Inequality & poverty· Wealth & assets The Child Trust Fund comes of age It presents a unique opportunity to learn about the difference that asset ownership can make 29 August 2020 by Gavin Kelly With little fanfare the UK is about to witness a mass experiment in the extension of access to capital. Other nations may have sovereign wealth funds, and some have experimented with universal basic incomes, but the UK is the first to create a citizen’s endowment for all young adults. From next week those turning eighteen … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Labour market Millions of furloughed workers have returned to work – but support for hard-hit sectors will be needed beyond October Analysing the HMRC Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme data 21 August 2020 by Nye Cominetti This morning, HMRC published its latest round of statistics on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS). For the first time, we have a time series of the number of furloughed workers, as opposed to the cumulative total, meaning we can see how use of the scheme has evolved since the start of April. Here are … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Welfare The UK should not weaken safety nets mid-storm As more workers are laid-off this autumn, the grim reality of meagre support will become clear 11 August 2020 by Gavin Kelly Resisting pressure to spend more on disadvantaged groups is seen as part of the job by battle-hardened officials in the UK Treasury. But stripping away benefit increases that have only just been introduced is rather different and doing so in the midst of an economic collapse would, to put it mildly, be something extraordinary. Yet … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Budgets & fiscal events· Economy and public finances Sunak’s crisis-fighting measures: time to scale up? The Chancellor’s policy announcements are generating wide discussion but are the sums commensurate with the depth of the downturn? 13 July 2020 by James Smith This week the Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled his “Summer Economic Update.” In case it’s not clear, this wasn’t technically a Budget. That said, it still contained more policy than all but three of the fiscal events we’ve had since the onset of the financial crisis more than a decade ago. So, it was a big … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Labour market Any further questions? From 'The Full Monty: Facing up to the scale of the COVID-19 jobs crisis' 29 June 2020 by Hannah Slaughter We often have more questions submitted for our event Q&A sessions than we’re able to answer. Where this is the case, we’ll endeavour to respond to a selection of the most interesting or most representative questions that went unanswered. The questions below were submitted to our panel for the event The Full Monty: Facing up … Continued READ MORE
Ventures Introducing Resolution Ventures How we're using social investment to complement our policy and analytical work 23 June 2020 by Louise Marston An introduction from our Director of Ventures Today the Resolution Foundation launches a whole new section of our website: Resolution Ventures. Here we will be talking about the social investment and ventures work of the Foundation. In 2017 the Resolution Trust started running a pilot social investment programme in workertech, in partnership with Accenture and … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Wealth & assets Any further questions? From 'Weathering the storm: How wealth shapes the ability of families to face this economic crisis' 22 June 2020 by George Bangham We often have more questions submitted for our event Q&A sessions than we’re able to answer. Where this is the case, we’ll endeavour to respond to a selection of the most interesting or most representative questions that went unanswered. The questions below were submitted to our panel for the event Weathering the storm: How wealth … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Low pay· Pay Any further questions? From 'From loud claps to hard cash A new settlement for Britain’s low-paid workers' 3 June 2020 by Nye Cominetti We often have more questions submitted for our event Q&A sessions than we’re able to answer. Where this is the case, we’ll endeavour to respond to a selection of the most interesting or most representative questions that went unanswered. The questions below were submitted to our panel for the event From loud claps to hard … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19 Any further questions? From The safety net in action? Universal Credit’s role in the crisis and the recovery 28 May 2020 by Mike Brewer and Karl Handscomb We often have more questions submitted for our event Q&A sessions than we’re able to answer. Where this is the case, we’ll endeavour to respond to a selection of the most interesting or most representative questions that went unanswered. The questions below were submitted to our panel for the event The safety net in action? … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Labour market Three big decisions for the Chancellor on the future of the Job Retention Scheme 28 May 2020 by Daniel Tomlinson The Chancellor will be announcing details for ‘Phase 2’ of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS) later today or tomorrow. With 8.4 million jobs furloughed – one-third of all private sector employees – any changes to the JRS will have a big impact both on the scale of the unemployment crisis and on the speed … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Labour market Five things we’ve learned from today’s labour market data 19 May 2020 by Hannah Slaughter and Nye Cominetti This morning the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the first major set of labour market data that covers the lockdown period, with data from April on vacancies, claimant unemployment, and employee jobs. Of course, the scale of the crisis has been clear for some time in other data – including Universal Credit claims and … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Skills Any further questions? From the event 'The corona class of 2020: How to support young people leaving education amid the crisis' 12 May 2020 by Kathleen Henehan We often have more questions submitted for our event Q&A sessions than we’re able to answer. Where this is the case, we’ll endeavour to respond to a selection of the most interesting or most representative questions that went unanswered. The questions below were submitted to our panel for the event The corona class of 2020: … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19 Churchill, the crisis and a better deal for Britain’s low paid If we are to have a Churchillian response to the crisis, let’s have the right one 6 May 2020 by Gavin Kelly It was inevitable, perhaps, that the current crisis would result in daily