Analysis and action on living standards
Live now – watch ‘Second half comeback? Resetting Government economic priorities for the remainder of the Parliament’ here.
How the Government can reset Britain’s economic policy
This report investigates why the UK’s NEET rate has been rising since 2019, and why it has long been higher than in many other countries. After falling for much of the 2010s, the proportion of 18-24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training (the ‘NEET rate’) climbed from 13 per cent in 2019 to 15 per cent in 2025 – equivalent to almost 900,000 young people. This sharp rise has brought NEETs to the top of the political agenda, sparking the upcoming Government review led by Alan Milburn on why young people are becoming more disconnected from work. But this recent rise is only part of the story: the UK’s NEET rate was already high compared to other countries even before it began rising.
The Resolution Foundation is an independent think-tank dedicated to lifting living standards in the UK. We focus particularly on households with low and middle incomes; those on low pay or in precarious work; and those vulnerable to financial shocks.
This briefing explores Britain’s recent baby bust and whether it should be a cause for concern for policymakers. Most developed countries are grappling with a falling birth rate, and the UK is no different.
This briefing note considers the distributional impact of the post-financial-crisis tightening of Britain’s mortgage lending rules on aspiring homeowners and assesses how policy could respond to help poorer families unable to get on the housing ladder today.
The Resolution Foundation calculates the real Living Wage – a voluntary hourly pay rate that is based on what families need to get by. The current national rate is:
Explore our interactive housing indicators or read about our alternative estimate of UK employment.
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Resolution Ventures exists to back innovative start-ups seeking to change the world of work for the better, and early-stage ventures seeking to improve the prospects of low-to-middle income Britain.
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