Tax· Political parties and elections A matter of tax: pre-election briefing on the main parties’ tax policies 16 May 2017 by Adam Corlett There is much that is unusual about the 2017 general election, from its surprise announcement to the dominance of a single issue – Brexit – on which the parties themselves remain split. Particularly remarkable is the extent to which the tax debate has so far focused more on options for tax rises rather than tax … Continued READ MORE
Public finances· Political parties and elections The deficit the election forgot? Pre-election briefing on the main parties’ fiscal positions 11 May 2017 by Adam Corlett and Matthew Whittaker While the deficit remains in place, it is heading back to the sort of level relative to the size of the economy that past generations have been comfortable with. With the process of fiscal consolidation dominating so much of the political discourse in recent years it’s unlikely that many voters will be lamenting a dialling … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Generations A mid-life less ordinary? Characteristics and incomes of low-to-middle income households age 50 to State Pension age 3 May 2017 by David Finch and Helena Rose This report provides an insight into the financial situation of those older low to middle income households highlighting the living standards challenges they face, some unique to this group but others shared by all working-age households. In doing so it aims to provide better understanding of the characteristics of older low to middle income families … Continued READ MORE
Work Up to the job? Using the Apprenticeship Levy to tackle the UK’s post-16 education divide 4 April 2017 by Kathleen Henehan Over the past twenty years there has been a significant rise in educational attainment in Britain: while the proportion of young people with low-level qualifications halved between 1996 and 2016, the proportion of those with qualifications at degree level and above more than doubled. Homing in on different types of qualifications, we see that growth … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Prices & consumption· Public finances The going rate: moving from CPI to CPIH and the inflation experiences of UK households 20 March 2017 by Stephen Clarke The period of ultra-low inflation is over. CPI inflation is expected to rise above 2 per cent in the near future, eating into earnings and making benefits less generous. This coincides with a change in the way we measure those price rises, with a new main measure of inflation. On 21 March, CPIH will replace … Continued READ MORE
Labour Market Outlook· Work The RF Earnings Outlook Q4 2016 15 March 2017 by Adam Corlett This Earnings Outlook looks at the final quarter of labour market data for 2016. Most importantly, inflation has risen rapidly in recent months, weighing heavily on real pay growth – though published pay statistics will take some time to fully reflect this. Indeed, our ‘Spotlight’ article notes that real pay in the public sector has … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public finances Are we nearly there yet? Spring Budget 2017 and the 15 year squeeze on family and public finances 9 March 2017 by Matthew Whittaker and Stephen Clarke and Adam Corlett and David Finch and Laura Gardiner and Kathleen Henehan and Daniel Tomlinson Resolution Foundation’s overnight briefing on the 2017 Spring Budget. READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public finances Economy drive: prospects and priorities ahead of the last Spring Budget 28 February 2017 by Matthew Whittaker Healthier-than-expected tax receipts, the absence of any immediate post-referendum slowdown in growth and measurement changes are set to lower borrowing forecasts at next week’s Budget by £29bn between 2015-16 and 2020-21. Such a revision would leave borrowing projections for the remainder of the Parliament below those expected at Autumn Statement 2016, but still well above … Continued READ MORE
Work· Generations Study, Work, Progress, Repeat? How and why pay and progression outcomes have differed across cohorts 23 February 2017 by Laura Gardiner and Paul Gregg This paper is the fifth report for the Intergenerational Commission, which was launched in the summer of 2016 to explore questions of intergenerational fairness that are currently rising up the agenda and make recommendations for repairing the intergenerational social contract. It attempts to understand the concerning finding that millennials who have entered work so far … Continued READ MORE
Work A tough gig? The nature of self-employment in 21st Century Britain and policy implications 20 February 2017 by Daniel Tomlinson and Adam Corlett This Resolution Foundation analysis looks at the recent growth in self-employment. It focuses on: the sectoral make-up of the UK’s 5 million self-employed workers; the drivers of this growth since the recession; how the self-employed are treated differently in terms of tax and employment rights; and what policy challenges this raises. Key findings: Nearly 60 … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Inequality & poverty· Generations As time goes by: shifting incomes and inequality between and within generations 13 February 2017 by Adam Corlett This is the Resolution Foundation’s fourth report for the Intergenerational Commission, which over the course of 2017 will examine issues of intergenerational fairness and make recommendations to strengthen the intergenerational social contract. This paper, building on previous work on the earnings of different generations, examines household income. Specifically, it looks both at changes in income … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Inequality & poverty Living Standards 2017: the past, present and possible future of UK incomes 31 January 2017 by Adam Corlett and Stephen Clarke This is the Resolution Foundation’s eighth annual state of the nation report on UK living standards. It comes at a time when the recovery from the last downturn is still incomplete for some, yet the threat of a new squeeze on