Productivity & industrial strategy· Pay· Economic growth Dead-end relationship? Exploring the link between productivity and workers’ living standards 16 January 2020 by Matthew Whittaker Summary The strength of the relationship between productivity growth and median pay growth – and what it means for the way in which the gains from economic growth are shared across the workforce – has been questioned in recent years, with evidence of a ‘decoupling’ of the two across a number of advanced economies. Such … Continued READ MORE
Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security· Pay The Resolution Foundation Earnings Outlook Q3 2019 27 December 2019 by Nye Cominetti and Jack Leslie Unlike our politics, 2019 was a year of strength and stability in the labour market – a year when employment reached and stayed at record highs and pay growth neared pre-recession levels. The most recent set of labour market data (for the three months to October) underlined this – the 16-64 employment rate ticked up … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Low pay· Pay· Minimum wage· Living Wage Ain’t no minimum high enough Minimum wage policy in the 2019 General Election 18 November 2019 by Nye Cominetti Summary Minimum wage increases since 2015 delivered a £3bn pay boost to low-paid workers last year – highlighting the benefits of cross-party consensus over a more ambitious wage floor. Both main parties are right to propose plans for an even higher wage floor, but should proceed carefully, and be prepared to change course if needed. … Continued READ MORE
Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security· Pay More than we bargain for Learning from new debates on how institutions can improve worker pay and security in Anglo-Saxon economies 15 November 2019 by Daniel Tomlinson The UK’s tight labour market is delivering improvements for many, but big challenges remain that current policies and debates aren’t yet rising to meet. The UK can learn from emerging discussions and policy innovations in other Anglo-Saxon economies. READ MORE
Incomes· Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security· 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
Pay· Living Wage Calculating a Living Wage for London and the rest of the UK 2019-20 11 November 2019 by Nye Cominetti This report sets out the method through which the Living Wage rates in London and the rest of the UK are calculated by the Resolution Foundation on behalf of the Living Wage Foundation. READ MORE
Jobs· Earnings Outlook· Labour market· Low pay· Pay The Resolution Foundation Earnings Outlook Q2 2019 7 November 2019 by Nye Cominetti and Jack Leslie In our Earnings Outlook for 2019 Q2 we suggest that the UK’s 12 year long pay squeeze may be about to come to an end, just in time for the election. But for many groups, typical pay is still well below its previous peak, READ MORE
Productivity & industrial strategy· Pay· Economic growth Follow the money Exploring the link between UK growth and workers’ pay packets 30 August 2019 by Matthew Whittaker This briefing note unpicks the relationship between productivity and pay growth, looking at a variety of factors that influence pay growth for different groups of employees in the UK – from trends in the labour share to terms of trade movements, and from the role of employer pension contributions to the impact of changes in working patterns. READ MORE
Living standards· Jobs· Demographics· Pay· Intergenerational Centre Mapping millennials’ living standards 29 August 2019 by Maja Gustafsson Intergenerational progress – the idea that each successive cohort should have higher living standards than predecessors at the same age – has slowed down markedly for today’s young adults. This puts their experience in stark contrast to the rapid cohort-on-cohort improvements in standards of living up until those born in the 1970s. Because many people … Continued READ MORE
Earnings Outlook· Labour market· Pay· Minimum wage Earnings Outlook Q2 2019 29 July 2019 by Nye Cominetti and Jack Leslie In our Earnings Outlook for 2019 Q2 we suggest that the UK’s 12 year long pay squeeze may be about to come to an end, just in time for the election. However, we also note that for many groups, typical pay is still well below its previous peak, and that although we will soon hit … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Low pay· Pay· Minimum wage· Living Wage Low Pay Britain 2019 30 May 2019 by Nye Cominetti and Kathleen Henehan and Stephen Clarke This is our ninth annual report on low pay. This edition focuses on the minimum wage, which recently turned 20. It analyses the extent to which the minimum wage has reduced the proportion of the working-age population in low pay. It also looks to the future, asking how fast the minimum wage can boost wages for the lowest earners while managing the inevitable risks to employment. READ MORE
Earnings Outlook· Labour market· Low pay· Pay· Minimum wage The Resolution Foundation Earnings Outlook Q4 2018 30 March 2019 by Nye Cominetti Our quarterly earnings outlook, for Q4 2018. With the minimum wage now 20 years old, we chart its impact on low pay over two decades. We also look at the impact of the post-2016 increases, and prospects for the wage floor over the next few years. READ MORE
