Covid-19· Intergenerational Centre An intergenerational audit for the UK 2020 7 October 2020 by Laura Gardiner and Maja Gustafsson and Mike Brewer and Karl Handscomb and Kathleen Henehan and Lindsay Judge and Fahmida Rahman This Intergenerational Audit for the UK – supported by the Nuffield Foundation – provides the first comprehensive assessment of the initial phase of the coronavirus crisis for different generations in Britain. READ MORE
Covid-19· Labour market The truth will out Understanding labour market statistics during the coronavirus crisis 16 July 2020 by Mike Brewer and Laura Gardiner and Karl Handscomb Labour market statistics matter. In normal times, they offer a snapshot on how household living standards are faring, and in recessions they also provide a key measure of how serious a crisis we face. Because the current coronavirus crisis is rooted in the labour market, even more attention is being paid to the monthly labour … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Labour Market Outlook· Pay Earnings Outlook Q1 2020 What we know about how employee earnings have fared in the current crisis 16 July 2020 by Nye Cominetti and Laura Gardiner Since we last produced an Earnings Outlook (at the end of March) some things have become clearer. The scale of the impact of the current crisis is as big as was feared. This was already apparent then from the soaring claims for Universal Credit, but has since been confirmed by the 300-year-record fall in GDP, … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19 Easing does it Economic policy beyond the lockdown 7 July 2020 by Laura Gardiner and Jack Leslie and Cara Pacitti and James Smith Having weathered the first wave of the coronavirus economic storm, the task now facing the country is how to reopen, revive, and rebuild our economy while the virus remains with us. The Government needs to act as quickly, boldly, and creatively in the recovery phase of the outbreak as it did in the initial rescue … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Labour market The Full Monty Facing up to the challenge of the coronavirus labour market crisis 29 June 2020 by Nye Cominetti and Laura Gardiner and Hannah Slaughter The coronavirus crisis has had a severe impact on the country’s health, but also its economy and the labour market with it. With activity across parts of the economy heavily restricted, the Job Retention Scheme saved millions of jobs, firms and incomes. But as the country moves from lockdown into a new, reopening phase of … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Intergenerational Centre Locked in? The triple lock on the State Pension in light of the coronavirus crisis 26 June 2020 by Torsten Bell and Laura Gardiner It is well known that the triple lock on the State Pension – which states that it rises each year by the highest of earnings growth, inflation and 2.5 per cent – makes its value dependent not just on the general pace of growth in prices and wages, but also on their volatility. The next … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Living standards· Incomes Return to spender Findings on family incomes and spending from the Resolution Foundation’s coronavirus survey 9 June 2020 by Mike Brewer and Laura Gardiner Based on the Resolution Foundation’s new coronavirus survey of 6,000 working-age adults, this briefing note explores family spending during the crisis, with a focus on how outcomes have differed across the working-age income distribution. READ MORE
Covid-19· Labour market The effects of the coronavirus crisis on workers Flash findings from the Resolution Foundation’s coronavirus survey 16 May 2020 by Laura Gardiner and Hannah Slaughter The coronavirus crisis has hit workers hard: the numbers of those furloughed and those newly claiming Universal Credit illustrates the scale. To date, however, we have had very limited information about which types of people have been most affected. In this spotlight, we begin to fill this gap with flash findings from the Resolution Foundation’s … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19 Getting Britain working (safely) again The next phase of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme 12 May 2020 by Torsten Bell and Laura Gardiner and Daniel Tomlinson The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS) has been a major public policy success. The unprecedented step of paying 80 per cent of the wages for 6.3 million jobs has made it possible to ask people to stay at home to save lives. This paper explores how the JRS should evolve as restrictions on activity are … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Low pay· Pay What happens after the clapping finishes? The pay, terms and conditions we choose for our care workers 19 April 2020 by Nye Cominetti and Laura Gardiner and Gavin Kelly The nation has rightly come together in the current crisis to express support for our care workers. But how do we normally treat the social care workforce? Due to both long-standing and nearer-term decisions and trends, frontline care workers are: underpaid, with around half earning less than the real Living Wage; particularly vulnerable to being … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Incomes· Welfare Next steps to support family incomes in the face of the coronavirus crisis 25 March 2020 by Torsten Bell and Mike Brewer and Laura Gardiner and Karl Handscomb and Daniel Tomlinson The Government has set out an unprecedented package of support for family incomes, including paying 80 per cent of the wages of employees who currently have no work, via its Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Delivering that scheme should be the top priority, given its crucial role in preventing a very steep rise in unemployment and … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Living standards· Firms· Economy and public finances· Welfare Doing what it takes Protecting firms and families from the economic impact of coronavirus 19 March 2020 by Torsten Bell and Laura Gardiner and Daniel Tomlinson The coronavirus health crisis is now a full-blown economic crisis, and one that may last for much more than a few months. Firms will go bust and unemployment will rise. The majority of this economic damage will be driven not by the direct impact of coronavirus itself, but by the necessary measures – such as social distancing – that we put in place to respond to it. READ MORE