living standards looms large. The financial crisis hit households hard, yet in the last … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Cities and regions A western union: living standards and devolution in the West of England 26 January 2017 by Conor D’Arcy This May, voters in the West of England elect a Metro Mayor, with new powers over transport, skills and welfare-to-work policies, as well as the chance to bring economic leadership to their area. The area – comprising Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire – has outperformed most other city regions on a … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Social security You’re hired! Lessons for President Trump from a comparison of living standards and inequality in the US and the UK 23 January 2017 by Daniel Tomlinson This report sets out how, despite moving in step politically of late, the US and the UK economies have had somewhat different economic experiences since the financial crisis. The most notable divergence is on employment – the issue that President Trump put at the front and centre of his economic pitch to voters. As the … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Growth· Cities and regions Forging ahead or falling behind? Devolution and the future of living standards in the Sheffield City Region 19 January 2017 by Stephen Clarke This report outlines some of the key living standards facing the Sheffield City Region. Worryingly the delay to devolution means that local leaders will have fewer powers than their counterparts elsewhere to address these. As a result it is important for the current impasse in the devolution process to be resolved. Assuming that that the shape … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Generations· Demographics Live long and prosper? Demographic trends and their implications for living standards 16 January 2017 by David Finch People are living longer. This is good news of course. A longer life is in and of itself a boost to living standards for individuals and reflects a more prosperous society. But it raises challenges too. For the individual, living longer creates a need for greater lifetime income to sustain a given standard of living. … Continued READ MORE
Labour Market Outlook· Work The RF Earnings Outlook Q3 2016 21 December 2016 by Laura Gardiner and Torsten Bell Two big 2016 events dominate our view of the labour market and likely developments in the coming years – the introduction of the National Living Wage (NLW) in April, and the result of the EU referendum in June. This final Earnings Outlook of the year – capturing data up to Q3 – provides an opportunity … Continued READ MORE
Work· Growth Industrial strategies? Exploring responses to the National Living Wage in low-paying sectors 20 December 2016 by Conor D’Arcy This report provides another contribution to evidence on the impact of the National Living Wage to date. READ MORE
Incomes· Growth· Cities and regions Midlands engine trouble: The challenges facing the West Midlands Combined Authority 12 December 2016 by Conor D’Arcy In May 2017, residents of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) will go to the polls to elect its first ‘Metro Mayor’. The WMCA – comprising Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton councils – is also at the heart of the government’s wider ‘Midlands Engine’, which aims to boost the economy of this … Continued READ MORE
Work Secret Agents: agency workers in the new world of work 5 December 2016 by Lindsay Judge and Daniel Tomlinson Through the course of this report we have uncovered much new information about the lives of the UK’s ‘secret agents’. We have found two groups of agency workers – the permanent and the self-employed – who have been missing from all previous accounts. We have discovered what agency workers do, where they work and who … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Growth· Cities and regions New Order: devolution and the future of living standards in Greater Manchester 29 November 2016 by Stephen Clarke In May 2017 Greater Manchester will go to the polls to elect the region’s first ‘Metro Mayor’. Greater Manchester has been at the forefront of the current programme of devolution and the new mayor will wield more power than any other city leader. However, it will be on the results of how this power is … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public finances Bending the rules: Autumn Statement response 24 November 2016 by Adam Corlett and David Finch and Laura Gardiner and Matthew Whittaker Our morning after briefing for Autumn Statement 2016. READ MORE
Incomes· Public finances· Political parties and elections In the swing of things: what does Donald Trump’s victory tell us about America? 18 November 2016 by Daniel Tomlinson and Stephen Clarke Post-election analysis has highlighted the importance of demographic, economic and cultural factors in the US election result. In this slide pack we consider why different parts of America voted as they did. We look across 93 per cent (2,932 of 3,143) of US counties spread across 46 states including the 11 battleground states. We test … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Budgets & fiscal events· Public finances· Social security Under New Management: options for supporting ‘just managing’ families at the Autumn Statement 7 November 2016 by David Finch and Matthew Whittaker The new Prime Minister has been very clear in her determination to put the interests of ‘just managing’ families at the heart of her government, but she has inherited tax and benefit plans which are set to lower incomes for many in the group over the remainder of the parliament. With post-EU referendum revisions to projections for … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public finances· Tax Changing Tax: pressing reset on the UK’s tax policy 5 November 2016 by Matthew Whittaker In this note, we consider how the Chancellor might reset the UK’s tax policy in the Autumn Statement, with a particular focus on the personal allowance threshold and corporation tax. READ MORE
