Governments and politicians can have a big effect on housing, for good and for ill. In this basket of indicators we track housing supply, as well as the total number of dwellings per thousand families in an area (an important metric of housing stock and supply across different areas of the UK).

The health of the housing market effects – and reflects – the health of the economy as a whole. This basket of indicators contains national and regional trends in house price and rental price growth; housing sales and mortgage approvals. We also provide a timely estimate of house price growth, one month ahead of official data.

Housing matters for family living standards both in the here and now, and in the future. Here, we provide national and regional indicators tracking housing tenure; the number of families with children living in the private rented sector; and day-to-day housing costs.

In this section we explore wealth inequalities between different birth cohorts and generations, how this relates to home ownership, and how it reflects changes in the pensions system. We also look at how wealth patterns vary between men and women. Our data focuses on:

Household incomes and consumption patterns provide a lens on day-to-day living standards. We explore these measures here, with a specific focus on how changes to the tax and benefit system are affecting them, and the experience of poverty for different generations over the life course. In particular we look at:

Access to safe, secure and affordable housing is one of the most fundamental measures of living standards. But spiralling house prices, combined with the limited availability of social housing and high costs associated with the private rented sector, mean that for many UK families and individuals, these things remain out of reach. In this section we examine:

Entering employment, acquiring new skills and progressing up the pay ladder are important steps in many people’s lives, and essential for improving their living standards. But changes in the labour market, educational opportunities and the wider economy mean that different generations face different work and pay-related challenges, shifting across the life course. In this section we explore: