Analysis and action on living standards
Recent years have uncovered the lack of financial resilience among too many low-to-middle income families across Britain. In a 12-month project – Unsung Britain, with support from JPMorganChase – the Resolution Foundation will examine who low-to-middle-income families are in Britain today, how they’ve changed in recent decades, and what can be done to boost their living standards in the future.
We will do this by examining their pay, employment and career prospects, who they live with and how they are housed, what their health and caring responsibilities are, the assets and debts they hold, what they choose to spend their disposable incomes on, and their ability to transition in and out of low-to-middle income Britain.
Unpacking the rising cost of essentials for low-to-middle income Britain
This briefing note examines how prices have changed over time in three key areas of spending: energy, food and transport. We also propose policy changes that can make essential costs more affordable for low-to-middle income households, and improve their incomes.
The shifting mix of income sources for poorer households over the last 30 years
This briefing note examines the components of income for low-to-middle income families. It considers how income from earnings and benefits have changed over the last 30 years, and how fixed costs including taxes and housing costs have reduced the income
The labour market experience of low-to-middle income families
This report describes the labour market experiences of low-to-middle income families and how these have changed over the past quarter century. It explores those families’ employment, pay, experiences at work, and their feelings about changing jobs and progressing in work.
Essentials take up more of households’ total spending than they have in the past, with spending on essentials for low-income households increasing the most. A more essentials-heavy spending basket also left poorer families facing faster price growth in recent years.
The UK has endured two decades of very sluggish progress on living standards, with a special squeeze on those we describe as Unsung Britain – working-age households, with incomes below the median. This briefing considers the components of income in the round over the last 30 years.
This report provides the context for the Government’s ambitions to raise employment and drive up job quality. It describes the labour market experiences of low-to-middle income families and how these have changed over the past quarter century.
This report marks the launch of Unsung Britain, a one-year research programme designed to understand the economic circumstances of today’s low-to-middle income families and how these have changed in recent decades, with support from JPMorganChase.
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