Covid-19· Labour market Unprecedented support for employees’ wages last week has been followed up by equally significant, and even more generous, support for the self-employed. But gaps remain 27 March 2020 by Torsten Bell and Mike Brewer and Laura Gardiner and Karl Handscomb and Daniel Tomlinson Yesterday, the Chancellor announced that last week’s pledge to underwrite 80 per cent of the wages of employees without work to do during this crisis is being matched with significant grants to the self-employed. This is an important addition to existing plans to support employees, and in many ways a more generous offer. The Self-Employed … Continued READ MORE
Covid-19· Living standards· Incomes· Labour market· Welfare Key take-aways from the Chancellor’s package of measures to support workers in the coronavirus crisis 22 March 2020 by Mike Brewer and Laura Gardiner The Chancellor’s announcements on Friday 20 March were unprecedented in their scale and reach, and absolutely vital for supporting firms and family incomes in the face of the current crisis. Here are five key take-aways on how these changes will affect families, and three next steps for the Government to consider. 1. At a … Continued READ MORE
Social care· Living standards· Inequality & poverty· Welfare The child poverty crisis needs pushing up the agenda in Britain’s ‘Brexit’ election None of the main party manifestos will end child poverty 27 November 2019 by Laura Gardiner Both the main parties have learnt lessons from the 2017 election. The Conservatives have learnt not to scare the horses with big new policies. Their 2019 manifesto is very much a ‘safety-first’ document. Labour learnt that they have a problem with pensioners – 70-year olds are twice as likely to vote Tory as Labour – … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Pay Election 2019: What jobs do UK workers actually do? 12 November 2019 by Laura Gardiner The UK is gearing up for another election, which means politicians of all parties fighting for the votes of what they call ‘ordinary’ or ‘hard-working’ people. There are record numbers of people in work in the UK. So, what jobs do we do in Britain, how have they changed in recent years, and what might … Continued READ MORE
Prices & consumption· Intergenerational Centre Life as a millennial is far less extravagant than you might think 20 June 2019 by Laura Gardiner When economists and policy makers talk about living standards they think in terms of real (equivalised) household disposable incomes (before or after housing costs). This is a good approach to take, but it’s not how most people think. A more common way is to think about how much money you have to spend on goods … Continued READ MORE
Pensions & savings· Wealth & assets· Intergenerational Centre More ambition, less risk – building on the success of auto-enrolment 4 April 2019 by David Willetts and Laura Gardiner We often find it harder to celebrate policy successes than decry policy failures. So you might have missed a policy success which we are marking this week. We are about to have completed the successful initial rolling-out of automatic enrolment into occupational pension saving. Millions of employees will enjoy higher living standards in retirement as … Continued READ MORE
Demographics· Intergenerational Centre· Political parties and elections My Generation, Baby: The Politics of Age in Brexit Britain 29 March 2019 by Laura Gardiner and Torsten Bell Generational politics is nothing new, but the extent of the profound generational cleavage that has emerged in British electoral politics is novel. The Brexit vote and the 2017 general election put generational politics centre‐stage, eclipsing in some ways the traditionally dominant role of class. Our two main parties now rely on age‐based coalitions of support—on … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Prices & consumption Five key takeaways on UK household spending 25 January 2019 by Laura Gardiner Yesterday the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published its annual rundown of what UK households spend their money on. Quite a bit of the ONS’s analysis focused on who spends most on takeaways. But given household consumption is perhaps the most detailed and direct window on current living standards, there’s plenty more of interest in … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Three steps to make it a happier new year for Universal Credit 18 December 2018 by Laura Gardiner Universal Credit (UC) was a surprise contender for one of the big stories of the Budget, with the Chancellor announcing a welcome reinjection of cash into the system. UC has (finally) hit another important milestone too – as of December 2018, it is on offer to all new claimants of working-age benefits in jobcentres across … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Intergenerational Centre Welcome to adulthood, millennial 13 September 2018 by Laura Gardiner 2018 is the year in which the babies of the millennium reach adulthood. Back in January, this was mainly marked by existential online angst about how those born when Britney Spears’s ‘Oops!… I Did It Again’ was in the charts are reaching legal drinking age. Today’s 18 in 2018 publication from the Office for National … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Intergenerational Centre We need to lift the burden of risk that we are loading onto young people 8 May 2018 by Laura Gardiner A key question for any politician is to ask is what it feels like to grow up in Britain today. The mood and outlook of young adults is a bellwether for the new frontiers of culture, the growth prospects of the economy and the tenor of politics. So, what is the mood among young adults … Continued READ MORE
