Living standards· Housing The housing headwind: the impact of rising housing costs on UK living standards 28 June 2016 by Stephen Clarke and Adam Corlett and Lindsay Judge This report explores the question of how incomes and housing costs have interacted over time. It asks a seemingly simple question: how affordable has housing been for different groups in the UK over the last two decades? Through this exercise, we show how housing costs have (or have not) contributed to living standards at different … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Intergenerational Centre Stagnation Generation: the case for renewing the intergenerational contract 18 June 2016 by Laura Gardiner Just like families, states and societies are underpinned by a social contract between the generations – collectively supporting each of us through the stages of our lives, and crucially doing so fairly. But this contract looks at risk of fraying. Even before the EU referendum result highlighted big differences between the generations, with the under … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Retention deficit: a new approach to boosting employment for people with health problems and disabilities 7 June 2016 by Laura Gardiner and Declan Gaffney The government has positioned halving the disability employment gap as a central challenge for the UK labour market. To make significant progress on this ambition, a comprehensive set of changes will be needed, alongside a cultural shift in how we view the connections between disability, health and employment in this country. The Green Paper on … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Low pay· Skills· Social mobility Finding your routes: non-graduate pathways in the UK’s labour market 11 May 2016 by Conor D’Arcy and David Finch This report, commissioned by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, explores how poor career routes are holding back the ‘forgotten forty per cent’ of the workforce – mid-skilled workers with at least five A*-C GCSEs but without a university education. READ MORE
Welfare Universal Challenge – making a success of Universal Credit 3 May 2016 by David Finch This report sets out a three point plan for the new Secretary of State, designed to both ensure that UC will provide the support needed for families moving into and progressing in work in the future and to make implementation as simple as possible. We argue that Stephen Crabb should restate and reclaim the role … Continued READ MORE
Housing Can we fix it? Solving Britain’s housing crisis 26 April 2016 by Lindsay Judge Housing is the subject of much political and media attention – but commentary focuses primarily on rising house prices and declining home ownership. Our research looks at housing costs as a proportion of income over time. This slide pack is the precursor to a report that will be published shortly. READ MORE
Labour Market Outlook· Labour market· Pay The RF Earnings Outlook Q4 2015 18 April 2016 by Laura Gardiner In terms of measured jobs market performance and the broader earnings picture, the key recent change has been a gloomier view on productivity, due both to poor Q4 outturns and in particular the downward forecast revisions at last month’s Budget. The productivity disappointment has been mirrored in more muted real average weekly earnings growth. The latest … Continued READ MORE
Housing· Scotland· Tax Battle of the bands: the prospect of council tax reform in Scotland and beyond 8 April 2016 by Adam Corlett It is 25 years since the UK government announced its plan to abolish the community charge and introduce a new local tax for Scotland, England and Wales. Since then, council tax has undergone almost no reform, and in Scotland and England is still based on property values from 1 April 1991. But now change is afoot, … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances Budget 2016 response 17 March 2016 by Matthew Whittaker In this note, we consider seven of the day’s key takeaways from the Chancellor’s latest Budget. READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances· Tax· Political parties and elections Time for revision: why the Chancellor needs to look again at his plans for tax cuts in the Budget 14 March 2016 by Stephen Clarke and David Finch and Matthew Whittaker This briefing note considers possible tax cuts that could feature in the Chancellor’s upcoming Budget, and looks at how these policy choices can be made in a way that better benefits lower earners. READ MORE
Pensions & savings· Tax Save it for another day: pension tax relief and options for reform 10 March 2016 by Adam Corlett and Matthew Whittaker The Treasury has reportedly backed away from pension tax reforms, at least temporarily. Given the scale of existing tax relief, its particular benefits for higher income savers, and the potential wider impact of any change, this is perhaps understandable. But there remains a strong case for making the current system cheaper, fairer and better targeted. … Continued READ MORE
Labour market The road to full employment: what the journey looks like and how to make progress 3 March 2016 by Paul Gregg and Laura Gardiner ‘Full employment’, for so long considered an unreachable relic of a bygone age, is back on the agenda. That it is once again part of economic and political debates is testament to the UK’s remarkably strong employment performance in recent years. A record-high employment rate is something few people would have thought possible this soon … Continued READ MORE
