Publications The bare necessities Unpacking the rising cost of essentials for low-to-middle income Britain 30 June 2025 by Simon Pittaway and Lalitha Try This briefing note examines how prices have changed over time in three key areas of spending: energy, food and transport. We also propose policy changes that can make essential costs… Continue Reading
Publications The Living Standards Outlook 2025 26 June 2025 by Adam Corlett This is our seventh annual Living Standards Outlook. It looks at how incomes have fared over the decade so far and what may lie ahead for different groups, given current… Continue Reading
Events The price is tight How are the cost of essentials affecting low-to-middle-income families across Britain? Monday 30 June 2025 Disposable incomes have been squeezed in recent decades – especially for poorer households. And in recent years the cost of living crisis has hit the cost of essentials particularly hard… Continue Reading
Events Stormy clouds or brighter horizons? The UK’s uncertain outlook for living standards Thursday 26 June 2025 The effects of Covid-19 and double-digit inflation may have faded, but the cost of living remains a top concern for families. Recent tax increases, coupled with rising utility bills and… Continue Reading
Publications Renew and improve Setting up the Household Support Fund for the future 22 May 2025 by Alex Clegg and Ruth Patrick and Jed Meers and Mike Brewer and Uisce Jordan and Millie Light and Rhiannon Simms and Hayley Bennett and Beth Watts-Cobbe and Joe Pardoe This briefing note, part of the Safety Nets project, assesses how the Household Support Fund could be improved in a longer-term settlement, through analysis of administrative data and interviews with… Continue Reading
Publications No workaround Assessing the impact of the Spring 2025 disability and incapacity benefit reforms on employment 20 May 2025 by Louise Murphy and Greg Thwaites In March, the Government released its Pathways to Work Green Paper, setting out a package of welfare reforms that amounted to a net reduction in spending of £4.8 billion in… Continue Reading
Publications At your service? Why the 2025 Spending Review must reckon with the distribution of public service use 9 April 2025 by Camron Aref-Adib and Emily Fry and Zachary Leather Post-Covid, the British state is estimated to have reached a historic high of 45 per cent of the size of the economy. Past strategies to cope with increasing pressure on… Continue Reading
Events Turning up the heat How to quicken Britain’s heat pumps roll-out and hit our net zero targets Thursday 10 April 2025 Our homes are now the second biggest contributor the UK’s carbon footprint, and efforts to address this rely on the widespread replacement of gas boilers with electric heat pumps. But… Continue Reading