nods to our foremost leader during a time of national crisis. Mr Johnson, a biographer of Churchill, was always going to succumb. And during the PM’s illness a range of lesser known politicians reached for Churchill as they strained to rise to the … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Housing Government has further to go to protect livelihoods during this crisis Steps taken by the government to protect individuals and the wider economy are welcome, but gaps remain 8 April 2020 by Daniel Tomlinson This downturn is very different from the last. The 2008 crisis originated in the financial services sector, rippling out to the rest of the economy and leading to an increase in unemployment of just over one million between 2008 and 2011. This time is different. The UK, and much of the world, is about to … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Pensions & savings· Wealth & assets In this coronavirus crisis, do families have enough savings to make ends meet? 3 April 2020 by George Bangham In Britain two crises are unfolding in parallel, while policy makers strive to keep count. On the first – the public health crisis – they are all too aware how many people are losing their lives due to the virus. On the second crisis – the economic one – the data is more limited, whether … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Labour market Unprecedented support for employees’ wages last week has been followed up by equally significant, and even more generous, support for the self-employed. But gaps remain 27 March 2020 by Torsten Bell and Mike Brewer and Laura Gardiner and Karl Handscomb and Daniel Tomlinson Yesterday, the Chancellor announced that last week’s pledge to underwrite 80 per cent of the wages of employees without work to do during this crisis is being matched with significant grants to the self-employed. This is an important addition to existing plans to support employees, and in many ways a more generous offer. The Self-Employed … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Living standards· Incomes· Inequality & poverty New data shows households were struggling even before coronavirus 26 March 2020 by Adam Corlett Today we got the best data yet on the state of Britain’s household finances going into the present crisis, and – given that the impact of this shutdown and recession will be unequally felt – it was important that we also got more information on how particular groups were faring. Neither perspective is reassuring. There was no growth in typical incomes between 2016-17 and 2018-19 The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)’s new, detailed household … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Incomes· Living standards· Prices & consumption Family spending before the coronavirus crisis helps us to understand its potential impact 23 March 2020 by Fahmida Rahman Last week the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published its annual rundown of how UK households spent their money. These statistics provide the most detailed and direct insight into current living standards, and with a coronavirus-driven economic crisis in the making, they also give us a guide as to how we might expect things to … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Incomes· Living standards· Labour market· Welfare Key take-aways from the Chancellor’s package of measures to support workers in the coronavirus crisis 22 March 2020 by Mike Brewer and Laura Gardiner The Chancellor’s announcements on Friday 20 March were unprecedented in their scale and reach, and absolutely vital for supporting firms and family incomes in the face of the current crisis. Here are five key take-aways on how these changes will affect families, and three next steps for the Government to consider. 1. At a … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19 An unprecedented but essential pledge to underwrite wages and strengthen the safety net 20 March 2020 by Torsten Bell Today, the Chancellor announced a hugely welcome and unprecedented pledge to pay 80 per cent of the wages of employees without work to do in struggling firms – a crucial step change in the government’s economic response to the current crisis. The Chancellors intervention was profound but necessary, as the current crisis is causing a … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Welfare Coronavirus and the benefits system: What support is available? 9 March 2020 by Karl Handscomb With the continuing increase in coronavirus cases, much of the current debate has rightly focused on Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). The Government’s announcement to extend SSP to day one of absence is welcome, but low earners and the self-employed are not entitled to SSP. This poses a challenge for protecting family incomes from the spread … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Living standards· Inequality & poverty Charting the UK’s lost decade of income growth 5 March 2020 by Adam Corlett Unlike with employment or GDP, detailed data on disposable household incomes comes with a long lag. So today the ONS released its main household income results for 2018-19. There will be more data to come in future (including poverty numbers later this month), but what we’ve learned today is not reassuring about post-referendum living standards. … Continued READ MORE
Skills Is the government’s apprenticeships strategy set to change? Changing policy context could prove welcome if it means focusing Levy funds on the people that really need Apprenticeships 2 March 2020 by Kathleen Henehan While the latest data on apprenticeship starts don’t show much change on previous months – down on recent years, with the number going to older apprentices at higher levels of study is up – the backdrop to apprenticeships has changed. For a start, we have a new Minister of State for Apprenticeships and Skills, who … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Pay A record-breaking labour market – but not all records are welcome 18 February 2020 by Nye Cominetti This morning’s labour market statistics broke records left and right. Mostly this was good news, with a new high on the employment rate and a (belated) return to peak pay. But as Linford Christie famously said, if you want to be a record breaker … it’s a good idea to look at the full range … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Skills The new government needs to focus on the alarming fall in apprenticeship starts 3 February 2020 by Kathleen Henehan With a new year, a new-ish government and the country soon to (officially) exit the European Union, there’s hope that policy makers will renew their focus on domestic concerns. And given the figures published today (Thursday) showing an alarming fall in apprenticeship starts – a greater focus on this issue would be a good place … Continued READ MORE
