Labour market Labour must now clear a higher bar on the minimum wage 19 September 2013 by James Plunkett Vince Cable’s announcements have allowed the Lib Dems to make the running on low pay but they still leave an opportunity to set out a tougher approach. This year’s pre-conference rumours gave unusual prominence to the minimum wage. After the consensus reached in the late 2000s, leading thinkers in all parties have begun to argue that it’s … Continued READ MORE
Living standards It’s Not Just 2015 That Will Be a Living Standards Election – The 2014 Vote Could Be One Too 18 September 2013 by Conor D’Arcy Danny Alexander opened his Lib Dem conference speech yesterday by terming Glasgow the “deep south” relative to his Highlands constituency. Naff jokes aside, and a year and a day before the Scottish independence referendum, his other main reference to regional differences was the lower interest rates, lower taxes and thousands of jobs which Scotland benefits … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Low Pay Britain: Failure to act risks generating growth which once again disproportionately benefits a minority 17 September 2013 by Matthew Whittaker Tentative it may be, but the British economy finally appears to be entering recovery. Output is improving, the employment rate is climbing and, perhaps most importantly for the sustainability of the upturn, a range of surveys point to a return of business confidence. Welcome though this is, there are still big question marks over the … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Planning for a pay rise – could ‘forward guidance’ work for Britain’s low paid workers? 12 September 2013 by Gavin Kelly The Low Pay Commission should consider setting out how the minimum wage would increase over time if the recovery is sustained How will the low paid fare should the economy move into a period of steady growth? This question is already creating interest across all three parties and looks set to become ever more central … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Mind the jobs gap 14 August 2013 by Alex Hurrell The latest labour market data obscures the fact that job creation is failing to keep up with population growth, and that whole regions are being left out of any economic recovery Many UK politicians and commentators have highlighted that the UK labour market has performed remarkably well despite the weakness of the economic recovery following … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Are zero hours contracts here to stay? 5 August 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson It is not surprising that at the end of the longest economic downturn the UK has ever faced to see an increase in the number of people on zero hours contracts. In uncertain times, employers have turned to these contracts to weather a difficult economic climate. By not guaranteeing employees a set number of hours … Continued READ MORE
Labour market The minimum wage should not be the same for everyone 31 July 2013 by George Bain The worst job ad I ever saw still sticks in my mind: “Security guard wanted — £1 an hour, 100 hours a week. Supply your own dog.” As chair of the Low Pay Commission, setting Britain’s first minimum wage, I developed a habit of reading such adverts from temp agencies. The paltry pay was a … Continued READ MORE
Housing Some home truths 22 July 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson In Britain today, a couple earning £22,000 with one child looking to buy a home are priced out of almost 40 per cent of local authorities. How did we end up here? And where in Britain can low-income working families afford to live? According to our report Home Truths–published last week, a third of the country’s … Continued READ MORE
Housing Search for a housing strategy 17 July 2013 by Giselle Cory The housing crisis has built up over time and can’t be fixed overnight. But there are things the government can do to make homes more affordable to lower-income families Much of Britain is unaffordable to lower-income, working families according to Home Truths, a report published this week by the Resolution Foundation. The report finds that a … Continued READ MORE
Housing The housing crisis is pricing workers out of ever more of Britain 16 July 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson The fact that many ordinary working families are priced out of central London boroughs such as Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea and Islington will surprise no one. But a new report by the Resolution Foundation shows that there are now affordability black spots across all parts of the country where low and middle income families would have to … Continued READ MORE
Housing Number of families with perilous levels of debt repayments could more than double to 1.2 million 11 July 2013 by Matthew Whittaker width=”597″ height=”486″ frameborder=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no” allowfullscreen=”allowfullscreen”> Closer to the Edge? Prospects for household debt repayments as interest rates rise from ResolutionFoundation For more information see Closer to the Edge? Prospects for household debt repayments as interest rates rise READ MORE
Welfare Despite further cuts in spending, tax rises look difficult to avoid 8 July 2013 by Gavin Kelly On Radio 4 Analysis Gavin Kelly discusses Resolution Foundation analysis on fiscal choices at the Spending Round 2013 Listen (3m 2s) READ MORE
Labour market The politics of low pay are changing. This time around, the Tories would be wise to act first 5 July 2013 by James Plunkett It’s often hard to anticipate shifts in policy direction, even when they’re at close range. Like the steady build-up before a mudslide, arguments accumulate slowly but can then move suddenly, leaving the political landscape changed. Today, there are signs that such a shift may be due on the issue of low pay. With one in … Continued READ MORE