Covid-19· Budgets & fiscal events A Budget action plan The economic response to the coronavirus 8 March 2020 by Tony Yates and Torsten Bell and Laura Gardiner and Richard Hughes and James Smith Although secondary to addressing the health consequences, it is crucial that policy makers act swiftly to prevent the outbreak of coronavirus becoming an economic crisis, too. READ MORE
Living standards· Inequality & poverty· Cities and regions· Political parties and elections Painting the towns blue Demography, economy and living standards in the political geographies emerging from the 2019 General Election 12 February 2020 by Charlie McCurdy and Laura Gardiner and Maja Gustafsson and Karl Handscomb This report provides an audit of the demography, economy and living standards of what we term the ‘Blue Wall’: the 50 seats that were gained by the Conservatives from Labour in the North East and West, Yorkshire and the Humber, the East and West Midlands, and Wales. We explore whether simplistic characterisations of the Blue … Continued READ MORE
Cities and regions· Welfare The long and winding road The introduction and impact of Universal Credit in Liverpool City Region and the UK 21 January 2020 by Laura Gardiner and David Finch Universal Credit (UC) – the fundamental re-design of Britain’s welfare system involving merging six benefits into one – is an enormous undertaking. This report reviews both the national UC picture and the experience in Liverpool City Region in particular. READ MORE
Labour market· Intergenerational Centre Never ever Exploring the increase in people who’ve never had a paid job 4 January 2020 by Laura Gardiner This briefing note explores why, despite record-high employment, the proportion of working-age adults who have never had a paid job has increased, pointing to a reduction in ‘earning while learning’ as a key driver. READ MORE
Intergenerational Centre· Political parties and elections Bridging divides? Analysing the 2019 general election from a generational perspective 4 December 2019 by Maja Gustafsson and Laura Gardiner This spotlight article looks at the 2019 general election from a generational perspective. Age has become increasingly important for party choice over recent decades, with the Brexit vote turbo-charging these differences. At the same time, Britain’s demographic divergence means that the average ages of constituencies are growing apart. Parties may be able to capitalise on … Continued READ MORE
Social care· Fiscal policy· Welfare· Political parties and elections The shifting shape of social security Charting the changing size and shape of the British welfare system 26 November 2019 by Laura Gardiner Voters face a stark choice in the 2019 election about the social security system they want. This report examines how the provision of social security in Britain has changed; the big trends that current social security policy needs to take account of; and the policy offer from our three main political parties. READ MORE
Incomes· Labour market· Low pay· Pay Feel poor, work more Explaining the UK’s record employment 12 November 2019 by Torsten Bell and Laura Gardiner There is no bigger change to our economy over the past decade than the employment boom. We argue that this has been driven by the deep post-crisis income squeeze. This pushed up labour supply via more workers, and a pause in the long-term decline in working hours. READ MORE
Welfare· Intergenerational Centre A fraying net The role of a state safety net in supporting young people develop and transition to an independent, healthy future 22 October 2019 by Laura Gardiner and Fahmida Rahman This report reviews the state-provided financial safety net available to young adults, and how it has changed over time. It finds that young people have always relied more on benefits than working-age adults. But this gap has narrowed over recent decades, as governments have increasingly deprioritised welfare support for young people. READ MORE
Intergenerational Centre An intergenerational audit for the UK 2019 20 June 2019 by Laura Gardiner and George Bangham and Stephen Clarke and Fahmida Rahman and Lindsay Judge and Daniel Tomlinson Our Intergenerational audit for the UK takes stock of generational living standards differences in Britain according to the latest data. It does this by considering living standards within four domains: jobs, skills and pay; housing costs and security; taxes, benefits and household income; and wealth and assets. READ MORE
Labour market· Low pay· Cities and regions Low pay in Greater Manchester: A report for the Greater Manchester Independent Prosperity Review 5 March 2019 by Conor D’Arcy and Laura Gardiner and Fahmida Rahman In this report, we provide an in-depth look at low pay in Greater Manchester. We explore who is in the low-paid workforce, the jobs they work in, their routes out of low pay, the dynamism of the local labour market and the role of employers. READ MORE
Firms· Labour market· Productivity & industrial strategy· Economic growth Sorry, we’re closed: Understanding the impact of retail’s decline on people and places 27 February 2019 by Daniel Tomlinson and Laura Gardiner Headlines about shop closures might give the impression that retail’s decline is a recent phenomenon, but retail’s share of employment has been falling for 15 years. This report digs behind this long-run trend, driven by changes in what we spend and how we spend it, and focuses in on what really matters when it comes to economic change: people and places. READ MORE
Welfare Back in Credit? Universal Credit after Budget 2018 12 November 2018 by David Finch and Laura Gardiner This briefing note focuses on the implications of recent changes to Universal Credit – in particular the £1,000 increase in work allowances announced in Budget 2018 – for the number of winners and losers from the switch to this new benefit system, for its generosity and for its impact on work incentives. READ MORE
Housing· Tax· Intergenerational Centre Home affairs: options for reforming property taxation 20 March 2018 by Adam Corlett and Laura Gardiner This paper assesses options for reforming property taxation, with a focus on the existing council tax system which now bears far too much resemblance to the unpopular poll tax it was brought in to replace. It sets out a range of options for making property tax fairer, simpler and more economically efficient. READ MORE
