Labour market· Pay Is today’s minimum wage rise the calm before the storm? 1 October 2015 by Conor D’Arcy It’s a cliché but if a week is a long time in politics, the seven months since the announcement of today’s increase in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) feels like an eternity. Back in March, the announcement that the minimum wage would rise by 20p to £6.70 an hour felt a little cautious given it … Continued READ MORE
Pay· Living Wage Lidl’s welcome announcement shows that employers can do things differently 18 September 2015 by Conor D’Arcy The past few months have seen some big wins for low-paid workers. This morning’s welcome announcement that Lidl will pay all their staff the Living Wage comes soon after IKEA pledged to do the same and the Chancellor’s major announcement in the Summer Budget of the ‘National Living Wage’. But as well as these positive … Continued READ MORE
Pay When it comes to the ‘National Living Wage’ being introduced to the world, it’s time for some responsible parenting 15 September 2015 by Torsten Bell The Chancellor’s introduction of a higher minimum wage – the ‘National Living Wage’ – is a policy with competitive claims to its parentage. Announced by a Government, advocated by the official opposition, and prefigured by work from a range of experts including the Resolution Foundation. From all these and more it’s now time for some … Continued READ MORE
Low pay· Pay· Living Wage The national living wage alone is not enough 15 September 2015 by Adam Corlett A pay rise for six million people sounds great but the new national living wage is a policy that that cannot stand in isolation. The National Living Wage is set to bring much-needed pay rises – but it can’t solve our living standards challenge alone. After an unprecedented six-year pay squeeze, wage levels have finally started … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Productivity & industrial strategy· Economic growth Who will reap the gains of the recovery? 14 September 2015 by Gavin Kelly Poor productivity is only one part of the post-millennial wage disappointment story The productivity crisis of the last few years is far from over but economic recovery is now well-established and there are at least a few flickers of life in the official data on output per hour. The widely shared assumption, often unspoken, is … Continued READ MORE
Pay Who gains from the new National Living Wage? 3 September 2015 by Conor D’Arcy The ‘National Living Wage’ – a top-up to the minimum wage for workers aged 25 and over – was the rabbit pulled from the Chancellor’s Red Box at the Summer Budget back in July. But beyond the healine figures published alongside it, it was hard to be sure who the main beneficiaries would be. A … Continued READ MORE
Labour market The rise and rise (?) of zero hours contracts 2 September 2015 by Laura Gardiner For many, zero hours contracts (ZHCs) are emblematic of the UK’s labour market experience during the financial crash, contributing to stronger-than-expected employment figures but also symbolising rising job insecurity. But with the economic recovery now gaining ground, the key question has been whether they’d fade away or remain as a permanent feature of the labour … Continued READ MORE
Labour market The importance of digging beneath the headline measure on employment 11 August 2015 by Adam Corlett It may have reversed very slightly in recent months, but the strong employment growth recorded over the last year or two in the UK remains little short of remarkable. The number of people in work topped 31 million in March, establishing a headline employment rate of 73.5 per cent – both historic highs. If not … Continued READ MORE
On borrowed time? The need to make the most of the ‘window of opportunity’ provided by low interest rates 4 August 2015 by Matthew Whittaker More than six years after the Bank of England’s base rate was cut to 0.5 per cent, interest rate rises finally appear to be back on the agenda. There may be good reasons for thinking that modest and gradual action will soon become appropriate, but the debt overhang associated with the pre-crisis credit boom continues … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances· Macroeconomic policy What impact will prolonged austerity have on interest rates? 3 August 2015 by Gavin Kelly Time to shine a light on how fiscal and monetary policy interact With prominent members of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) – not least the Governor – lining up in recent weeks to talk up the prospect of rate rises at some point in the coming months, we can expect next week’s … Continued READ MORE
Social care· Low pay· Pay Budgeting for the National Living Wage in the social care sector 13 July 2015 by Laura Gardiner The centrepiece of the 2015 Summer Budget – the National Living Wage (NLW) ‘premium’ on the minimum wage for those aged 25 and over – has been rightly welcomed by many as delivering a pay rise to millions of Britain’s low paid workers. However, as with the debate around each annual increase in the National … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Low pay· Welfare Raising low pay is welcome. But we should still fear the forces hurting family incomes 12 July 2015 by Gavin Kelly George Osborne’s audacious unveiling of what he termed the “national living wage” dominated the budget coverage and succeeded in delighting, outraging and confusing in almost equal measure. Low-pay campaigners were certainly buoyed, just as some business leaders were appalled at what they viewed as a Milibandesque intrusion into pay-setting. Many others were left puzzling over … Continued READ MORE
