A net zero investment plan that leverages the UK’s existing economic strengths could help to drive growth and ‘level up’ the country as the benefits would be concentrated in lower-productivity areas of the UK outside London and the South East, according to new research from the LSE and Resolution Foundation published today (Monday). Growing clean … Continued

The gap in the inflation experienced by the richest and poorest tenth of households grew to 1.5 percentage points in April – the largest gap since records began in 2006 – illustrating why low-income families are at the heart of the UK’s cost of living crisis. The new analysis comes off the back of the … Continued

CPI inflation hit 9 per cent last month, its highest rate in four decades, while RF analysis estimates that inflation for the poorest households was higher still at 10.2 per cent, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the latest ONS prices statistics. CPI Inflation rose by 2 percentage points between March and … Continued

A tightening labour market and an increasingly mobile workforce is driving up bonuses to hire and retain staff, but the wage squeeze for the wider workforce continues to deepen off the back of rising inflation, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the latest labour market statistics. The UK labour market continues to … Continued

ONS GDP data published today (Thursday) show the economy contracted by 0.1 per cent in March with growth in Q1 as a whole coming in at 0.8 per cent, down from 1.3 per cent in Q4. The fall was driven by consumer-facing services, which fell by 1.8 per cent in March, with retail and car … Continued

Higher earners are more fearful of moving or losing jobs than low-earners, due to worries about getting less pay and flexibility when they find new jobs, while low-earners often see little benefit from upending the status quo, according to new research published today (Wednesday) by the Resolution Foundation. Listen Up – the 18th report for … Continued

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has opted to raise interest rates at its fourth successive meeting – the first time it has done this since becoming independent 25 years ago – and marked up the scale of Britain’s cost of living crisis by forecasting double-digit inflation and a £1,200 income squeeze, the Resolution … Continued

Expected increases in the frequency and severity of flood events – a consequence of climate change – will hit poorer families hardest due to their lack of insurance cover, according to new research published today (Saturday) by the Resolution Foundation. The Foundation’s quarterly Housing Outlook notes that it is neighbourhoods with middling levels of deprivation … Continued

The misplaced view that our economic competitiveness is narrowly built on banking, and that it should be based on manufacturing, distracts from building on our advantages in a wider range of industries – including the arts, biomedical sciences, and intellectual property – and overcoming the inequality challenges they can pose, according to new research published … Continued

Today’s public finance data release gives the first estimate of borrowing in the second year affected by the pandemic. At £151.8 billion, borrowing in 2021-22 is estimated to be less than half that in 2020-21, and more than £80 billion lower than feared at the height of the pandemic, but it is still the third … Continued

Responding to today’s ONS Cost of Living release, Jack Leslie, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Today’s ONS release shows that the cost of living crisis is already hitting UK families hard, with over four out of five adults already reporting an increase in their living costs between February and March 2022, and over … Continued

The latest ONS inflation data for March published today (Wednesday) saw CPIH inflation rise to 6.2 per cent, and CPI inflation rise to 7.0 per cent. This is not only the highest rate of inflation consumers have faced in 30 years, it is also the fastest inflation has picked up over the course of a … Continued

Real average weekly pay packets fell by 1.3 per cent in February, with a far deeper squeeze coming in the months ahead, despite the jobs market continuing to tighten and last year’s furlough flattering the headline pay data, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday) in response to the latest ONS labour market statistics. The UK … Continued

A tight labour market has driven underlying nominal wage growth back up, but not beyond, pre-pandemic levels according to new Resolution Foundation research published today (Saturday) that highlights the role of ending furlough in boosting headline pay growth figures. Labour Market Outlook Q1 2022 examines how strong nominal wage growth statistics should be interpreted. Despite … Continued

The number of English households in ‘fuel stress’ will double from 2.5 to 5 million as a result of the price cap rising from today (Friday), with another 2.5 million households at risk in October if the price cap rises again to £2,500, according to new Resolution Foundation briefing. Stressed Out shows that low-income households … Continued

The Chancellor’s emergency Covid support helped to protect household incomes and reduced both absolute and relative poverty during the first 12 months of the pandemic, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday) in the response to the DWP’s latest Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics for the financial year 2020-21. The latest HBAI data, which covers … Continued

In his Spring Statement, the Chancellor promised to support families through the cost of living crisis today, and to cut their taxes in the future. But his failure to deliver on both of these means that absolute poverty is expected to rise by 1.3 million people next year, while only one-in-eight workers will see actually … Continued

In the face of the tightest income squeeze on record, the Chancellor has provided a significant but poorly targeted package of support, the Resolution Foundation said today (Wednesday) in response to the Spring Statement 2022. Rising inflation is forecast to make the year ahead very difficult for family finances. Real household income per person is … Continued

Commenting on the latest ONS Prices data, which showed that CPI inflation increased by 6.2 per cent in February, up from 5.5 per cent in January, while CPIH increased by 5.5 per cent, Jack Leslie, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Another sharp rise in inflation last month offers a foretaste of the huge … Continued

Commenting on the latest ONS public sector finances for February published this morning, James Smith, Research Director at the Resolution Foundation, said: “The Chancellor will approach the UK’s latest crisis – the tightest income squeeze in generations, exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine – with the public finances in better shape than expected, increasing … Continued

Uprating benefits by a further five percentage points so that they keep pace with inflation over the coming year would be the most effective way to support families hardest hit by Britain’s cost of living crisis, delivering four times more support to the bottom half of the income distribution per pound spent than scrapping the … Continued

A tight labour market has seen unemployment fall close to a record low, but surging inflation means that Britain’s ongoing real pay squeeze is getting deeper, particularly for low earners, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the latest ONS labour market statistics. The latest ONS data depict the benefits of a tight … Continued

Rising food and energy prices risk driving a second inflation spike this autumn that could reach over ten per cent for poorer households – significantly higher than the peak for richer households – requiring the Chancellor to focus support in his upcoming Spring Statement on low-and-middle-income families hardest hit by the cost of living crisis, … Continued

The conflict in Ukraine is forecast to further push up energy prices and wider inflation (to over 8 per cent this Spring), causing typical household incomes across Britain to fall by 4 per cent in the coming financial year (2022-23), the sharpest fall since the mid-1970s, according to the Resolution Foundation’s annual Living Standards Outlook … Continued

Soaring energy costs will lay bare Britain’s longstanding failure to better insulate its housing stock, with families living in EPC E-rated or worse homes set to face annual heating bills at least £320 higher than those living in EPC C-rated homes when the price cap jumps in April, with the total cost at £3.9 billion, … Continued