Welfare The coalition and families with children – a taxing issue? 21 January 2013 by Gavin Kelly This blog originally appeared on the New Statesman Often it takes the deadline of an impending announcement to really expose underlying tensions about the future direction of policy. The coalition’s recent sorry saga on childcare policy – breathless briefings about a major expansion in tax-relief meant to herald the coalition’s renewed vitality, followed by an awkward … Continued READ MORE
Welfare The Childcare Announcement That Never Was 18 January 2013 by James Plunkett This blog originally appeared on the Huffington Post Uncertainty continues to cloud the government’s plans on childcare. Latest rumours suggest they may now delay any big announcement until after the budget. If government sources are to be believed, the most recent plans have been scuppered by a tag team of HMT officials and senior Lib Dems. The Treasury is … Continued READ MORE
Welfare The Coalition’s Childcare Policy Moves in Mysterious Ways 8 January 2013 by James Plunkett This post orginally appeared on The Huffingtom Post blog There may have been few details in Monday’s renewal of Coalition vows but one key policy continues to invite debate: the government’s plans for childcare. Much remains uncertain but it does now seem clear that the government hopes to use tax relief as its key way of … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Childcare tax breaks risk helping the rich the most 8 January 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson This post originally appeared on The Staggers blog At present, there are almost no voucher recipients among the poorest 40 per cent of households. In the week that parents earning over £50,000 saw their child benefit cut, the speculation is that the government intends to introduce tax relief for childcare, possibly making those who were worse off from … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances An Autumn Statement for strivers? 5 December 2012 by Matthew Whittaker Today’s fiscally neutral Autumn Statement was billed as one for strivers. We have already shown that around 60 per cent of the cut associated with the 1 per cent uprating of most working-age benefits and tax credits will actually fall on working households. But of course, the additional £235 increase in the personal tax allowance … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances From striver alert to future cuts: five things to expect from the Autumn Statement 4 December 2012 by Gavin Kelly This post originally appeared on Gavin’s New Statesman blog In the Autumn Statement there will be a blizzard of facts, figures, assertions and counter-assertions. There have been a few helpful pointers on what lto ook out for (try this and this), and I’ve already given my tuppence worth on what may happen to the faltering fiscal rules. But here are a … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances George Osborne cannot possibly know how long austerity will last 2 December 2012 by Gavin Kelly This post originally appeared on Gavin’s New Statesman blog Next week George Osborne will hold forth on the size of the underlying deficit and reveal whether austerity will now extend until at least 2018. When he does, he won’t know what he’s talking about – and he’ll be in good company. Neither will Ed Balls when … Continued READ MORE
Welfare On Childcare, Tax Breaks for Nannies Can’t Be the Answer 1 December 2012 by James Plunkett This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post Few political debates have made more progress in 2012 than that around childcare. In the past 12 months, all threemajor parties have come to see reform as an economic and political necessity. Although hard policy proposals are yet to emerge, it’s now clear that one yardstick for 2015 will be the … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances How seven years of cuts will transform the political landscape 29 November 2012 by Gavin Kelly When it comes to big political set pieces, like yesterday’s Autumn Statement, the predictable somehow still manages to surprise. Everyone knew it would be bad; and we all knew it would raise big challenges for all three parties. Yet today, everyone is caught off-guard.In part, it’s because the unprecedented duration of the cuts — until … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Is underemployment the new normal? 28 November 2012 by Giselle Cory This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post Today’s ONS release confirms the scale of the rise in underemployment. More than one in ten workers are now underemployed, working fewer hours than they would like to – a million more than in 2008. Recently, this increase has run hand in hand with a flat-lining of overall unemployment, as … Continued READ MORE
Labour market In-work poverty: the decline of the male breadwinner 26 November 2012 by Matthew Whittaker Today’s important JRF report on poverty and social exclusion highlights the changing nature of poverty in recent years, finding that more than half of those children and working‑age adults who are reported to be in poverty live in a working household. This trend pre-dates the recession and, as our work has shown, is particularly concentrated among families in … Continued READ MORE
