Living standards What does it take to reduce poverty? Lessons from the 21st Century so far 2 October 2023 by Torsten Bell Torsten Bell, Chief Executive of Resolution Foundation, delivered the 2023 Annual Challenge Poverty Week Lecture. The lecture is hosted by The Poverty Alliance, Scotland’s network of organisations and individuals working together to end poverty, and Scottish Poverty Inequality Reduction Unit (SPIRU). Catch up on the presentation below for an insight into the state of British living standards, … Continued READ MORE
Ventures WorkerTech newsletter: September 2023 The latest update from Resolution Ventures 30 September 2023 by Louise Marston It’s been a busy summer here at Resolution Ventures. We’ve been pleased to complete four investments (more on those below and next month), and are looking forward to our first-ever Workertech conference in November. Sign up now to join us for a day of exploration and discussion on the future of better work. As always, … Continued READ MORE
Labour market The labour market is cooling but pay growth remains strong New ONS labour market statistics show the biggest employment fall on record outside of a recession 12 September 2023 by Hannah Slaughter This morning’s labour market statistics show that the labour market is starting to cool, with the biggest employment fall on record outside of a recession. But this is not yet feeding through into wages, which grew at record high rates. And while wage growth impacts both workers and (indirectly) the wider economy, this month’s pay … Continued READ MORE
Ventures WorkerTech newsletter: August 2023 The latest update from Resolution Ventures 31 August 2023 by Emma Selinger Last month I announced the date for our first-ever WorkerTech Conference on 21st November, and over 100 of you have registered to attend in person already. We now have even more brilliant speakers confirmed, including Claudine Adeyemi, CEO of Earlybird, Emma Back, Founder of Equal Care Coop, and Jeegar Kakkad, Director of Future of Britain Policy at Tony … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Short-term pay pain eases, but long-term legacy leaves scars 15 August 2023 by Charlie McCurdy Today’s labour market stats offer a glimmer of good news when it comes to pay: real wages in June were higher than a year ago for the first time in 18 months, offering a welcome respite for workers in Britain. But this welcome news for workers won’t be shared by policy makers at the Bank … Continued READ MORE
Labour Market Outlook· Labour market Real-term public sector pay falls are fuelling the recent strikes… but what lies ahead? 15 August 2023 by Nye Cominetti Across the past year, 3.9 million working days have been lost to industrial action– more days than at any point since the 1980s. The Resolution Foundation’s Labour Market Outlook, published today, takes a look at why these strikes are happening… and, crucially, at what’s happening to public sector pay, and how this has fuelled the … Continued READ MORE
Ventures WorkerTech newsletter: July 2023 The latest update from Resolution Ventures 31 July 2023 by Emma Selinger Are you free on 21st November? I’d love you to join us at our first-ever WorkerTech Conference in central London. We’ll be exploring the relationship between impact investors and start-ups, and examining how mission-driven organisations – in collaboration with foundations, researchers, unions and businesses – can use data and technology to benefit low-paid workers and … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19 The Kickstart scheme: reflections three years on 25 July 2023 by Louise Murphy Three years on from the advent of the Kickstart scheme – the Government’s employment programme which created jobs for young people aged 16-24 during the Covid-19 pandemic – the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published a process evaluation report looking at the effectiveness of the scheme. Of course, the labour market looks very … Continued READ MORE
Housing Five things you need to know about the state of English housing 14 July 2023 by Cara Pacitti Housing has been centre-stage in recent years, whether during the ‘stay at home’ orders of the pandemic, high energy prices that put pressure on the ability of many to heat their homes, or high rental asking prices and rising interest rates now feeding through into mortgage costs. Yesterday, new data releases from the Department for … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Labour market loosens gradually as inactivity falls, but pay growth remains high 11 July 2023 by Greg Thwaites Today’s data paints a picture of a labour market that is loosening somewhat (as in, firms aren’t having to compete quite as fiercely for workers) but with pay growth at levels still far too rapid to hit the Bank of England’s 2 per cent inflation target. Real pay is still falling, so we’ve taken a … Continued READ MORE
Economy 2030 The path back to shared growth runs through British flexicurity 4 July 2023 by Gavin Kelly Britain has been so buffeted around by economic crisis over recent years that it feels almost indulgent to cast beyond the ongoing emergency phase of economic policy to consider the longer-term prospects and pre-requisites for shared growth. But, as current US experience shows, growth is certainly possible and purposeful governments can combine short and longer-term … Continued READ MORE
Ventures WorkerTech newsletter: June 2023 The latest update from Resolution Ventures 30 June 2023 by Emma Selinger Last month we let you know about our first WorkerTech Pre-investment Workshop which included the opportunity to win a cash prize and additional mentoring from our team. We welcomed a great group of diverse founders, and had some great conversations – thanks to everyone who came. I’m also pleased to announce the winner of the on-the-day pitching … Continued READ MORE
