Work Work in progress How have changes in the labour market over the past decade affected attitudes to work? UpcomingTuesday 3 November 2026 The UK labour market has changed profoundly over the past decade. The introduction of the National Living Wage, the rise of the gig economy and the legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic have prompted changes to the way we work. Further changes lie ahead too – from new employment rights protections to growing questions over the impacts of AI on jobs. And yet beneath all this change some aspects of the labour market – including many of its challenges like inactivity, low productivity and weak dynamism – feel remarkably similar to a decade ago. SIGN UP
Generations· Demographics The big baby bust Causes and consequences of falling fertility around the world UpcomingTuesday 3 November 2026 Book launch for Generation Maybe, by Camilla Cavendish SIGN UP
Budgets & fiscal events Pleasing people and satisfying markets What has Budget 2026 revealed about the state of Britain and Burnham’s government? UpcomingThursday 29 October 2026 Budget 2026 need to deliver on three fronts – easing cost of living pressures, taking forward the Prime Minister’s economic agenda and reassuring the markets about the state of the public finances. Delivering any of these objectives is hard enough. Delivering all three, against a backdrop of turmoil in the global economy, is devilishly difficult. How can Budget 2026 measure up to them? SIGN UP
Work· Living Wage Fixing broken labour markets What can the UK and US learn from each other? UpcomingThursday 22 October 2026 UK launch event for The Wage Standard by Professor Arin Dube SIGN UP
A new deal for disabled people Reconnecting disability support with the needs of recipients Thursday 15 October 2026 Disability support and especially Personal Independence Payments (PIP) is failing on two grounds – spiralling costs are putting pressure on the public finances and those that need the benefit have lost faith in the system. READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public finances Hitting the buffers What could a weaker economic outlook mean for the Budget? Tuesday 13 October 2026 For all the new Prime Minister’s positive vibes, conflict in the Middle East has driven up inflation and prompted a retreat from sovereign debt in financial markets that has increased borrowing costs, blowing a hole in the buffers against the fiscal rules bequeathed to John Healey by Rachel Reeves. READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Prices & consumption· Inequality & poverty The long crunch How can the Chancellor allay cost of living concerns in the Budget? Thursday 8 October 2026 Households across Britain have spent most of the 2020s stuck in a cost of living crunch. With inflation rising again, and the energy price cap forecast to rise to over £2,000 this winter, personal finance pressures continue to mount. The Chancellor will need to respond to these pressures in his Budget next month. READ MORE
Political parties and elections Party Conferences 2026 Resolution Foundation events at Labour and Conservative Party Conferences Sunday 27 September 2026 If you’re heading to the Labour and Conservative Party Conferences, please join us for discussions on preparing workers for the age of AI, helping young people into work, education or training, tackling the cost of living crises, and future-proofing welfare spending. READ MORE
Housing· Tax Britain’s big repair job Fixing our broken taxes on housing Thursday 24 September 2026 The UK’s raises more from residential property taxation than other advanced economies. But the problem is that our two main taxes on housing – Council Tax and Stamp Duty – are terribly designed, grossly unfair and economically harmful. But while the case for wholesale change is clear, the threat of loud opposition from those who would lose out means that there is little political appetite for major reform. Is there any hope of fixing Britain’s broken taxes on housing? READ MORE
Public services· Public finances The end of the honeymoon? Policy choices and challenges for the year ahead Tuesday 8 September 2026 September will see Parliament sit for the first time since Andy Burnham took office and his government must now face a series of difficult trade-offs, and not a lot of money to help ease them. How the new PM handles them will be critical to the success of both his government and the country. READ MORE
Work· Net zero· Cities and regions Re-industrialising the North? Net zeroing in on Aberdeen and Grimsby Thursday 3 September 2026 The UK’s net zero transition will have a major impact on our industrial mix and labour market. While the majority of new ‘green jobs’ are likely to be spread thinly across the UK, some local areas – particularly in the North of England and Scotland – will be much more acutely affected by the transition. To better understand the local impact of the UK’s net zero transition, the Foundation has spent the past six months diving deeply into two areas that will be at the heart of this change – Aberdeen and Grimsby. READ MORE
Public services· Public finances Breaking free of fiscal chains How to get the public finances back on a sustainable path Thursday 16 July 2026 In recent decades, fiscal policy in the UK has delivered the worst of all worlds. Spending on key public services has fallen, taxes are at a record high, and yet levels of debt – and the cost of servicing it – have still shot up. The UK needs to break this fiscal doom loop and put the public finances on a better trajectory. Otherwise the trade-offs on public services, taxes and benefits will get very painful. READ MORE
Work· Social security Firm handshakes How can businesses be incentivised to take on more young people? Monday 29 June 2026 For the first time in over a decade, over a million young people across Britain are not in employment, education or training. The causes of the crisis are myriad and complex, but at least one of the ways out of it is straightforward – businesses need to be incentivised to take on more young people. However, these incentives could take many forms, and finding the right hiring solutions is a crucial issue being explored by Alan Miburn’s Review into young people and work. READ MORE
