Labour market· Cities and regions Charting a course to better jobs in Greater Manchester 26 October 2017 by Stephen Clarke Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, has just announced that he is looking at creating a ‘GM Employers’ Charter’ to raise productivity and job quality in the region. As a first step the Mayor is seeking the views of employers, workers, trade unions and other experts, so it’s a good time to take stock … Continued READ MORE
Labour market We need to address Britain’s Jekyll and Hyde labour market 19 October 2017 by Conor D’Arcy The latest chapter in the British labour market’s Jekyll and Hyde story was published this week. New data on jobs, pay and inflation continued the plot of recent months: an impressively high employment rate twinned with woeful wage growth that’s unable to keep up with prices. But for one group at least, recent developments have … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Brexit & trade· Economy and public finances There’s much uncertainty about a ‘No Deal’ Brexit, but what we do know would be bad for living standards 17 October 2017 by Torsten Bell Big change, means big uncertainty. Especially when that big change is being brought to the complex beast that is a major developed country in the 21st Century. To complicate the task further, in the case of Brexit Britain while we know big change is coming, we don’t know what form that big change will actually … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Welfare Let it go Chancellor. Why Philip Hammond should revisit the benefit freeze in next month’s Budget 15 October 2017 by David Finch The weather might be un-seasonally warm just now, but millions of household budgets are in the grip of a four-year freeze that’s about to get colder still. For decades, the government’s default position has been to uprate the value of working-age benefits each April in line with the rate of inflation prevailing in the previous … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Incomes Did raising tuition fees flatter measurements of young people’s incomes? 13 October 2017 by Adam Corlett The government has announced that the maximum annual tuition fee will be frozen at £9,250; and that the earnings threshold for repayment will jump from £21,000 to £25,000. What’s more, there will be a wide review of student finances to “look again” at this turbulent political issue. While they’re doing that, government statisticians should look … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Skills Is the big fall in Apprenticeship starts a blip, or a sign of things to come? 12 October 2017 by Kathleen Henehan Since the implementation of the apprenticeship levy in May of this year, many have wondered how a shift in funding – with large employers in England being required to put 0.5% of their wage bill into an apprenticeship account – would affect the number and type of apprenticeships on offer. Today, we have first sight … Continued READ MORE
Productivity & industrial strategy· Economy and public finances· Economic growth The living standards cost of the OBR’s newfound productivity pessimism 10 October 2017 by Matthew Whittaker Rumours of attempts within the Cabinet to remove Philip Hammond may or may not be wide of the mark. But given the recent steady flow of disappointing economic data, the Chancellor could be forgiven for wanting to walk before he’s pushed. Last week’s PMI data and today’s short-term indicators from the ONS both suggested that … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Labour market· Inequality & poverty Black and ethnic minority workers needs a bigger living standards reward for their astounding progress in getting degrees 7 October 2017 by Kathleen Henehan and Helena Rose On Tuesday, the Government will publish an audit of race disparity across public service outcomes. The data, which will be publicly available, outlines race-based inequality in health, education and employment services, and within the criminal justice system. This is a very welcome development: previous Resolution Foundation research found that such disparities are very real when … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Incomes· Brexit & trade· Inequality & poverty We’re getting poorer, but it’s not (just) Brexit 6 October 2017 by Matthew Whittaker Amid a busy week in politics, the publication this week of new data showing that average household income per person has fallen in each of the last four quarters has passed somewhat unremarked upon. As the chart below shows, annualised income fell by 0.3 per cent in the second quarter of this year relative to … Continued READ MORE
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
