Housing An additional £2bn for affordable housing – a big deal or just small fry? 5 October 2017 by Lindsay Judge It’s the morning after Theresa May committed an additional £2 billion to affordable housing, so is this a big deal or just small fry? The announcement is clearly significant in a number of key ways. First, this money represents a sizeable bump to the £7 billion the government had already pledged over the parliament for … Continued READ MORE
Housing· Intergenerational Centre Social housing for the younger generations? 4 October 2017 by Lindsay Judge Social housing has received much well-deserved attention over the conference season and even looks set to be the star of the show in Theresa May’s speech. But while the rise and fall of the sector is a familiar story, the intergenerational consequences of its course are rarely remarked upon. With our new research showing that … 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
Childcare· Welfare A hat-trick of childcare policies are being rolled out this Autumn. But is the current approach an expensive own goal? 28 September 2017 by David Finch Childcare support is all the rage. As well as being the focus of one of the key policy announcements at Labour Conference this week, the government is rolling out not one but three new policies this Autumn. Even in these austere times, the government is spending £2bn on the introduction of Tax Free Childcare and … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Political parties and elections For Labour, it’s all about what you say 23 September 2017 by Torsten Bell Labour members heading to Brighton this weekend will be a historical anomaly. Because they will be perky. That isn’t the word you’d normally associate with Labour party members on the eve of party conference for the last decade. Depressed, occasionally. Determined, often. But perky? No. And fair enough. Just 15 weeks ago they learnt that … Continued READ MORE
Housing· Intergenerational Centre Politicians need to be talking about solutions to the housing crisis 20 September 2017 by Torsten Bell Everyone’s worried about the young. Not least because, if June’s election is anything to go by, it turns out that they do in fact vote and aren’t exactly enamoured with what it turns out 21st Century Britain has to offer them. Whatever the reason for this summer’s youth-angsting, it’s a very sensible thing to do. … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Pay The cap no longer fits – but has the squeeze been eased? 12 September 2017 by Daniel Tomlinson One of the main talking points as people digested the shock election result in June was whether years of pay restraint had finally taken its toll on public sector workers, who were making their feelings known at the ballot box. The fate of the pay cap was sealed a few hours after the polling stations … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Prices & consumption· Inequality & poverty· Welfare The living standards issue that’s bigger than Brexit for lower income households 9 September 2017 by Matthew Whittaker Love it or loathe it, the long shadow of Brexit is set to dominate our political weather for some considerable time to come. With good reason of course. The long-term impact remains uncertain, but we can be sure it will be significant. And in the near-term, there’s no denying that the referendum result is at … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Migration Should I stay or should I go now? 25 August 2017 by Stephen Clarke Yesterday it emerged that the Home Office incorrectly sent around 100 deportation letters to EU citizens. Although the government has apologised, it would appear from today’s immigration statistics that many EU nationals are doing the Home Office’s job for them. Net migration (immigration minus emigration) fell to 246,000 in the year to March 2017, the … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Skills Today’s exam question: how do we remedy the growing skills divide? 22 August 2017 by Kathleen Henehan Amid the annual excitement of A-Level and GCSE results days, young people and their parents understandably pore over the exam marks that show the qualifications they have gained. But alongside celebrating individuals progress, it’s worth stepping back to consider the bigger picture of increasing qualifications for the UK as a whole, and what this means … 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
Labour market· Intergenerational Centre Graduates and the young are spearheading a decline in regional mobility 15 August 2017 by Stephen Clarke It is often assumed that the millennial generation (broadly speaking those born in the 1980s and 1990s) spend all their money on holidays, avocado toast and iPhones, and are all cultivating ‘portfolio careers’ disdainful of the notion of a job for life. Like most stereotypes there is perhaps some truth in this. People are travelling … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Living standards· Inequality & poverty Vast gaps in living standards between ethnic groups persist — and recent progress could yet be undone 10 August 2017 by Adam Corlett We talk a lot about certain types of income inequality—the recent outcry over unequal pay at the BBC springs to mind—but the specifics of ethnic economic inequalities rarely get enough air time. Though only scratching the surface of such a complex topic, my recent Resolution Foundation briefing on the gaps in household incomes for different ethnicities sought … Continued READ MORE