Tax It’s time to talk about tax relief – how more accountability on tax expenditure could help ease the welfare squeeze 7 July 2015 by Gavin Kelly As the Budget approaches we await the details of deep cuts in welfare spending, but the fact that they are coming is beyond doubt. With the main tax rises having been blocked off, and public services already facing a faster pace of cuts than in the last parliament, every sinew is being strained in the … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Welfare Will wages fill the tax credit gap? Don’t Budget for it 6 July 2015 by Gavin Kelly Recent high-profile converts are bringing headlines and new vim to the debate on working poverty. Good. But with this comes a cacophony of confusion about the National Minimum Wage (NMW), Living Wage, the role of tax credits and the likelihood that a recovery in earnings will compensate for cuts to in-work support. And this risks … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Tax The Tax-Free Minimum Wage – a gimmick or a real giveaway? 3 July 2015 by Conor D’Arcy and Adam Corlett Amid the flurry of pre-election pledges made by each party, the Conservatives’ ‘Tax-Free Minimum Wage’ attracted a curious mix of attention. The policy – which will ensure that those working 30 hours a week or fewer on the minimum wage do not pay income tax – received widespread media coverage, but much of it described … Continued READ MORE
Inequality & poverty· Welfare Could Universal Credit hold the key to reducing child poverty? 25 June 2015 by David Finch We discovered this morning that the proportion of children living in relative poverty is at its lowest level since the 1980s. Great news of course, but this headline masks a much more complicated – and worrying – picture. Falls in this headline poverty measure – which captures those children living in households with incomes less … Continued READ MORE
Pay Much like the British summer, make the most of the earnings boom while it lasts 15 June 2015 by Laura Gardiner and Adam Corlett Ahead of the summer budget early next month, the Chancellor may be hoping for some positive headlines in the employment statistics due on Wednesday. When it comes to earnings, he’s sure to be rewarded. Our analysis suggests that real regular pay will top 2.5 per cent year-on-year growth in this week’s numbers (covering the three … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Welfare Assessing the proposal to cut £5 billion from Child Tax Credit 14 June 2015 by David Finch Last week, the BBC reported that the government was contemplating a major reduction in Child Tax Credit, in order to go part way towards meeting the £12 billion in working age welfare benefit cuts that it has committed to finding by 2017/18. The report suggested that the government was considering reducing the value of the … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Credit where it’s due? How to reform and make the most out of Universal Credit 8 June 2015 by Gavin Kelly There are some issues where a little bit of knowledge, and a lot of bluster, are all that’s needed for a politician – whether government or opposition – to get through a standard media grilling. Universal Credit (UC), the government’s flagship and troubled welfare reform that integrates six separate welfare benefits, is a case in … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Why Britain is no longer in America’s shadow on employment 5 June 2015 by Adam Corlett The US approach to working-age welfare may come in for criticism in some quarters for failing to offer much support to those who fall out of work, but at least it delivers strong employment outcomes. Not like in the UK of course. While not quite as generous as some of our European neighbours, out-of-work welfare … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Labour market The View That Britain Should Be Learning Lessons From the US Labour Market Is Long Past Its Sell-By Date 5 June 2015 by Gavin Kelly Political debates about key policy challenges often tend to idealise – and bastardise – the experience of other countries. Whether it is Finnish schools, Swedish childcare, German vocational training, Danish ‘flexicurity’, Israeli entrepreneurship or Dutch pensions, there are places that we are supposed to look to for inspiration. Usually these views are rooted in some … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances How much wriggle room will the Chancellor have in the July Budget? 22 May 2015 by Gavin Kelly After the flow of easy pre-election promises, here come the hard choices of government. As George Osborne approaches his ‘emergency Budget’ attention will turn to what room for manoeuvre he really has given all the commitments that have been made. How will it all add up and is there a version of austerity that might … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances How tightly has the Chancellor tied his own hands on fiscal policy? 22 May 2015 by Adam Corlett Having secured a majority on 7 May, the Conservatives must now set about the difficult job of delivering on their various pre-election pledges. In relation to fiscal consolidation in particular, they can no longer point to the demands of a junior coalition partner as cause for rowing back on any of the harder to execute … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Inequality & poverty How do we tackle Britain’s huge, shifting poverty challenge? 20 May 2015 by Conor D’Arcy UK poverty rates have been falling relatively steadily since the start of the 1990s. Policy changes have led to particularly significant reductions among pensioners and children. But much less progress has been made among adults without children; and current projections suggest that many of the improvements of recent decades will go into reverse over the … Continued READ MORE
Pay Is a pay boom coming and if not, why not? 14 May 2015 by Laura Gardiner Rarely has the trope that a week is a long time in politics rung truer. But yesterday we learned that an hour is a long time in economics. The latest employment statistics are unambiguously encouraging. Employment rose and unemployment fell, strengthening trends in place over the past couple of years. Perhaps more significantly, rising nominal … Continued READ MORE
