Labour market enforcement· Pensions & savings Enrol up! The case for strengthening auto-enrolment enforcement 27 August 2020 by Hannah Slaughter This briefing note is part of a three-year programme of research exploring labour market enforcement generously funded by Unbound Philanthropy. It considers the extent of non-compliance with auto-enrolment, and whether there are ‘under-enrolment’ hotspots that require closer scrutiny. We estimate that around 3 per cent of eligible employees are not enrolled in a pension scheme … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Skills Can training help workers change their stripes? Retraining and career change in the UK 18 August 2020 by Kathleen Henehan The coronavirus crisis has already brought significant disruption to the UK labour market, particularly in sectors that offer in-person services like hospitality, entertainment and retail. There are fears that as the Government’s temporary support measures wind down, many more adults could soon be out of work. The Government will need to consider adult education and … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Housing Housing Outlook Q3 2020 House prices in recessions 13 August 2020 by Lindsay Judge and Cara Pacitti Welcome to Housing Outlook Q3 2020. In this edition we examine how house prices have behaved in previous recessions, and look set to adjust to the coronavirus crisis. While some might see anticipated house price falls as a potential opportunity for young people to get onto the housing ladder, the Office for Budget Responsibility’s house … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Labour market The Government is not paying nine million people’s wages The number of people currently furloughed is less than half this amount 1 August 2020 by Daniel Tomlinson From today, employers will start contributing towards the wage costs of furloughed employees. This significant first step in the phasing-out of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS) carries real risks of increased redundancies – particularly for those in the hardest-hit sectors – and so attention should also focus on the important question of just how … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Time use The time of your life Time use in London and the UK over the past 40 years 28 July 2020 by George Bangham and Maja Gustafsson Few things in life are equal, but each day every one of us has 24 hours of time to use. How time is best spent has been the subject of an active public debate in recent years, and this question has been thrown still further into the limelight by the disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic. … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Living standards The Living Standards Audit 2020 21 July 2020 by Daniel Tomlinson and Adam Corlett and Karl Handscomb and Charlie McCurdy and Mike Brewer This report provides an estimate of living standards in lockdown Britain, placing them in the context of a poor decade for incomes. It looks at how different groups have fared before and during lockdown, and explores upcoming risks for household incomes. 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· Fiscal policy· Macroeconomic policy Act now, or pay later The OBR’s Fiscal Sustainability Report makes clear the implications of a crisis-driven rise in unemployment for the public finances 14 July 2020 by James Smith and Cara Pacitti and Jack Leslie The OBR’s latest Fiscal Sustainability Report confirms its view that the current crisis could lead to the largest economic contraction in 300 years precipitating a return of unemployment levels not since the 1980s. Given the huge uncertainty, the OBR has produced three scenarios with different assumption about a timetable for finding a vaccine or other … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Living standards· Time use Time with the kids How parents’ time use has changed during the pandemic 13 July 2020 by George Bangham Many aspects of people’s time use have been turned upside down by the coronavirus lockdown. Some restrictions are now being unwound, but others, like limits on the availability of professional childcare, will continue, with particular consequences for how parents of different genders use their time. Indeed, data collected during the lockdown suggests that while job … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Budgets & fiscal events· Fiscal policy· Economy and public finances· Macroeconomic policy Summer Economic Update July 2020 Resolution Foundation overnight analysis 9 July 2020 by Resolution Foundation Analysis This was not a Budget, but was still a big deal with £30bn of measures to support the economy. This is particularly significant when seen in combination with £160bn of pandemic-related support already announced, leaving borrowing this year on course to reach £350bn. Debt interest costs will continue to fall, although the crisis will leave … 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· Living standards· Housing· Intergenerational Centre Lockdown living Housing quality across the generations 3 July 2020 by Lindsay Judge and Fahmida Rahman For three months, the majority of the population has ‘stayed home to save lives’, bringing the quality of our housing stock and neighbourhoods into sharp relief. In this briefing note, we explore how long-term housing trends have resulted in significant gaps between generations when it comes to living conditions. As we face the prospect of further local or national lockdowns going into the winter months, we argue the inequalities we uncover demand attention from policy makers more than ever before. 