Work When algorithms go to war in the workplace Businesses crunch data to gain power; workers should bend it to their own ambitions 2 July 2018 by Gavin Kelly One constant in public debate is the assertion that the world of work is on the cusp of unprecedented change. Amid the hype, one genuine source of flux is the manner in which data and technology are combining to alter workplace management and control. To date, this has been a tale of the good, the … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Cities and regions Tackling London’s living standards exodus 2 July 2018 by Conor D’Arcy Everyone knows housing is a disaster in London. This is most obvious in the ludicrous prices that properties fetch, but London’s housing problems stretch well beyond having to fork out over half a million pounds for a poky flat in Zone 2. For a start, the way people are housed in London has changed dramatically … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Growth· Cities and regions Poor productivity and high housing costs are driving a ‘living standards exodus’ from London 27 June 2018 by Stephen Clarke As a Londoner it’s fair to say that as a city we’re quite good at giving ourselves a pat on the back (though apparently self-loathing Londoners are a thing too). It’s often suggested that London is an economic powerhouse, productive, innovative and leaving the rest of the country in its wake. However new research by … Continued READ MORE
Housing Housing stress is up – and has shifted. Our debate on social housing needs to keep up 23 June 2018 by Lindsay Judge and Torsten Bell It’s a year on from Grenfell, a tragedy that has taught everyone that social housing has to return to its proper place in national debate. There’s been good progress on this front already: there are fora that give a voice to those living in social rented homes; projects which seek to define the purpose of social … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Prices & consumption· Inequality & poverty· Tax No, the poorest don’t pay higher taxes than the richest 20 June 2018 by Adam Corlett We all know that parts of the tax system are very progressive – and this should be very apparent in the Autumn Statement when the Chancellor unveils perhaps £10 billion of tax rises that will target the wealthy. But wait, some say, when you factor in taxes such as VAT it’s actually poorer households that … Continued READ MORE
Work Women are leading the charge of Britain’s impressive employment record 12 June 2018 by George Bangham Another set of labour market statistics, another round of mixed news. On pay, it’s the all-too-familiar problem of sluggish wage pay growth, with average weekly earnings still £15 below their pre-financial crisis peak (in real terms). On jobs, it’s another familiar tale, but a much more positive one – alongside overall record employment rates, the … Continued READ MORE
Social security With the benefits of benefit reform diminishing, Universal Credit needs a new direction 11 June 2018 by David Finch Another busy period of Brexit debate has pushed other big domestic issues out of the headlines. This is particularly true of Universal Credit (UC) – where two key government publications last week have slipped under the radar. In the coming year we can expect the profile of UC to rise again, with the pace of … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Inequality & poverty· Growth· Trade Dis-United Kingdom? Inequality, growth and the Brexit divide 25 May 2018 by Matthew Whittaker Much has changed in Britain since the EU referendum, but in many ways the divide that opened up around the vote feels as cavernous today as it was on the morning after the night before. That owes much to the inevitably divisive nature of a binary in/out referendum of course, but many commentators point also … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Inequality & poverty· Tax What share of tax do the top 1 per cent pay? Less than you might have heard 23 May 2018 by Adam Corlett Late last year in a PMQs exchange about tax, the Prime Minister said that “the top 1 per cent of earners in this country are paying 28 per cent of the tax burden” – “the highest percentage ever”. She’s not alone in saying this. As statistics go, this one is remarkably popular in newspapers, parliament … Continued READ MORE
Work Tackling the new frontiers of low pay 23 May 2018 by Conor D’Arcy Bad policies get the most attention. Whole books have been written on government interventions that achieved the exact opposite of what they intended, or eventually delivered at miles over budget. That’s why the UK’s minimum wage – effective, popular and cheap – is such a rare thing. The latest evidence confirms the minimum wage’s continued … Continued READ MORE
Work· Growth Introducing….Hamilton – The Industrial Strategy 21 May 2018 by David Willetts Today’s science speech by the Prime Minister shows how much she has in common with the great Alexander Hamilton – though she has not got her own musical yet. Hamilton’s great rival Jefferson had a picture of America as sturdy yeoman farmers enjoying their liberties under a minimalist Government. Hamilton instead saw the Federal Government … Continued READ MORE
Work It’ll take more than a higher minimum wage to tackle Britain’s low pay problems 18 May 2018 by Conor D’Arcy As a certain wedding this weekend highlights, some things get more attention than they deserve. When it comes to the world of low pay, all the talk in recent years has been about the National Living Wage. Now of course, this new higher minimum wage for those aged 25 and over is a big deal, … Continued READ MORE