What the Government might actually do to tackle the Mortgage Crunch 22 June 2023 by Torsten Bell Today’s thirteenth interest rate rise in succession is a lot more than unlucky for mortgagors. And for Rishi Sunak. There’s a lot of mortgage pain coming, and much of it will arrive during the run-up to a 2024 election – current market pricing implies that households remortgaging in that election year are set for an … Continued READ MORE
Punchy pay data set to cause more mortgage misery 13 June 2023 by Louise Murphy This morning, the ONS published new labour market statistics, and all eyes are on the pay data. Strong nominal pay growth, combined with lower levels of inflation, means that the real wage squeeze that workers have been facing for the past 18 months may well have ended. But, in stark contrast to the state of … Continued READ MORE
Ventures WorkerTech newsletter: May 2023 The latest update from Resolution Ventures 31 May 2023 by Emma Selinger Do you have an idea for how tech could improve low-paid or precarious work in the UK? Are you looking to take the next step and seek investment for your idea? Resolution Ventures and Bethnal Green Ventures are hosting a WorkerTech Pre-Investment Workshop on 22nd June to provide expert advice to founders who are seeking first-time … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Migration The nature of the post-Brexit migration change is different to what many expected 25 May 2023 by Charlie McCurdy The latest migration statistics, covering the year ending December 2022, confirm that the post-Brexit era has brought significant changes in migration patterns. The predictable headline was that overall net migration reached a record high, but the labour market nature of this change differs from what many expected – with the migrant workforce growing slower than … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Growing, but for how long? 16 May 2023 by Nye Cominetti This morning’s labour market data from the ONS had encouraging news in the shape of rising employment, coming from a reversal among the under 50s of the post-pandemic fall in participation. But inactivity among the over 50s and among those with long-term illnesses remains stubbornly high, there continue to be signs that firms’ demand for … Continued READ MORE
Ventures WorkerTech newsletter: April 2023 The latest update from Resolution Ventures 4 May 2023 by Emma Selinger How can we make sure gig work is good work? We helped a group of founders, workers, investors and researchers answer this question last week at our workshop with Fairwork. You can learn more about it in this newsletter, and read Fairwork’s new report on digital labour platforms in the UK. As always, if you have … Continued READ MORE
Fewer students, more ill health: the wrong kind of labour-market participation 18 April 2023 by Greg Thwaites Today’s labour market data depicts an expanding workforce, reversing some of the shrinkage we saw during the pandemic. But, like Homer Simpson, it’s expanding and receding in all the wrong places – due to fewer students rather than less long-term sickness. In better news, employment kept rising and unemployment remains low. Public sector pay growth … Continued READ MORE
Ventures WorkerTech newsletter: March 2023 The latest update from Resolution Ventures 30 March 2023 by Emma Selinger Around 5 million people in the UK do some form of work via digital platforms, so we think it’s really important that platforms providing this type of work are designed to offer fair and decent work to users. Register to join us on Thursday 20th April at our free workshop with Fairwork (experts in equitable labour platforms) … Continued READ MORE
Ventures Resolution Ventures invests in Equal Care Co-operative 28 March 2023 by Emma Selinger We’re delighted to announce that Resolution Ventures has made an investment in Equal Care Co-op as part of the Workertech Partnership. The aim of the Workertech Partnership is to use impact investment to back a new wave of innovators who will harness technology to improve the pay, prospects, power, and progression of low-paid workers. One … Continued READ MORE
What official new income statistics can tell us about living standards in 2021 and beyond 24 March 2023 by Adam Corlett The financial year from April 2021 to March 2022 feels a long time ago. The furlough scheme and £20 a week benefit boost were in place for the first half of that year, Rishi Sunak was Chancellor, inflation averaged a ‘mere’ 4 per cent, and, even after some notable increases, the typical annualised energy bill … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Labour market offers glimmers of hope for the Chancellor and the Bank 14 March 2023 by Greg Thwaites Today’s labour market statistics show employment has been holding up well in the face of the higher interest rates and the cost of living crisis. Meanwhile, there were encouraging early signs that labour market activity is improving and pay growth generating less inflation – a bit of good news for the Chancellor ahead of Wednesday’s … Continued READ MORE
Net zero· Productivity & industrial strategy· Economy and public finances What Britain should learn from Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act plan Like or loath the ‘protectionist’ Inflation Reduction Act’s green subsidies, America offers an example of strategic thinking 13 March 2023 by Torsten Bell The UK has lost the habit of thinking strategically. Grappling with the constraints imposed by the global and domestic economies — or reality as it is sometimes known — is deeply out of fashion these days. Debates on how the UK might respond to Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and its near $400bn of green … Continued READ MORE
Ventures WorkerTech newsletter: February 2023 The latest update from Resolution Ventures 28 February 2023 by Emma Selinger You’ve probably seen a headline or two mention economic inactivity over the past week, with various takes on who is affected and how to solve the problem. Someone who is economically inactive is a person of working age who is not in work, not looking for work, and is not in education. In this newsletter I’m sharing Resolution … Continued READ MORE
