Happy international workers day to you – although obviously it’s not a very happy one with this quarter probably seeing more workers not working than at any time in our history. There’s a reason food bank use is up 80 per cent, despite unprecedented government support for firms and families. The job of … Continued READ MORE
Happy lockdowns and what not to watch on TV Top of the Charts 24 April 2020 Afternoon all, Hope you’re all feeling suitably relieved now that the Donald has cracked this virus thing. Didn’t see the injecting disinfectant suggestion coming, but at least we now know why he’s that colour. Much more reassuring news came from the retail sales stats today (not from the unsurprising record headline fall obviously). A recent run of zoom meetings … Continued READ MORE
How not to be a know-it-all Top of the Charts 17 April 2020 Afternoon all, Anyone else feeling slightly inadequate in the face of this Captain Tom Moore guy? He’s managed to raise £18m for the NHS despite being old enough to have been born just as the last global pandemic was winding down in the early 1920s. And I’m pretty sure he’s done more exercise than … Continued READ MORE
Exiting the economic shock Top of the Charts 10 April 2020 Morning all, It’s been another week of massive news bringing with it important realisations – the Queen reminding us all she’s a legend, our worries about our Prime Minister reiterating that this virus is NOT the flu, and the Labour Party realising that being a serious opposition during a national crisis might be the way … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Housing Government has further to go to protect livelihoods during this crisis Steps taken by the government to protect individuals and the wider economy are welcome, but gaps remain 8 April 2020 by Daniel Tomlinson This downturn is very different from the last. The 2008 crisis originated in the financial services sector, rippling out to the rest of the economy and leading to an increase in unemployment of just over one million between 2008 and 2011. This time is different. The UK, and much of the world, is about to … Continued READ MORE
The chart to top all charts Top of the Charts 3 April 2020 Afternoon all, This is the week scary economic data started to join the scary health data. Daily updates on infections and deaths have reduced their shock (although not the tragedy), but we have never before heard news of almost a million people making new benefit claims in just two weeks. At five times the rate … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Pensions & savings· Wealth & assets In this coronavirus crisis, do families have enough savings to make ends meet? 3 April 2020 by George Bangham In Britain two crises are unfolding in parallel, while policy makers strive to keep count. On the first – the public health crisis – they are all too aware how many people are losing their lives due to the virus. On the second crisis – the economic one – the data is more limited, whether … Continued READ MORE
Wanted sons and unwanted calories Top of the Charts 27 March 2020 Afternoon all, We’ve come a long way between TOTC editions. Not only is the state underwriting wages for those without work to do, but it’s about to start paying out grants of up to £7,500 to the self-employed even if they’ve never been so busy. The sheer pace of claims going into Universal Credit (477,000 … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Labour market Unprecedented support for employees’ wages last week has been followed up by equally significant, and even more generous, support for the self-employed. But gaps remain 27 March 2020 by Torsten Bell and Mike Brewer and Laura Gardiner and Karl Handscomb and Daniel Tomlinson Yesterday, the Chancellor announced that last week’s pledge to underwrite 80 per cent of the wages of employees without work to do during this crisis is being matched with significant grants to the self-employed. This is an important addition to existing plans to support employees, and in many ways a more generous offer. The Self-Employed … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Living standards· Incomes· Inequality & poverty New data shows households were struggling even before coronavirus 26 March 2020 by Adam Corlett Today we got the best data yet on the state of Britain’s household finances going into the present crisis, and – given that the impact of this shutdown and recession will be unequally felt – it was important that we also got more information on how particular groups were faring. Neither perspective is reassuring. There was no growth in typical incomes between 2016-17 and 2018-19 The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)’s new, detailed household … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Incomes· Living standards· Prices & consumption Family spending before the coronavirus crisis helps us to understand its potential impact 23 March 2020 by Fahmida Rahman Last week the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published its annual rundown of how UK households spent their money. These statistics provide the most detailed and direct insight into current living standards, and with a coronavirus-driven economic crisis in the making, they also give us a guide as to how we might expect things to … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Incomes· Living standards· Labour market· Welfare 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
The RF guide to learning about, and living through, the coronavirus crisis Top of the Charts 20 March 2020 Afternoon all, I’m going to be honest, this hasn’t been a great week for getting reading done. It’s been more about exiting RF towers, and then the team working through the nights on what can be done to respond to what is now clearly a truly awful economic crisis. I couldn’t be prouder of the hard … Continued READ MORE
Confused economists, bad scientists and rubbish burglars Top of the Charts 6 March 2020 Top of the Charts #96: Confused economists, bad scientists and rubbish burglars Afternoon all, It’s been a week of swift developments politics and virus wise. Very good news for Joe Biden, less good for the global population – especially those of Joe Biden’s more advanced years. Next week’s Budget is still happening (see … Continued READ MORE
Skills Is the government’s apprenticeships strategy set to change? Changing policy context could prove welcome if it means focusing Levy funds on the people that really need Apprenticeships 2 March 2020 by Kathleen Henehan While the latest data on apprenticeship starts don’t show much change on previous months – down on recent years, with the number going to older apprentices at higher levels of study is up – the backdrop to apprenticeships has changed. For a start, we have a new Minister of State for Apprenticeships and Skills, who … Continued READ MORE