Work· Growth Britain’s labour market – the good (jobs), the bad (pay) and the ugly (productivity) 15 May 2018 by George Bangham This month’s labour market statistics gave us a classic mixed bag of results, with reasons to be cheerful on jobs, confused on pay, and downright depressed when it comes to Britain’s productivity record. Let’s start with the good news on jobs. Employment has hit another new high, with recent growth driven by full-time work – … Continued READ MORE
Housing The real barrier to millennials owning a home is not the mortgage – it’s the deposit 11 May 2018 by Lindsay Judge Has the heat finally gone out of the housing market? New data from the Nationwide published this week suggested it might just have, with the cost of the average home falling by more than 3 per cent in the last month. But before aspirant home buyers start putting out the flags, it’s worth setting this … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Generations We need to lift the burden of risk that we are loading onto young people 8 May 2018 by Laura Gardiner A key question for any politician is to ask is what it feels like to grow up in Britain today. The mood and outlook of young adults is a bellwether for the new frontiers of culture, the growth prospects of the economy and the tenor of politics. So, what is the mood among young adults … Continued READ MORE
Wealth· Mobility· Generations Widening inequalities between generations are impeding social mobility 8 May 2018 by Fahmida Rahman Intergenerational progress – the principle that each generation will do better than the one before – has come to a halt. Millennials in their late 20s are earning less than generation X did 15 years earlier, own half as many homes as the baby boomers, and shoulder greater levels of risk than previous generations. It’s … Continued READ MORE
Generations We need to start the huge task of renewing Britain’s contract between generations 8 May 2018 by Torsten Bell Politics today is one of big questions, but few answers. On Brexit that is true in bucket loads. For the Conservatives that is because they simply do not agree with each other. For Labour it is because all the incentives are to leave this as the Tories problem – ambiguity is the order of the … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Generations The millennial minefield: Young adults’ views on generational justice in the 21st century 4 May 2018 by Fahmida Rahman In March 2018 the Intergenerational Commission, in partnership with My Life My Say, convened a group of 30 young people to discuss issues related to intergenerational fairness. The Commission wanted to understand where their greatest concerns lay, and to test some of its policy ideas against the scrutiny of today’s young generation as part of … Continued READ MORE
Wealth· Tax· Generations There’s something off-key about our approach to inheritance tax 2 May 2018 by Matthew Whittaker It takes something to be crowned Britain’s most hated tax – a bit like being the UK’s worst ever Eurovision entry – but that is the unwanted title held by inheritance tax. It doesn’t help that it’s a tax that’s unavoidably associated with the death of loved ones. And complexity is undoubtedly a problem too. … Continued READ MORE
Social security 10 policies if you think you might want a Universal Basic Income but aren’t sure 30 April 2018 by Adam Corlett Universal Basic Income (UBI) is the policy idea du jour, especially among Labour, Lib Dem, SNP and Green members. But those three words by themselves are not a policy. The concept draws support for a range of different – and sometimes contradictory – reasons, and a UBI could be designed in countless ways with vastly … Continued READ MORE
Work· Growth Britain passes a major milestone on pay and breaks new ground on jobs – but there’s a productivity sting 17 April 2018 by Stephen Clarke This morning UK labour market passed a few living standards milestones on pay and jobs with two good pieces of news, one expected and one a surprise. We also got a hint of more good news to come. But we also got one bit of bad news. Let’s start with the good. Today pay growth … Continued READ MORE
Housing· Public finances· Generations The future fiscal cost of ‘Generation Rent’ 17 April 2018 by Stephen Clarke The future fiscal cost of ‘Generation Rent’ For most people the lion’s share of their income is spent housing and so forking out on accommodation when no longer earning would seem like a tall order for many. The vast majority of retired people own their own home and so have relatively low housing costs, however … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Work How to get family incomes growing again 16 April 2018 by Torsten Bell Lots of things matter for family incomes – but for British households as a whole nothing matters as much as the labour market. Questions of who has a job and what they get paid for doing it might not be the only determinant of our living standards – but they are certainly the first. … Continued READ MORE
Work Three tips on how to get a pay rise 9 April 2018 by Stephen Clarke How do you get a pay rise? This is a question most of us would like to know the answer to. Especially seeing as, following the financial crisis, we’ve experienced the worst squeeze on wages in over a hundred years. Typical weekly earnings are £15 lower than they were in 2009, and by 2020 we … Continued READ MORE
Social security· Savings & debt· Wealth· Generations Now’s not the time for auto-pilot 6 April 2018 by Matthew Whittaker and Stephen Clarke Straightforward policy successes are a rare achievement in government and need celebrating when they arrive, lest we forget that policy matters. The recent sizeable gains the UK has made on private pension saving as a result of the introduction of auto-enrolment are therefore a clear cause for cheer. But challenges remain, starting with the increase … Continued READ MORE
