Economy and public finances Four tests for Osborne’s Budget 20 March 2014 by James Plunkett This post originally appeared on The Spectator With the Coalition taking pre-Budget briefing to new levels you’d be excused for thinking there’s little we don’t know about tomorrow’s statement. But here are four questions we can’t yet answer, and that will be crucial to assessing whether this is a Budget for low-to-middle earners as the Chancellor claims: … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances A budget for the ‘makers, doers and savers’ 20 March 2014 by Matthew Whittaker The theme of economic optimism that built during 2013 spilled over into today’s Budget—but only just. GDP is projected to rise more quickly over the next four years than was the case back in the autumn, and employment continues to out-perform expectations. But there are question marks over the extent to which people are feeling … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances Mind the Budget income gap 19 March 2014 by Vidhya Alakeson If the Chancellor is to be believed, this was yet another Budget for ‘hard working families’. But the reality seems more mixed. Let’s start with the positive: yesterday’s childcare announcement. Leave aside that the majority of new spending on childcare is still going to better off families, including those earning up to £300,000, a little … Continued READ MORE
Labour market The Budget contains little to excite those on middle incomes 19 March 2014 by Matthew Whittaker Despite the talk of letting people keep more of what they earn and what they save, today’s budget contained little to excite those on low to middle incomes. The government’s policy of increasing the income tax personal allowance above inflation has consistently been sold as a low-earner tax cut. But in reality, today’s announcement of … Continued READ MORE
Labour market More than a minimum: reforming the minimum wage 13 March 2014 by Conor D’Arcy The national minimum wage celebrates its 15th birthday next month. Given the dire effects some predicted it would have – two million job losses and spiralling inflation – even its short-term survival was far from guaranteed in 1999. George Bain, chair of the Low Pay Commission when the initial rate was set, has admitted he … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Why the Lib Dems’ £12,500 tax allowance promise is a smaller pledge than it sounds 11 March 2014 by Gavin Kelly Since the weekend, when the Lib Dem faithful gathered in York for their spring conference, quite a few column inches have been filled with frothy speculation about Nick Clegg’s likely longevity as Liberal Democrat leader. Nothing, however, has been written about the new twist he gave their proposed tax policy (Lib Dem blogger Mark Pack being the … Continued READ MORE
Housing Shared ownership: a role for funders? 7 March 2014 by Vidhya Alakeson Almost a year on from the launch of Help to Buy, millions of Britons are still unable to get on the housing ladder. The ongoing costs of a high loan to value mortgage are too great a stretch on a modest income, however small the deposit. Among the under thirty fives on low to middle … Continued READ MORE
Labour market SeaTac: the small US town that sparked a new movement against low wages 23 February 2014 by Gavin Kelly Until the turn of the year, few Americans had much reason to have heard of SeaTac, a small community just outside Seattle. Those aware of the town’s existence knew it as a place that exists to serve the city’s bustling Seattle–Tacoma international airport. But SeaTac is now firmly on the map. Recent events there have … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Without sustained improvement in wages, the recovery may yet run out of road 19 February 2014 by Matthew Whittaker While the latest set of labour market statistics which came out this morning suggested a slowdown in the rate of improvement, they don’t disguise what continues to be a very strong period for UK employment. The number of people in work passed its pre-recession peak of 29.6 million in the summer of 2012; since then … Continued READ MORE
Living standards It’s too early to be pessimistic about boosting living standards 11 February 2014 by Gavin Kelly Things are likely to stop getting worse sometime soon, progress will then be painfully slow, and it’s going to be an awful long time before they get back to where they were before the crash. That’s the gist of a major new report on living standards by the Resolution Foundation, which will show that typical household incomes … Continued READ MORE
Welfare The case for looser childcare ratios rests on confusion 29 January 2014 by James Plunkett This blog originally appeared on the New Statesman The government claims to want to reduce costs and increase quality. It can’t have it both ways. This morning’s announcement on childcare ratios should be just the hors d’oeuvre before the government sets out its plans to increase childcare support for parents. According to the latest rumours, it now … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Careers and carers: would some stay-at-home mums prefer to work? 24 January 2014 by Vidhya Alakeson Camilla is 31. She has two children under five. She currently works five hours a week but she would prefer to work 16 hours. Like her, Rachel also has two children under five. She’s a stay at home mum but she would prefer to work full time. But for both Camilla and Rachel, childcare is … Continued READ MORE
Labour market These wage stats don’t tell us much about living standards 24 January 2014 by James Plunkett This morning the government released some interesting new stats on wages. It claims that 90 per cent of people saw their earnings rise in the year to April 2013. As I tweeted earlier this week, the data source that the government are using tells a more positive story about wages than the more regular earnings data that drives most … Continued READ MORE
Labour market The robots are coming. Will they bring wealth or a divided society? 6 January 2014 by Gavin Kelly Whether it’s our humdrum reliance on supermarket self-service tills, Siri on our iPhones, the emergence of the drone as a weapon of choice or the impending arrival of the driverless car, intelligent machines are woven into our lives as never before. It’s increasingly common, a cliche even, for us to read about the inexorable rise … Continued READ MORE