Living standards We let the 2007 financial crisis go to waste 9 August 2017 by Torsten Bell It’s not the time passing, it’s the opportunity for retrospection that kills you. Or at least that’s how it feels looking back a full 10 years to the day when I was working in the Treasury as we got the news that the French bank BNP Paribas had frozen funds exposed to US sub-prime mortgages. The … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Living standards· Inequality & poverty Despite the economic gloom, living standards for BAME groups are finally catching up 9 August 2017 by Torsten Bell Good news is undervalued. Partly because it doesn’t make as good headlines and partly because there hasn’t been much of it around after a fairly grim decade since the financial crisis. So here’s some: since the turn of the millennium living standards gaps between different ethnic groups have been narrowing in Britain. Since 2002 White … Continued READ MORE
Can flexibility be made to work for workers? Insecurity over working hours and what to do about it 8 August 2017 by Gavin Kelly As the nature of work evolves then, sooner or later, so do the constraints and expectations that society eventually places upon employers. 19th century industrial politics were peppered with conflicts over factory conditions and the length of the working day, resulting in the Factory Acts. Much of the 20th century was shaped by the rise … Continued READ MORE
Productivity & industrial strategy· Labour market· Economic growth Taking stock of our industrial strategy 1 August 2017 by Stephen Clarke Recent electoral surprises, particularly the referendum last summer and last month’s general election, have been described as reactions against the economic status quo. The shocks have been greeted by politician promising no more business as usual. Theresa May has said that her government will create “a country in which prosperity and opportunity are shared right … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Productivity & industrial strategy· Low pay Morrisons matters: we need an industrial strategy for pay packets 25 July 2017 by Torsten Bell Like excessively floral play suits, industrial strategy has made a comeback from that strange land we call the 1970s. It’s all the rage. The government has named a department after it. Jeremy Corbyn is so keen to set that strategy free of European rules and regulations, he wants to leave the single market over it. … Continued READ MORE
Low pay· Labour market· Pay The gender pay gap at the top of the BBC is making headlines, but what about pay at the bottom? 24 July 2017 by Kathleen Henehan Last week’s row over pay at the BBC has rumbled on through the weekend, and put the gender pay gap back at the top of the news agenda. With the gender pay gap still over 10 per cent, and unlikely to end any time soon given current trends, it’s good that this topic is leading … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Far from full employment 21 July 2017 by Stephen Clarke The recently released Taylor review was widely covered as an attempt to get to grips with the gig economy amid the growing sense that too much work in the UK was not ‘fair and decent’. The review comes on the back of five years of robust employment growth but stagnant wages and the proliferation of … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Skills Five tests on which to judge the success of apprenticeships 19 July 2017 by Kathleen Henehan A few weeks ago, we wrote about the importance of paying attention to apprenticeship figures. And now we’ve had two days of debate and disagreement around apprenticeship figures, in particular how much they’re paid. So what’s been happening of late? In short, apprenticeship participation is up, and at higher levels of study. But we’re concerned … Continued READ MORE
Prices & consumption· Economy and public finances Inflation afflictions 18 July 2017 by Stephen Clarke The story of the last 12 months is that inflation has risen rapidly and eroded people’s living standards. From 0.8 per cent in June 2016 inflation is now 2.6 per cent. Despite the small welcome fall last month current projections suggest it will remain around this level for the rest of the year. The rise … Continued READ MORE
Household debt Time to put away the credit card 13 July 2017 by Toby Phillips The squeeze is on. National accounts data last month confirmed that household incomes have been falling for the last three quarters. Yesterday’s labour market statistics showed that wages continue to lose ground to inflation. And today new survey data from the Bank the England shows that credit availability is tightening. Today’s survey is the latest … Continued READ MORE
Labour market It’s good to focus on overtime, not just Uber 11 July 2017 by Torsten Bell When a government publishes a Big Review – and at 115 pages the Taylor Review certainly fits that bill – the temptation is to rush into the weeds of its very many recommendations. But before we do that it’s worth stepping back and considering how remarkable it is that we’re even here in the first … Continued READ MORE
Welfare It’s crunch time for Universal Credit – and big changes are needed 7 July 2017 by David Finch Calls for an end to austerity have dominated the media in recent days with the focus largely on removing the public sector pay cap. But from a living standards perspective, ongoing ‘austerity’ via cuts in Universal Credit (UC) will make a much bigger difference to those families affected. The roll-out of UC, which is set … Continued READ MORE