Incomes Home comforts How do Gen Z’s living standards compare to previous cohorts? Thursday 25 June 2026 Whether the issue is wealth, work, rising student debt or dwindling chances of home ownership, it’s been well documented that Millennials have faced a more challenging living standards path than many of those who came before them. But what about the generation who came after them? READ MORE
Growth· Trade Leaving EU behind How Britain lost its trading edge and how to get it back Monday 22 June 2026 Ten years ago, the UK voted to leave the EU – a major global economic bloc that it had been part of nearly half a century. Such a decision was always bound to cause significant economic disruption, and it’s far from the only big economic shock we’ve experienced – from pandemics to trade wars and now the AI revolution. While many will spend this anniversary looking backwards, it’s just as important to look forward and consider how we can navigate economic change in the decade ahead. READ MORE
Monetary policy Money talks Book launch event for Money: The Inside Story by Rupal Patel and Jack Leslie Tuesday 16 June 2026 The Bank of England, as the guardians of Britain’s money, have for the first time written a book about how it makes the world go round – and what happens when it breaks down. In their new book Money: The Inside Story, economists Rupal Patel and Jack Leslie pull back the curtain on how money is supposed to work, what happens when it doesn’t, and where it might be going next. READ MORE
Work· Technology Will new technologies make or break our jobs? Book launch for We Are Not Machines by Sarah O’Connor Thursday 4 June 2026 In a groundbreaking new book, prize-winning Financial Times journalist Sarah O’Connor sets out to investigate what is happening on the front lines of technological change. The Resolution Foundation is hosting an event to mark the launch Sarah’s must-read new book. She will be joined by one of the UK’s leading technology experts Professor Cosmina Dorobantu, along with RF Chief Executive Ruth Curtice. READ MORE
Trade How to win a trade war Book launch event with Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown Tuesday 2 June 2026 Trade wars are becoming a feature of the modern global economy and are being tied to actual wars too. Britain has played its part by voting to leave the EU, while President Trump has taken trade disruption to a new level. While it can be hard to identify ‘winners’ from trade wars, it’s easy to identify losses – so having the right strategy is crucial, especially for a mid-sized, open economy like the UK. READ MORE
Work The (im)balance of power Can workers in precarious sectors exert influence over pay and working conditions? Thursday 28 May 2026 Collective bargaining has long been crucial to worker power in Britain. But after decades of union decline, a collective voice is increasingly rare leaving workers to assert themselves individually in the workplace instead. But in reality, many workers in low-paid and precarious sectors such as hospitality, cleaning and warehousing – the focus of new Resolution Foundation research being launched at this event – feel they have little to no influence over the decisions that impact them, including on pay and hours. READ MORE
Social security· Cities and regions The welfare of nations How does social security differ across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland? Thursday 21 May 2026 Social security has been undergoing a quiet revolution across the UK. While attention has focused on the roll-out of Universal Credit, many other aspects of the benefits system are devolved, allowing governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to take different approaches to welfare. We will hear from leading experts on what lessons can be learned for further welfare reform. READ MORE
Growth· Political parties and elections Second half comeback? Resetting Government economic priorities for the remainder of the Parliament Thursday 14 May 2026 The Labour Government has had a bruising start to the Parliament. It is trailing badly in the polls and is expecting a battering in the local, Welsh and Scottish elections in early May. Another relaunch and plan for a comeback in the second half of the Parliament is expected soon. But the parameters of this relaunch are hotly disputed. READ MORE
Work Closer to work How to tackle Britain’s NEETs challenge Tuesday 28 April 2026 width=”560″ height=”315″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=”allowfullscreen”> Nearly one million 16-24 year olds across the UK today are not in employment, education or training. There are many drivers of the recent rise in NEETs, from the costs of hiring to worrying trends in young people’s mental health. But the UK has long had a higher NEET rate than … Continued READ MORE
Public finances The economic fallout from war in the Middle East Part II The outlook for the economy and public finances Wednesday 22 April 2026 This second event will focus on the wider outlook for the economic and public finances. How much might the war reduce the UK’s growth prospects? What fresh policy support might be needed in the face of a potentially acute and prolonged price shock? How will this affect interest rates and mortgages? READ MORE
Incomes The economic fallout from war in the Middle East Part I Tackling the cost of living crunch Monday 13 April 2026 Although the eventual impact of the escalating war in the Middle East is unknowable, the increase in the price of oil and gas means we already know energy and petrol costs are set to rise. Knock on effects will hit food prices and wider inflation, not to mention the second-round effects on wage negotiations, interest rates, debt-servicing costs and wider economic growth. The Resolution Foundation is hosting a pair of events in April to unpack what the effects of the war are on the UK economy, and how policy makers should respond. READ MORE
Demographics The Great British Baby Bust Should we worry about the UK’s falling birth rate, and can we do anything about it? Wednesday 1 April 2026 All developed countries are grappling with a falling birth rate, and the UK is no different. While the UK’s birth rate has often fluctuated, it has fallen sharply since 2012, and a rebound anytime soon looks unlikely. There are cultural and economic drivers behind the recent shortfall; and the implications will be both immediate and pose challenges well into the future. READ MORE