Housing· Tax· Intergenerational Centre Council tax is a farce – it’s time for a real property tax 21 March 2018 by Laura Gardiner It’s an open secret that council tax is a dog’s dinner. It was conjured up in the early 1990s as a half-way house between the hated ‘poll tax’ and the old domestic rates system, meaning those in top-band properties have much lower tax rates than those in cheaper homes. In England and Scotland, it is … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Economy and public finances· Intergenerational Centre How Philip Hammond can strike a blow for intergenerational fairness in his Budget 13 November 2017 by Laura Gardiner With the dust beginning to settle on a scandal-focused fortnight in Westminster politics, attention is turning back to the big event looming on the horizon – Philip Hammond’s first Autumn Budget in 12 days’ time. The backdrop looks challenging, with the Chancellor having to deal with the headache of a likely downgrade to the economic … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Intergenerational Centre Why intergenerational fairness is rising up the agenda, in 10 charts 30 September 2017 by Laura Gardiner The prospects of today’s younger generation is a topic that graces newspaper headlines and politician’s speeches with increasing regularity. In the middle of party conference season, here’s a 10-chart guide to where the concern is coming from and what those seeking to address the challenge should be focusing on. Jobs and pay Young people were … Continued READ MORE
Wealth & assets· Housing· Intergenerational Centre Homes sweet homes – the rise of multiple property ownership in Britain 19 August 2017 by Laura Gardiner When is a house not a home? Increasingly often, it turns out. Be it a holiday cottage for weekend getaways, a pied-à-terre in the city, a flat rented out for a bit of extra income, or an empty shell of bricks and mortar working harder for your savings than an ISA possibly could – multiple … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Intergenerational Centre· Political parties and elections Votey McVoteface: what’s driving the generational turnout gap, and why it matters 2 June 2017 by Laura Gardiner We are a couple of weeks away from a General Election. Candidates will be shaking hands with as many potential voters as they can, aiming to win their support. But most will prioritise the bingo halls over the student unions because, as is well known, older people are much more likely to make it to … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Intergenerational Centre· Political parties and elections Can political parties capture the hearts and minds of young and old alike on polling day? 1 June 2017 by Laura Gardiner All elections have a theme. The last two were fought on living standards and the deficit. This one is about Brexit first and foremost. But there are other issues bubbling under the surface, with fairness between generations featuring prominently in both main parties’ approaches. Theresa May has identified ‘repairing the intergenerational contract that underpins society’ … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Political parties and elections There’s more on the table at this election than Brexit and security – it’s time we had a proper debate 28 May 2017 by Laura Gardiner This is clearly a very different sort of general election campaign. Conducted in advance of a Brexit process that will profoundly reshape Britain, the focus is on the nature of the deal and the leadership qualities of those vying to negotiate it. The tragic and horrific events in Manchester last week have understandably shifted the … Continued READ MORE
Social care· Welfare· Political parties and elections The Prime Minister changes direction on social care. But will the cap fit? 24 May 2017 by Laura Gardiner Big election announcements on social care have a habit of coming back to bite you. As we pointed out in our reaction to the Conservative manifesto last week, proposals floated at the end of the last Labour government’s term for an estate tax were proclaimed a ‘death tax’ by the opposition. That tag has hamstrung … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Political parties and elections Election 2017: What jobs do UK workers actually do? 23 May 2017 by Laura Gardiner Politicians of all parties spend election campaigns fighting for the votes of what they call “ordinary” or “hardworking” people. And with record numbers of people in work in the UK, there are more of us that fit into that category than ever before. But what exactly do the UK’s workers do and what might be … Continued READ MORE
Social care· Intergenerational Centre Sticking plasters are welcome but, for the sake of all generations, a long-term solution for social care is required 10 March 2017 by Laura Gardiner The day after a Budget is the traditional time for commentators to form a view on just who the winners and losers really are. From this perspective, it would be easy to chalk up the much-trailed announcements on social care as a win for older generations. But as the Resolution Foundation’s Intergenerational Commission is currently … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Economy and public finances· Intergenerational Centre A Spring Budget for young, old and those in between? 6 March 2017 by Laura Gardiner At certain points in the political cycle the distribution of winners and losers at Budget time is viewed fairly cynically, with the government presumed to be focused only on vote-maximisation. But with the prospect of an early election kicked into the long grass, Phillip Hammond’s second fiscal statement this week should instead be revealing of … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Pay· Intergenerational Centre Is the gender pay gap on the brink of closure for young women today? 4 January 2017 by Laura Gardiner A common challenge to those – like us – who spend time voicing our concerns about the lot of today’s younger generation is a simple question: would you rather be born in 1960 or 1990? The argument runs that even millennials on modest incomes have smartphones that a boomer could only have dreamed of at … Continued READ MORE
Labour market A-typical year? 30 December 2016 by Laura Gardiner Atypical is an apt word for describing 2016. From the celebrity death rate to decisions at the ballot box in the UK and America that are fundamentally reshaping politics, there’s a definite sense of disruption. And so it was in the labour market. Granted, 2016 wasn’t the year when atypical working patterns broke into the … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Tax· Intergenerational Centre Inheritances and gifts: The generational challenge facing the Chancellor at this week’s Autumn Statement 21 November 2016 by Laura Gardiner When setting out the challenges facing younger generations – from the hit to pay they’ve suffered post-crisis to the diminishing opportunities to match the housing or pension wealth their parents have– we are often told that it will all be ok once they get their hands on their inheritances. The truth is of course more … Continued READ MORE