Labour market The squeeze on earnings continues 22 November 2012 by Alex Hurrell The ONS 2012 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings release that came out this morning reveals that median real wages have fallen between 2010-11 and 2011-12. Median gross annual earnings for full-time employees were £26,500 for the tax year ending 5 April 2012, an increase of 1.4 percent from the previous year. But over the … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Part-time work: two sides to every story 14 November 2012 by Giselle Cory A glance at the labour market statistics will tell you that there’s a lot of involuntary underemployment. The number of people in this position –working few hours or in lower-skilled jobs for lack of finding something more suitable – is worryingly high and has been for some time. At the start of 2008, 1 million people … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Clegg’s Score-draw on Women’s Work 13 November 2012 by James Plunkett This post originally appeared on the Huffington Post The coalition recognised long ago it has a major problem with women. This morning’s speech from the deputy prime pinister was one of the first major attempts to address this challenge through policy. The speech, drawing heavily on the Resolution Foundation report The Missing Million, looked at how to raise female employment through … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Wage growth and distribution: can we be hopeful about the future? 7 November 2012 by Matthew Whittaker Look away from events in the US for a moment and you’ll find an interesting new release from the ONS highlighting trends in UK wage growth over the past 25 years. The headline points to average post-inflation hourly wage increases of 62 per cent since 1986, which looks fairly impressive and goes to the heart of our … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Where next for the living wage? Progress on low pay is imperative 4 November 2012 by Matthew Pennycook This post originally appeared on the New Statesman blog Tomorrow marks the start of the first Living Wage week. It is tangible proof that, 11 years after a small broad-based East London community alliance revived an idea first forged in the industrial heartlands of 1870s Britain, momentum for increased living wage coverage continues to gather pace. And … Continued READ MORE
Welfare What impact will extra childcare support have for working parents? 2 November 2012 by Alex Hurrell The final report of the Commission on Living Standards, a broad group of leading employers, trade unionists, economists and heads of parents’ groups brought together by the independent think-tank the Resolution Foundation, was launched on Wednesday. A key recommendation put forward in the report was to extend the Early Years Entitlement (EYE) of 15 free hours of childcare … Continued READ MORE
Welfare The politics of childcare are heating up. Here’s why 27 October 2012 by Gavin Kelly This post originally appeared on Gavin’s New Statesman blog Often an issue only gets the attention it deserves due to a shift in the wider political context. And so it may be with our creaking childcare system. Despite unprecedented increases in public support – and major improvements – it’s still the case that during the Labour years childcare … Continued READ MORE
Living standards When a growing economy still feels bad 25 October 2012 by James Plunkett This post orginally appeared on Coffeehouse David Cameron was right; the good news has kept on coming. This morning’s first estimate from the ONS puts GDP growth in the third quarter at 1.0 percent. Cue much justified squabbling over what the ‘real’ number is. A significant portion of this growth will be a one-off, post-Jubilympics bounce-back, suggesting slower … Continued READ MORE
Welfare A falling reliance on state pensions? 24 October 2012 by Giselle Cory New data out from the ONS today gives an insight into the changing financial realities of the UK’s retired households. Stretching over 30 years from 1977 to 2010/11, the data paint a picture of rising pensioner income alongside a shift from state to private sources. Private income, such as that from private pensions, employment and … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Measuring unemployment: the claimant count gap 18 October 2012 by Matthew Whittaker A rare good news story from the ONS, with the latest labour market statistics bucking the trend for gloomy economic data. In June to August, unemployment fell to 2.53 million and the total number of people in employment (29.59 million) reached a new high. Yet, while the number of people out of work was down by 50,000, … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Give or take: who’s making a positive net tax contribution? 12 October 2012 by Alex Hurrell In recent days there has been a lot of discussion about net tax contribution, and in particular at what point in the income distribution households start to make a positive net contribution, i.e. pay in through taxes more than they receive in cash benefits. However, there are two issues of critical importance when considering net … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances George Osborne’s strivers have a shock in store 11 October 2012 by Gavin Kelly Beware politicians serving up easy distinctions to please and appease their party faithful. This week at the Conservative conference, the favoured divide was between “strivers and shirkers“, a refinement of one of the oldest tropes in politics – the deserving and undeserving poor. Devices like these generally work far better in the conference hall than they … Continued READ MORE
Labour market The impact of unemployment reaches beyond the out-of-work 4 October 2012 by Matthew Whittaker It’s a fairly obvious point that pay rises are connected to unemployment levels: the more people there are ready to step into work, the less scope employees have to push for higher wages. Of course the connection is not quite so straightforward in practice, and pay trends are affected by many more factors than unemployment … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances Spending more on less 27 September 2012 by Giselle Cory There has been a lot of discussion of inflation lately, as prices continue their upward march. The consumer trends data out today from ONS gives us an alternative way of looking at inflation. It shows that we are spending more and getting less on essentials like food, housing and transport. This is shown in the … Continued READ MORE