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· Household debt· Pensions & savings· Wealth & assets Rainy days An audit of household wealth and the initial effects of the coronavirus crisis on saving and spending in Great Britain 22 June 2020 by George Bangham and Jack Leslie Families in Great Britain are faced with the most severe economic contraction in more than 100 years. Much of the immediate focus among policy makers has been on the size and distribution of falls in families’ incomes but household wealth, both savings and debt, will play a hugely important role in shaping how far families’ … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Labour market· Cities and regions Local differences Responding to the local economic impact of coronavirus 14 June 2020 by Charlie McCurdy Britain’s jobs crisis has hit every part of the country hard. At a headline regional level, job loss and furloughing has been fairly evenly spread. But increases in unemployment-related benefit claims have been larger in areas that started out with higher claimant rates, with this especially true when we focus at a more local level. … 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
Labour market enforcement· Covid-19· Low pay A new settlement for the low paid Beyond the minimum wage to dignity and respect 3 June 2020 by Torsten Bell and Nye Cominetti and Hannah Slaughter This crisis is shared, but its burden is not. From health risks to job losses, it is the UK’s 4.2 million low-paid workers on whom this pandemic has imposed the greatest cost, and of whom the efforts to combat it have required the greatest sacrifice. Lower earners are three times as likely to have lost … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Housing Coping with housing costs during the coronavirus crisis Flash findings from the Resolution Foundation’s coronavirus survey 30 May 2020 by Lindsay Judge Many (including us) have speculated about how families may be managing their housing costs during the coronavirus crisis. In this spotlight we move from conjecture to firm evidence, presenting findings from our new survey of UK working-age adults on levels of housing stress, and how families in different housing tenures are coping. We find that … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Economy and public finances· Macroeconomic policy The Macroeconomic Policy Outlook Q2 2020 28 May 2020 by James Smith and Tony Yates This is the second Macro Policy Outlook, providing a policy-focused take on the economy. In this edition, we bring together the insights from new research into the impact of coronavirus on the economy with the latest data on its effects, in order to draw out the lessons for policy makers. There are three key takeaways. … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19 This time is different – Universal Credit’s first recession Assessing the welfare system and its effect on living standards during the coronavirus epidemic 27 May 2020 by Mike Brewer and Karl Handscomb When the UK went into lockdown, Universal Credit faced an unprecedented surge in claims. This report assesses how the system coped, how families on UC are managing, and what the Government should do to get UC ready for future challenges. READ MORE
Covid-19· Economy and public finances Public finances under pressure Lessons for policy makers from April’s public finance figures 22 May 2020 by Torsten Bell and Charlie McCurdy and Cara Pacitti April’s Public Sector Finances data capture the first full month of the coronavirus lockdown and provide a sobering reminder of the fiscal costs of the pandemic. Public sector net borrowing was £62.1 billion last month, the highest level ever recorded and nearly three time higher than the last record of £22 billion in April 2012. … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Inequality & poverty· Wealth & assets· Tax Who gains? The importance of accounting for capital gains 21 May 2020 by Adam Corlett and Arun Advani and Andy Summers This report looks at what we know about taxable capital gains; how our understanding of top income shares changes if we include capital gains in our analysis; and whether official statistical definitions of income should be changed or supplemented. READ MORE
Covid-19· Intergenerational Centre Young workers in the coronavirus crisis Findings from the Resolution Foundation’s coronavirus survey 18 May 2020 by Maja Gustafsson The coronavirus crisis is expected to hit workers hard, with evidence from previous crises indicating that the young are likely to be affected to a greater degree than most. In this spotlight we move from speculation to evidence, presenting new findings on how different age groups – and in particular the young – have been … Continued READ MORE