Living standards Doing the zero sums 2 July 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson and Matthew Pennycook Pressure on public sector budgets has led to a rise in zero-hours contracts, particularly in the care sector. The biggest losers are vulnerable service-users and staff on poor pay and insecure hours. It all adds up to the next big care scandal Over the past year, the government has repeatedly raised concerns about the quality … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Universal Credit: a missed opportunity to help older workers 1 July 2013 by Giselle Cory We know that many people want to work into older age – yet many do not. So what stops them? For some, caring for family or friends can make paid work near impossible. For others, their own poor health can be a barrier. And for families on low incomes, it may be that work simply … Continued READ MORE
Living standards ‘Households face £26bn of fiscal pain in 2016-18’ 26 June 2013 by Gavin Kelly If the current timetable for deficit reduction is maintained, households should brace themselves for roughly another £26bn of fiscal pain in the years between 2016 and 2018 – whether it comes in the form of extra cuts to public services, another big hit to welfare or new tax-rises. The much hyped “AME [Annually Managed Expenditure] … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances Three things to bear in mind when watching Osborne today 26 June 2013 by James Plunkett Why everyone’s pretty much making it up 1. Most of today’s cuts were decided three years ago In his statement today, the Chancellor needs to find cuts in most unprotected departments of around 8-9 per cent. That number flows mainly from three things: the pace of deficit reduction; the decision to protect health, schools, international … Continued READ MORE
Labour market The forward march of zero-hours contracts must be halted 25 June 2013 by Matthew Pennycook “It’s the uncertainty that gets to me,” Shirley says, despondently. “These contracts only work one way – they don’t offer any flexibility even if you wanted it because if you turn down hours you suffer. One of the girls had her hours permanently reduced because she asked the line manager for a day off to … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Zero-hours contracts must be a two-way street 25 June 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson Official estimates suggest that the number of people employed on a zero-hours contract – which provides no guaranteed hours of work – has risen from 134,000 in 2006, to 208,000 in the last quarter of 2012, and that 8% of workplaces in England and Wales now use zero-hours contracts. These figures are sure to be an underestimate. … Continued READ MORE
Housing Build to rent: the obstacles for housing providers 24 June 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson When delegates gather in Manchester tomorrow for the start of the Chartered Institute of Housing‘s annual conference, there will no doubt be talk of build to rent, the government fund to stimulate new private rented housing supply and attract institutional investors. Registered providers are looking for new ways of attracting capital into housing and build to … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances SR2013: we ain’t seen nothing yet 21 June 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson When the chancellor stands up next week to deliver his one year Spending Review, it will beg a lot of questions about future expenditure cuts With a week to go before the Spending Review is announced, reports indicate that the government is making progress towards the £11.5 billion in departmental spending cuts that it needs … Continued READ MORE
Living standards Austerity after 2015: why the worst is yet to come 20 June 2013 by Matthew Whittaker With a week to go before the Spending Review, reports suggest that the Treasury has secured just a third of the £11.5bn of cuts planned in 2015-16. Yet amid the claim and counter-claim about how far departmental budgets can be squeezed, it is worth reflecting on how the review fits into the broader context of deficit reduction. … Continued READ MORE
Living standards A working solution? The continued rise of in-work poverty 13 June 2013 by Matthew Whittaker The latest edition of the DWP’s Households Below Average Income series released today shows that child poverty (i.e. those living in households with incomes less than two-thirds of the median) continued its downward trend in 2011-12. Having peaked at about 29% in 1992, the proportion of children living in poverty has since fallen steadily, reaching 17% in … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Now is the time to debate full employment 12 June 2013 by Gavin Kelly Full employment is not fantasy economics, but debate is squashed by economic complacency and fatalism A Labour leadership striving to re-earn the electorate’s trust in its capacity to manage the public finances wisely, restless mid-term Conservative backbenchers fearing they are sliding towards electoral defeat, a recession-wearied public agitated about welfare bills and a stubbornly high … Continued READ MORE
Labour market To the Point – Protecting our workers 3 June 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson This post originally appeared on the Nursery World blog Last week, the Department for Education released analysis suggesting that relaxing ratios would reduce the cost of childcare for parents by 28 per cent. In my column last month, I suggested that the Government must effectively be spending the same money twice if it was saying it … Continued READ MORE