Firms· Labour market· Low pay· Living Wage Weighing up the wage floor: Employer responses to the National Living Wage 24 February 2016 by Conor D’Arcy and Gerwyn Davies The findings of this report confirm that a significant share of firms will not be affected by the National Living Wage (NLW), or will face only a small increase in their wage bill. At the same time, it is clear that for some employers, particularly those in low-paying sectors, the NLW will raise their labour costs considerably. Both the survey and the case study interviews … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Living standards· Inequality & poverty Living Standards 2016: The experiences of low to middle income households in downturn and recovery 15 February 2016 by Adam Corlett and David Finch and Matthew Whittaker This is the Resolution Foundation’s seventh annual state of the nation report on living standards, and it is testament to the depth of the downturn that has gripped households since the financial crisis hit that average incomes only just appear to be returning to the level they were at when we published the first one in the series. In … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Employing new tactics: the changing distribution of work across British households 31 January 2016 by Paul Gregg and David Finch Inevitably, discussion of employment tends to focus on individuals. But this means that an understanding of how work – and the income that it brings – is shared across different types of households can be lost. During the 1980s and early-1990s employment became increasingly polarised in society, with increasing concentrations of workless single or couple … Continued READ MORE
Economic growth· Macroeconomic policy Renewed Interest: The role of monetary policy in crisis and beyond 28 January 2016 by Matthew Whittaker Interest rates are at an all-time low. The Bank of England’s base rate is about to enter its eighth year at 0.5 per cent – the lowest level in its history and its longest period of non-movement since the Second World War. Yet still UK inflation remains well below its 2 per cent target, bumping … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Labour market· Pay· Scotland· Economic growth State of working Scotland: living standards, jobs and pay 20 January 2016 by Conor D’Arcy and Gavin Kelly With only months to go until May’s Scottish Parliament elections, this report provides an analysis of the state of working Scotland. In particular, we focus on how Scotland’s labour market performed in the run-up to the economic downturn and in the recovery. READ MORE
Labour market· Low pay· Pay· Cities and regions Paved with gold? Low pay and the National Living Wage in Britain’s cities 4 January 2016 by Adam Corlett The National Living Wage (NLW) will come into effect in April and is set to rise considerably over the rest of the parliament. This will mean a welcome pay rise for six million employees, but as an ambitious labour market policy it will present challenges. This short briefing focuses on the impact of the NLW … Continued READ MORE
Labour Market Outlook· Labour market· Pay The RF Earnings Outlook Q3 2015 15 December 2015 by Laura Gardiner The publication last month of the most reliable and comprehensive source on earnings presented a more muted picture of the early stages of the pay recovery than the more timely monthly series had indicated. More encouraging was the information below the headlines, particularly the fact that the recovery was strongest among the lowest earners. In … Continued READ MORE
Demographics· Intergenerational Centre The pinch: How the baby boomers took their children’s future – and why they should give it back 10 December 2015 by David Willetts The accompanying slide pack for David Willetts’s speech to Keele University, exploring the differences between the baby boomers and younger generations, looking at wealth and welfare in particular. READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances O, blessed revisions: fiscal windfall and what to do with it 26 November 2015 by Matthew Whittaker Resolution Foundation’s Autumn Statement analysis, including: Economic outlook Public finances outlook Taxes and benefits Public services The changing state READ MORE
Low pay· Labour market· Pay Care to pay? Meeting the challenge of paying the National Living Wage in social care 12 November 2015 by Laura Gardiner The announcement of the National Living Wage is extremely welcome news for care workers, spelling a pay rise for up to 1 million of them by 2020 and having a significant impact on household budgets. Other recent developments have the potential to spur further improvements for a workforce that is poorly paid and faces casualised … Continued READ MORE
Fiscal policy· Public spending· Economy and public finances Shape shifting: the changing role of the state during fiscal consolidation 10 November 2015 by Matthew Whittaker and Adam Corlett and David Finch Resolution Foundation’s latest analysis looks at the changing size and shape of the state and what decisions the government will need to make going forward. READ MORE
Welfare The tax credit crunch: how to limit the losses for low-income families 5 November 2015 by David Finch Resolution Foundation’s latest analysis of the impact of tax credit cuts explores the effect of Summer Budget changes in 2016 on incomes and incentives, and explores ways to offset the losses. READ MORE
Labour Market Outlook· Pay The RF Earnings Outlook Q2 2015 12 October 2015 by Laura Gardiner Recent instalments of labour market data have painted a picture of steady but unspectacular growth in nominal wages, combined with zero inflation, producing real average weekly earnings growth above the pre-crisis trend. Labour productivity has started to rise but is essentially unchanged from its 2008 level, fuelling concerns that the pay recovery may prove short-lived … Continued READ MORE
