Sad songs and tough Budgets Top of the Charts 21 February 2020 Afternoon all, Hope everyone’s enjoyed the calmer week in politics. After last week’s Chancellor-related fireworks, losing a Downing Street adviser over a bit of eugenics chat is small fry. Things are so chilled across the pond that they’re focusing on films. Donald Trump doesn’t understand how Parasite can have won the top Oscar. Now he … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Pay A record-breaking labour market – but not all records are welcome 18 February 2020 by Nye Cominetti This morning’s labour market statistics broke records left and right. Mostly this was good news, with a new high on the employment rate and a (belated) return to peak pay. But as Linford Christie famously said, if you want to be a record breaker … it’s a good idea to look at the full range … Continued READ MORE
Trust, parental leave, wealth tax and more Top of the Charts 'Insights' round-up: January 2020 2 February 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). Why we’ll never get rich by putting cash away for a rainy day Norway has a wealth tax. Now, I’m in favour … Continued READ MORE
The RF guide to good health and life satisfaction Top of the Charts 31 January 2020 Afternoon all, Immeasurably significant but incredibly calm is, it turns out, what Brexit day feels like. The calm bit isn’t what many would have expected a few months back amid the screaming. Which makes me reflect that while politics made a total dog’s dinner of the last three years, in another way democratic politics has … Continued READ MORE
Monetary marathons and miracle workers Top of the Charts 24 January 2020 Afternoon all, Right, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is. You’ve all been scoffing about economic forecasters getting it wrong (as literally every single one has been for the past decade). Well, this is your moment to show us you could do better. The government is recruiting for a new forecasting supremo to take … Continued READ MORE
Tackling inequality in the charities you support, and the football clubs you hate Top of the Charts 17 January 2020 Afternoon all, Is it just me or are politicians actually spending the two weeks before the biggest constitutional change in half a century discussing bells, and their bonging? I don’t want to rub it in about the scale of political failure, but it has taken not years but barely a week for the Queen to … Continued READ MORE
The Governor’s off, Sussex is out, but Welsh is sticking around Top of the Charts 10 January 2020 Afternoon all, 2020 is failing badly on the calming down stakes. Yes the Iran crisis has de-escalated (slightly), but the Royal Family has not. The Sussex’s want out, Barry Gardiner wants in. Neither’s going to happen. Ultimately this is about trust. We were promised less news and we have been betrayed. But don’t worry – … Continued READ MORE
The Economic History Of The 2010s Top of the Charts 3 January 2020 Afternoon all, Happy new decade. It’s been a bit of a shock returning to work today. The end of slow daytime drinking is tough, but especially when combined with the realisation that our personal (emails), national (rubbish growth) and international (Trump) traumas have crept across the space time continuum into the 2020s. Of course it’s … Continued READ MORE
Why having more babies means less crime, and other stories Top of the Charts 'Insights' round-up: December 2019 1 January 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). Keep us busy with babies and we’ve no time for crime Unless you’re in a mafia clan, we all want to … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Pay 2019 has been a good year for employment and earnings 17 December 2019 by Nye Cominetti New ONS data out today – the last of 2019 – shows that we’ve approached the end of the year with the labour market in, to coin a phrase, a strong and stable position. Strong because employment remains at record levels – hitting a new high in the three months to October of 76.2 per … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Living standards· Labour market· Inequality & poverty· Pay· Cities and regions· Political parties and elections Election 2019: how Britain’s North-South divide is changing Closing the divide once and for all is a challenge all political parties say they want to embrace 6 December 2019 by Charlie McCurdy The North-South divide is a theme often used by – and against – politicians to highlight inequality in the UK, and election time is no exception. But this divide has evolved over time, and is by no means the only geographical divide in the country. The big economic divide Productivity – or how efficiently … Continued READ MORE
Fairy tales and city slickers Top of the Charts 'Insights' round-up: November 2019 1 December 2019 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). Even though it makes us unhappy, city life has never been more popular Cities make us richer, but not happier. To … Continued READ MORE