Earnings Outlook· Labour market· Pay The Resolution Foundation Earnings Outlook Q3 2018 6 February 2019 by Nye Cominetti Our quarterly earnings outlook, for Q3 2018. We look ahead to 2019, and ask whether recent improvements in pay growth will continue throughout the year (the view of the Bank of England) or will fall away (the view of the Office for Budget Responsibility). READ MORE
Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security· Low pay· Pay Atypical approaches: Options to support workers with insecure incomes 21 January 2019 by Conor D’Arcy and Fahmida Rahman There has been much debate about the certainty of income that atypical work provides, and whether the rights of workers are being consistently upheld. This report explores these issues, looking beyond a minimum wage premium, at how other high-income countries have sought to reduce one-sided flexibility in the labour market. READ MORE
Earnings Outlook· Labour market· Pay The Resolution Foundation Earnings Outlook Q2 2018 13 November 2018 by Stephen Clarke and Nye Cominetti Our quarterly earnings outlook for Q2 2018. We focus on the decline in regional job mobility (people moving region for work) and argue that this is due to structural rather than cyclical trends – potentially due to the rise of remote working, and fewer people working in large firms with multiple locations. READ MORE
Pay· Living Wage Calculating a Living Wage for London and the rest of the UK 5 November 2018 by Conor D’Arcy and David Finch This report sets out the method through which the Living Wage rates in London and the rest of the UK were calculated for the 2018/19 rates. Resolution Foundation undertakes this calculation on behalf of the Living Wage Foundation. READ MORE
Labour market· Job quality and security· Universal Credit· Pay Irregular Payments: Assessing the breadth and depth of month to month earnings volatility 15 October 2018 by Daniel Tomlinson This research addresses the question of earnings volatility, unearthing striking findings about the lived experience of work – and the pay we receive for it – in the UK today. This report makes use of anonymised transaction data from over seven million Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) accounts in order to demonstrate the breadth and depth of changes in pay from month to month. READ MORE
Labour market· Pay Count the pennies: Explaining a decade of lost pay growth 9 October 2018 by Stephen Clarke and Paul Gregg This paper gets to the bottom of why real wages are still 3 per cent below their level before the crisis. It both explains why the wage squeeze was so much worse in the UK compared to other advanced economies and why the recovery since 2014 has been so sluggish. READ MORE
Earnings Outlook· Labour market· Pay The RF Earnings Outlook Q1 2018 2 August 2018 by Stephen Clarke Our quarterly earnings outlook, for Q1 2018. The outlook explores whether the current pace of wage growth is as good as it gets. Despite signs of improvement, annual growth in weekly wages is almost 1.5 percentage points lower than the pre-crisis average. READ MORE
Living standards· Pay· Inequality & poverty Opportunities Knocked? Exploring pay penalties among the UK’s ethnic minorities 18 July 2018 by Kathleen Henehan and Helena Rose Over the past two decades ethnic minority groups have made substantial gains in relation to education and employment. But in spite of this progress, large pay gaps remain: even after accounting for education, occupation and other key factors, black male graduates are on average paid 17 per cent less than their white male counterparts; Pakistani/Bangladeshi non-graduate men are paid 14% less. READ MORE
Low pay· Pay Low Pay Britain 2018 18 May 2018 by Conor D’Arcy Our annual look at low pay, for 2018. With low pay falling, we suggest policy makers should focus on three challenges: progression (low paid workers lack thereof), power (likewise), and the gender pay gap. READ MORE
Earnings Outlook· Labour market· Pay The RF Earnings Outlook Q4 2017 28 March 2018 by Stephen Clarke In Q4 2017 the pay squeeze for that year looked set to dissipate and employment rates continued to rise. But, taking a longer view, weaker than expected productivity growth suggests that the outlook for real pay growth is likely to remain subdued. READ MORE
Jobs· Labour market· Pay Counting the hours: two decades of changes in earnings and hours worked 15 January 2018 by Stephen Clarke and George Bangham Economists have raised concerns that the UK’s pay distribution is ‘hollowing out’, as offshoring and automation diminish the number of mid-paid jobs. We show that some hollowing out has occurred, though only among men, and that it is mainly the result of shifts in working hours rather than occupational change. READ MORE
Earnings Outlook· Labour market· Pay The RF Earnings Outlook Q3 2017 27 December 2017 by Stephen Clarke Our quarterly earnings outlook, for 2017 Q3. We argued that, just as the country’s politics were (/are!) in standstill due to Brexit, 2018 was likely to be a ‘standstill’ year on pay. READ MORE
Pay· Living Wage Calculating a Living Wage for London and the rest of the UK 6 November 2017 by Conor D’Arcy and David Finch 2017/18 saw a rise in the minimum wage rate to £8.75 in the UK. We set out a method for determining the independently-calculated Living Wage rates in London and the UK. This comes at a time when crucial policy changes put upward pressure on the Living Wage rates. READ MORE
