Responding to the Government’s announcement on fuel duty today, Jonny Marshall, Principal Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “The best that can be said of today’s announcement is that the Chancellor’s has wisely ignored calls for an expensive blanket cancellation of the temporary 5p cut to fuel duty. “Nonetheless, even this modest extension will cost … Continued

CPI inflation surprised to the downside falling by half a percentage point to 2.8 per cent in April – having been 3.3 per cent in March – bringing inflation to its lowest level since March 2025 and putting the UK in the enviable position of being the only country in the G7 to see a … Continued

Commenting on the Interim Report of the Pensions Commission published today (Tuesday), Mike Brewer, Deputy Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “Auto-enrolment has transformed pension saving across Britain. But as this report shows, too many low and middle earners today still face the prospect of low incomes in retirement. “In fact, many lower income … Continued

The UK labour market entered the period of instability caused by the war in the Middle East in a weak place, with unemployment at 5 per cent, the volume of payrolled jobs falling and pay packets on the brink of shrinking in real terms again for the fourth time in less than two decades, the Resolution Foundation said today. The latest ONS data shows February’s fall in unemployment was a blip. A … Continued

The Government needs to reset its economic agenda against a bleak backdrop of weak growth, falling living standards, and high borrowing costs. This will require honesty about the scale of Britain’s problems, but a better outlook for living standards can be achieved with a ruthless prioritisation of growth, work and young people’s prospects, according to … Continued

Britain’s NEET crisis is being driven by a quartet of causes – rising ill-health, weak vocational education, a hands-off benefits system, and a weak labour market, and action on all four fronts is needed to get young people’s futures back on track, according to the Resolution Foundation today (Tuesday). Lost in transition notes that the … Continued

The UK borrowed £132 billion in the past financial year (2025-26), £20 billion below the £152 billion in borrowed in 2024-25, and £0.7 billion below the OBR’s March forecast. But conflict in the Middle East risks putting the brakes on the slow consolidation in the public finances apparent in today’s figures, the Resolution Foundation said … Continued

CPI inflation jumped to 3.3 per cent in March, up from 3.0 per cent in February – in line with market expectations – in the first sign of war-driven price rises feeding through to British households, the Resolution Foundation said today (Wednesday). The rise in March was largely driven by petrol prices, which have increased … Continued

A severe but plausible scenario, in which a deterioration in the Middle East conflict sustains some of the worst hits to the UK economy so far, could result in a £16 billion borrowing hit – massively reducing the Chancellor’s headroom against her fiscal rules, according to new Resolution Foundation research published today (Wednesday). With the … Continued

The pace of deterioration in the labour market has eased but it is still in far weaker shape than it was on the eve of the last energy price shock in 2022. This could offer a silver lining by limiting the risk of high inflation and need for interest rate rises, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the latest ONS labour market statistics. The … Continued

Responding to the latest Universal Credit data for March, Louise Murphy, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “The 13-year roll-out of Universal Credit is nearly complete, with over eight million now claiming the benefit, and around 15 million people living in families that receive it. “With the final phase of the roll-out focused on … Continued

Responding to the IMF World Economic Outlook today, Simon Pittaway, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “The IMF’s World Economic Outlook shows why British households are more vulnerable than their peers to the economic fallout from war in the Middle East. “In the run up to the conflict, the UK already had the highest level … Continued

Higher energy prices due to the conflict in the Middle East are set to deal a blow to British living standards, with market pricing suggesting that the median working-age household will be £480 worse off this year than they would have been if the conflict had not taken place, the Resolution Foundation said today (Monday). … Continued

Higher energy prices due to the conflict in the Middle East are set to deal a blow to British living standards, with market pricing suggesting that the median working-age household will be £480 worse off this year than they would have been if the conflict had not taken place, the Resolution Foundation said today (Monday). … Continued

The establishment of the Fair Work Agency is an important step towards better enforcement of employment rights, but to be a success it needs adequate powers and funding, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday). The Fair Work Agency (FWA) comes into existence today (7 April), the day after new provisions in the Employment Rights Act … Continued

Families in the bottom decile of the income distribution will be at the sharp end of the latest development in the cost of living crisis, and changes to energy and fuel prices alone could mean they experience a rate of inflation almost a percentage point higher than households in the top income decile by the … Continued

The latest twist in Britain’s declining birth rate has been the sharp rise in the number of non-graduate women in their mid-to-late-20s who do not yet have children, which has increased from a third (33 percent) in 2011 to over half (54 percent) by 2023, according to new Resolution Foundation analysis published today (Wednesday). With … Continued

A new targeted equity loan scheme could help up to a million priority first-time buyers – for whom getting on the property ladder would reduce their housing costs and raise their living standards in one fell swoop – according to new Resolution Foundation research published today (Thursday). Credit where credit’s due? examines who has lost … Continued

CPI inflation held steady at 3.0 per cent in February, but with soaring oil prices prompting the Bank of England to revise up its inflation forecast, this may be the last bit of good news on the cost of living for some time, the Resolution Foundation said today (Wednesday). Beneath the headline figure for last … Continued

The Chancellor is right to say that support for families struggling with high energy bills will be targeted at ‘those who need it the most’, rather than repeat the universal blank cheque approach of the past, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the Chancellor’s statement on energy bills. Recent Resolution Foundation research … Continued

A graduate who grew up in deep poverty will earn 5 per cent less – over £2,800 a year – than a more privileged peer working at the same firm with an equivalent degree a decade after graduation, highlighting the scarring effect of childhood poverty, according to new research published today (Tuesday) by the Resolution … Continued

A surprise fall in the single-month unemployment rate in January – down to 4.9 from 5.3 per cent in December – coupled with a third consecutive monthly rise in the number of payrolled jobs in February – offers a more positive view of the labour market ahead of the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday). The unemployment fall … Continued

Smart thinking on a new social tariff, rather than rushing to repeat wasteful and costly universal support, is needed if the Government is to deliver targeted support for families struggling with high energy bills this winter, according to new research published today (Wednesday) by the Resolution Foundation. While recent political attention has focused on support … Continued

Commenting on the newly announced package of support to tackle youth unemployment, Ruth Curtice, Chief Executive at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Rising youth unemployment is what’s driving up the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) in the UK today, so the Government is right to act now to try to get … Continued