Skills· Political parties and elections Apprenticeships and adult education: how do the major parties compare? Latest Department for Education figures show the problems that need addressing 1 December 2019 by Kathleen Henehan While big rows over Brexit and the size of state we want have tended to dominate the news cycle over recent weeks, the 2019 general election campaign hasn’t been entirely devoid of skills policy. In fact, the Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative Party manifestos all include bold – albeit thinly detailed – proposals on apprenticeships … Continued READ MORE
Fiscal policy· Economy and public finances· Macroeconomic policy· Political parties and elections Political leaders must set out credible plans to tackle the next downturn The time for action on macroeconomic policy is now 30 November 2019 by James Smith Okay, fair enough, there’s a lot going on right now. With a fraught election campaign in full flow, and our future relationship with the EU still up in the air, you can be forgiven for taking your eye off preparations for the next recession. But boom and bust hasn’t gone away. So while the sun … Continued READ MORE
The Bad Wine Guide Top of the Charts 29 November 2019 Afternoon all, Brace, brace – we’re in the crash landing phase of this election campaign. I’m afraid to say none of us are likely to emerge unscathed. Jeremy Corbyn’s spending his time being mauled by Andrew Neil, while Boris Johnson’s gone into hiding. My admiration knows no bounds, and that’s before we get to the … Continued READ MORE
Low pay· Pay· Wealth & assets· Political parties and elections Question Time’s £80K man was wrong about the top 5%. But the super-rich are on another planet Those in his earning bracket have far more in common with workers on average pay than they do with the 1% 28 November 2019 by Torsten Bell f you live in Bolton and earn more than £80,000, you’re rich compared with your neighbours. Really rich. The average pay for all workers is just £22,000 and one in four earns less than £15,000. And yes, you’re still rich among the country as a whole: only 5% of earners make more than £80,000 – … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Social care· Inequality & poverty· Welfare 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
Tackling inequalities – left, right and centre Top of the Charts 22 November 2019 Afternoon all, We’re in manifesto week (or fortnight if the Conservatives hold off until Monday). So far the parties are going LARGE. The Lib Dems, having warned about Labour’s big tax and spend plans back in 2017, decided to…. announce a slightly bigger increase in the size of the state than Labour proposed two years … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Low pay· Labour market· Pay Feel poor, work more – the real reason behind Britain’s record employment 13 November 2019 by Torsten Bell Why are three million more of us working today than were back in 2008? How has our employment rate reached 76 per cent, when full employment before the crisis meant 73 per cent of us working? These are employment levels no-one thought possible a decade ago. There is almost no bigger change to our economy … Continued READ MORE
Labour Market Outlook· Low pay· Pay Never had it so good? Almost back to peak pay 7 November 2019 by Nye Cominetti The last time pay peaked was in August 2007. Average weekly pay was £513, measured in 2019 prices. Over a decade later, pay is finally set to go higher. In August 2019, the latest month for which we have our most timely earnings data, average weekly pay was £511. With real pay growth at a … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Low pay· Living Wage The evidence backing a higher minimum wage is growing 4 November 2019 by Nye Cominetti You wait for a minimum wage report and then three come along at once. This morning the Treasury published Arin Dube’s keenly awaited review of minimum wage policy in the UK. Dube backs the Chancellor’s ambitions to raise the rate to two-thirds of median hourly pay, but offers useful honesty about the risks involved, as … Continued READ MORE
Demographics· Political parties and elections The middle aged, not the middle class, are the new swing voters 2 November 2019 by Torsten Bell 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 READ MORE
Silicon Valley, voters and squeaky pips Top of the Charts 'Insights' round-up: October 2019 1 November 2019 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). Voters know the value of peace, even if politicians don’t When we think about violent conflicts and how to reduce them, … Continued READ MORE
Low pay· Pay· Inequality & poverty A good year for pay? Five things we learned from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2019 29 October 2019 by Nye Cominetti This morning the ONS published the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) for 2019 – the most detailed data on employee pay available, telling us about high and low pay, the gender pay gap, and more besides. As a think-tank focusing on raising living standards, this is pretty crucial data for us, and for … Continued READ MORE
Labour market The flaws of the UK labour market won’t solve themselves Time to learn from other Anglo-Saxon economies 29 October 2019 Sinner or saint? The UK labour market is lauded for reaching record levels of employment at the same time as it is lacerated for the insecurities that are said to be its central feature. Two things can, however, be true at once: an economy can be job-rich at the same time as too many of … Continued READ MORE
