The number of furloughed workers has almost halved from its early May peak of 8.9 million to 4.8 million in late July, but hard-hit sectors like hospitality and leisure are still hugely reliant on the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) that is due to end in just six weeks’ time, the Resolution Foundation said today (Friday) … Continued

Unemployment rose sharply even before the start of the winding down of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS) from August, with young people at the centre of Britain’s mounting jobs crisis, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the latest ONS data. The headline unemployment picked up in the three months to July … Continued

Commenting on the latest GDP figures for July published today (Friday), which shows that month-on-month growth was 6.6 per cent, but that monthly GDP was still 11.7 per cent down on pre-pandemic levels, James Smith Research Director at the Resolution Foundation, said: “The UK economy continued to rebound over the Summer as lockdown restrictions eased. … Continued

Commenting on the Treasury Committee’s second interim report of its inquiry into the Economic Impact of Coronavirus, which sets a wide range policy recommendations for the Chancellor ahead of his upcoming Budget, Torsten Bell, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “This authoritative account of the economic impact of coronavirus should be required reading for … Continued

The £71.5 billion worth of crisis income support this year, delivered via the Job Retention Scheme (JRS), Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and boost to Universal Credit (UC), has been evenly shared across generations, with workers in their early 30s and late 40s receiving the most support of all, according to new research published today … Continued

Commenting on the Government announcement today (Thursday) that it will pay £13 a day to workers losing earnings because they are asked to self-isolate in high Covid-risk areas if they are already in receipt of Working Tax Credit and Universal Credit, Karl Handscomb, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Today’s announcement is a welcome … Continued

Despite the economy growing by 8.7 per cent in June, far and away the largest monthly rise on record, the 22.2 per cent fall for the first half of the year as a whole (-20.4 per cent for Q2 on its own) is by far the weakest for any six-month period on record, and is … Continued

Hopes that the labour market would bounce-back in July in response to the lifting of lockdown restrictions are dampened by the further loss of 114,000 people from payrolls last month, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the latest ONS labour market statistics.  Today’s data shows a mixed picture as the recovery enters a new phase. Hiring has restarted from a near stop earlier in … Continued

Although the Bank of England today upgraded its forecasts for GDP significantly, its projections still suggest the UK has experienced one of the largest economic hits among rich countries, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday) in response to the Bank’s Monetary Policy Report. The Bank notes that in its central case – in which a … Continued

Widespread reports that nine million workers are currently furloughed are wide of the mark, with over half of such workers already likely to have returned to work, according to new Resolution Foundation research published to coincide with the beginning of the phase-out of the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) today (Saturday). Today marks a big shift … Continued

Gender differences in the amount of paid and unpaid work people do have shrunk over the past four decades, while the gap between low- and high-income households has grown to create a new ‘working time inequality’, according to a major new report published today (Tuesday) by the Resolution Foundation. The time of our lives, supported … Continued

Commenting on the Chancellor’s Autumn Spending Review announcement today, Torsten Bell, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “The Chancellor has today set out what looks like a technical announcement about the process for the Autumn Spending Review. But what he has really done is give himself more flexibility to reduce the size of public … Continued

Commenting on the latest public sector finances, which showed that the Government borrowed £127.9 billion between April and June this year – in one quarter more than twice the level of borrowing over the whole of the previous year – Charlie McCurdy, Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “This crisis is continuing to take its … Continued

The covid-induced crisis has caused typical working-age household incomes to fall 4.5 per cent between the pre-crisis period and May this year, despite the critical policy support that has cushioned the shock for millions of households, according to the Resolution Foundation’s Living Standards Audit published today (Tuesday). The Living Standards Audit 2020 considers the position … Continued

The deep impact of lockdown restrictions eased slightly in May as some employees returned from furlough and self-employed workers increased their hours. But the true scale of Britain’s jobs crisis won’t be known until the Government’s Job Retention Scheme is phased out in the months ahead, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday) in response to … Continued

The UK’s headline unemployment measure is significantly understating the recent rise in joblessness, while the often-used claimant count measure is hugely overstating the increase, according to a new Resolution Foundation report published today (Thursday). With changes to people’s employment status arguably the most important indicator of the state of the economy for most households, The … Continued

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) latest outlook points to the biggest economic contraction in 300 years and unemployment matching its 1980s peak, highlighting the Chancellor’s gamble in not taking a bolder approach to tackling Britain’s jobs crisis, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday). In three scenarios for the length of the crisis and the … Continued

Commenting on the ONS GDP data for May 2020, which showed that the economy grew by 1.8 per cent between April and May (the largest monthly increase in over seven years), but is still down 24.5 per cent on February 2020, James Smith, Research Director of the Resolution Foundation, said: “Today’s data tells us that … Continued

The Chancellor’s Summer Statement was a Budget in-all-but-name, with £30 billion of tax cuts and spending commitments rightly focused on jobs and some, but not all, of the hardest-hit sectors, the Resolution Foundation said today (Wednesday). While significant, the new policies only amount to a 20 per cent increase in the size of the Government’s … Continued

Commenting on the Government’s announcement of a new Kickstart Scheme to help young people into work, Kathleen Henehan, Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Young people have been hit hardest by Britain’s growing jobs crisis, with three-in-ten 18-24 year olds furloughed, and one-in-ten already having lost their jobs. So, action to keep youth unemployment down … Continued

A £200bn economic recovery plan is needed from the Chancellor tomorrow to reflect the unprecedented scale and nature of the crisis Britain faces, and the lack of monetary policy firepower available to support the economy, according to a major new report published today (Tuesday) by the Resolution Foundation. Easing does it makes a comprehensive assessment … Continued

New Resolution Foundation research published this Tuesday will call on the Chancellor to give every household in Britain High Street Vouchers worth £500 per adult and £250 per child, in order to kickstart the economic recovery by focusing support on the firms and workers hardest hit by the covid-induced economic crisis. The proposal, which forms … Continued

The pandemic has exposed a huge generational divide in living conditions across Britain, with young people locked down with half the space and three times the risk of damp than older age groups, while renters have seen their mental health deteriorate, according to new Resolution Foundation research published today (Friday). Lockdown Living, funded by the … Continued