People choose to work part-time for a number of reasons, many of them positive, but lower living standards, limited progression, and underemployment are key areas for concern, with the concentration of low hours work among lower earners amounting to a ‘part-time work divide’ between rich and poor households, according to new research published today (Wednesday) … Continued

The Ofgem announcement today (Thursday) that the annual energy bill of a typical household would have risen to £4,279 between January and March 2023, were prices not capped by the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), means that supporting all households with energy bills over these three months will cost £16 billion, according to Resolution Foundation … Continued

The unique combination of the ending of Covid restrictions, coupled with bespoke schemes for Ukrainians, Afghans and Hong Kong residents, have seen net migration hit a record high of 504,000 in the 12 months to June 2022, despite net migration from the EU actually falling, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday) in response to the … Continued

The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement has piled further pressure on ‘the squeezed middle’, with personal tax rises announced during the parliament set to deliver a permanent 3.7 per cent income hit to typical households, the Resolution Foundation said today (Friday) in its overnight analysis of the Autumn Statement 2022. Key findings from the Foundation’s overnight analysis … Continued

The Chancellor has responded to a grim economic outlook with renewed energy support next year and a backloaded fiscal tightening, combining huge stealth tax rises with far less concrete spending cuts, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday). The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts combine an energy shock driven recession – unemployment is set to … Continued

A jump in energy costs, despite the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), and rising food prices, which rose by 16.4 per cent (the biggest annual increase since 1977), pushed CPI inflation to 11.1 per cent in October, and 12.5 per cent for low-income households, the Resolution Foundation said today (Wednesday) in response to the latest ONS … Continued

Press release from the Resolution Foundation Tuesday 15th November 2022 – For immediate release   The UK’s tight labour market has seen the gap between public and private sector pay growth increase to its widest level ever outside of the pandemic period, and public sector vacancies reach a record high – posing delivery challenges to … Continued

Older people will spend a higher share of their income on energy bills this winter than other age groups – with the over-75s expected to spend 8 per cent of their total household income on bills, even with significant government support – but younger households are most at risk of being unable to pay bills … Continued

The UK economy shrank by 0.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2022, setting Britain on course for the quickest return to recession since 1975 and offering sobering backdrop to the Autumn Statement next week, the Resolution Foundation said today (Friday). While a smaller fall than markets expected, the latest contraction was widespread, with … Continued

Fears about robots taking people’s jobs are overplayed, as their negative impacts on some people’s pay and jobs have been offset by gains elsewhere, and the real fear to overcome should be Britain’s lack of productivity-enhancing robots, software, AI and other technologies, according to new Resolution Foundation and LSE research published today (Thursday). Adopt, adapt … Continued

Recent first-time buyers will be hit hard by surging interest rates, with their lifetime interest costs more than doubling over the past five years and their total lifetime costs reaching record highs, although coming house price falls will offer some respite to the next generation of homeowners, according to new Resolution Foundation analysis. With the … Continued

The Bank of England has forecast a prolonged recession and a deep income squeeze next year, as it scaled back expectations of future interest rate rises despite raising interest rates by 75 basis points to 3 per cent today (Thursday), the Resolution Foundation said. The Monetary Policy Committee voted to raise Bank Rate by 75 … Continued

A deteriorating economic outlook and the legacy of Trussonomics has left Rishi Sunak’s Government on course to announce a fiscal tightening of at least £40 billion which is likely to require tax rises, not just spending cuts, according to new analysis published today (Tuesday) by the Resolution Foundation ahead of the Autumn Statement on 17th … Continued

CPI inflation increased by 10.1 per cent in September – driven by surging food prices – which should prompt a significant increase in benefits next April that will help to support families through the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, the Resolution Foundation said today (Wednesday). The Foundation notes that inflation in September was driven by rising food … Continued

The new Chancellor has reversed 60 per cent of the mini-Budget’s tax cuts and committed to scale back energy bill support next year in order to reduce the pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates, and on the Treasury to cut public spending, the Resolution Foundation said today (Monday). The Foundation notes … Continued

Over five million families are set to see their annual mortgage payments rise by an average of £5,100 between now and the end of 2024 – with £1,200 of that reflecting higher expectations of interest rate rises since the ‘mini-budget’ – according to new analysis published today (Saturday) by the Resolution Foundation. With the UK’s … Continued

Today’s dramatic mini-Budget reversal, in which the Prime Minister sacked her Chancellor and re-instated the previous Chancellor’s plans to increase corporation tax from 19 to 25 per cent, means that 45 per cent of the tax cuts announced on 27 September have now been abandoned, the Resolution Foundation said today (Friday). However, the combination of … Continued

Uprating benefits in line with earnings next year could save £3 billion but would set the typical incomes of the poorest fifth of working-age families back to levels not seen since 2000-01, according to new analysis published today (Thursday) by the Resolution Foundation. With the Government considering various ways of reducing the deficit in the … Continued

A tight labour market has seen pay growth strengthen and unemployment fall to a near-50-year-low. But the workforce continues to shrink, driven by economic inactivity due to long-term ill-health rising to a record 2.49 million, highlighting the dilemma facing policy makers, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the latest ONS labour market … Continued

A huge increase in the number of working-age people with a disability (up 2.3 million over the past decade), coupled with rising employment rates among disabled people, mean that the share of workers with a disability has grown by 50 per cent since 2013 to around one-in-seven of workers, according to new Resolution Foundation research … Continued

The richest 5 per cent of households still stand to gain £3,500 on average next year from the tax cuts announced in the Chancellor’s recent Fiscal Statement – almost 40 times as much as the average £90 cash gain for the poorest fifth of households – despite the decision to scrap the abolition of the … Continued

The Government’s Energy Price Guarantee and £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme discount means that the average household will see annual bills increase by just 7 per cent – from £1,971 in April to £2,100 – when the energy price cap rises today. But even with hugely welcome intervention on this scale, millions of families across … Continued

The Chancellor’s fiscal statement last week and the severe market fall-out from it – including a plunging pound, rising interest rates and emergency intervention from the Bank of England – will force him to make tough policy choices, including big spending cuts, in his promised Medium-Term Fiscal Plan due in less than eight weeks’ time, … Continued

The market’s reaction to last Friday’s fiscal statement will have a material impact on household incomes; in the short-term through higher inflation; in the medium-term through higher mortgage payments; and, in the long term as higher borrowing exacerbates tax and spending trade-offs, the Resolution Foundation said today (Monday). The size of the Government’s fiscal package … Continued

The Chancellor’s huge package of personal tax cuts confirmed yesterday will disproportionately benefit London and the South East – with households in these regions standing to gain to three times as much on average (£1,600) as those living in Wales, the North East and Yorkshire (£500) next year – according to the Resolution Foundation’s overnight … Continued