The end of the furlough scheme in October has not sparked fresh a labour market shock as many had feared, with payrolled employment continuing to rise, vacancy levels hitting a fresh high, and seven-in-eight recently furloughed workers returning to work, the Resolution Foundation said in response to the latest ONS data today (Tuesday). The Foundation … Continued

A focus on the UK’s least productive firms risks distracting policy makers from the economy-wide under-performance on investment and management that is holding British businesses back as we enter a decade of major economic change, according to a new report for The Economy 2030 Inquiry published today (Monday). Business Time – co-written by the Resolution … Continued

The end of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS) is likely to have led to only a small rise in the number of people not working – with around 136,000 workers moving from furlough to either unemployment or inactivity – but furloughed staff are six times more likely to have lost their jobs than other … Continued

Responding to the latest ONS GDP figures today (Thursday), which show that the economy grew by 0.6 per cent in September, and by 1.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2021, leaving the UK with the largest shortfall in GDP relative to its pre-pandemic peak among G7 countries, James Smith, Research Director at the Resolution … Continued

Publicly naming businesses using exploitative practices or underpaying workers encourages other firms to comply with labour market rules – but tougher financial penalties and better detection of those breaking the law are still essential, according to new research published today (Tuesday) by the Resolution Foundation. The report No shame, no gain? – part of the … Continued

The Chancellor set the stage for a new high tax economy – rather than the high wage economy pledged by the Prime Minister, or the low tax one favoured by many Conservative MPs – the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday) in its overnight analysis of the Budget and Spending Review 2021. The Boris Budget notes … Continued

A major upgrade to growth and the public finances gave the Chancellor a £141 billion lower cumulative borrowing windfall (from 2022-23 to 2025-26), 46 per cent of which he used to raise public service spending and soften the cost of living crunch for low-income working families with a welcome £3 billion boost to Universal Credit … Continued

In response to today’s announcement that the National Living Wage is expected rise to £9.50 in April 2022, Nye Cominetti, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “A rise in the National Living Wage to £9.50 would be very welcome – especially given that low earners have been the hardest hit by the crisis, both … Continued

Young adults have experienced a stronger labour market recovery in the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic compared with older workers, but the wealth gaps between age cohorts have increased, according to new research published today (Thursday) by the Resolution Foundation. The Intergenerational Audit 2021 – funded by the Nuffield Foundation and part of the … Continued

Commenting on the latest inflation figures for September, which saw CPI fall slightly to 3.1 per cent (down from 3.2 per cent in August but up from 0.4 per cent in February) and CPIH fell to 2.9 per cent (from 3.0 per cent in August), but with further increases due over the coming months, Jack … Continued

  The UK is set for its biggest ever current-year economic growth upgrade next week as a result of a smaller-than-forecast pandemic hit, and a faster-than-expected pandemic recovery, but rising inflation will squeeze both the Chancellor’s borrowing windfall and family budgets this autumn, according to new research published today (Tuesday) by the Resolution Foundation. The … Continued

Responding to the Government’s Heating and Building Strategy, Jonny Marshall, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “The Government has rightly made good on its Manifesto commitment of funding to reduce carbon emissions from people’s homes, and to prioritise low-income families and those in social housing for support in making homes more energy efficient. “The … Continued

The UK’s post-Brexit trade policy, which has been too focused on rushing through agreements at the expense of an underpinning economic strategy, risks leaving the country without a plan for the major economic change that Brexit is already starting to bring about, according to a new report for the Economy 2030 Inquiry published today (Thursday). … Continued

The record hiring surge in the UK jobs market is providing welcome relief amid a turbulent cost of living crunch this autumn. But big questions hang over the sustainability of pay growth through the winter, the Resolution Foundation said in response to the latest labour market figures. The latest data showed another record increase in … Continued

Commenting on the Prime Minister’s speech at the Conservative Party conference today, in which he began to set out his vision for a new economic strategy to tackle the issues of low wages, poor skills provision and weak productivity that dog the UK economy, Torsten Bell, Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, said: “The Prime … Continued

Commenting on Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s speech to the Conservative Party conference 2021, Lord Willetts, President of the Resolution Foundation, said: “The Chancellor’s speech was short and didn’t have much new policy, but nevertheless we learnt a lot about his approach to UK’s post-Covid, post-Brexit economy. “‘Rishinomics’ – rooted in the Treasury view but with a new Californian … Continued

The decade ahead needs to combine ‘a double acceleration’ of the UK’s transition to a low carbon economy, with steps to prevent it widening inequalities by loading costs onto lower-income households, while the benefits flow to better-off households, according to new Resolution Foundation research published today (Thursday). The Carbon Crunch – a joint report by … Continued

A typical low-income family with children could see their income fall by over £20 a week over the next six months as households across the UK experience a triple whammy cost of living crunch from rising prices and energy bills along with falling income support, according to new analysis published today (Sunday) by the Resolution … Continued

Around one million employees are on course to be on the furlough scheme when it closes next week (30 September), which will prompt a testing period in the labour market this autumn, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday) in response to the ONS Business Insights and Conditions Survey. The latest ONS data shows that the … Continued

The Government must do more to protect low-and-middle-income households from rising energy bills, with families on Universal Credit (UC) four times as likely as the wider population to be on pre-payment meters and therefore face higher energy bill hikes in October, the Resolution Foundation said today (Monday). The Foundation notes that 4.4 million households on … Continued

Huge changes in the world of work over the past 30 years have led to people having a greater attachment to their work, but also rising levels of stress and falling levels of control, which has coincided with low earners losing their ‘job satisfaction premium’ over higher paid colleagues, according to new Resolution Foundation research … Continued

The jobs recovery continued in August, despite the wider economic slowdown over the summer, but there is still ground to make up ahead of the furlough scheme closing at the end of the month, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the latest ONS labour market statistics. The Foundation notes that the number … Continued

The six million Universal Credit claimants set for a £1,000 annual income loss from this October are unlikely to make up the shortfall given the scale of extra pay or hours needed to offset the £20 a week cut, the Resolution Foundation said today (Monday). The Foundation says that the 63 per cent taper rate … Continued

The number of employees coming off the furlough scheme slowed in July, and plateaued in the first half of August with around 1.6 million employees still on the scheme, highlighting that the risks of a fresh rise in unemployment this autumn, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday) in response to the latest HMRC and ONS … Continued