Events Minimum wage, maximum pressure Assessing short-term impacts and long-term plans for the UK’s wage floor UpcomingMonday 31 March 2025 The minimum wage has been a big success story since its introduction in 1998 – but 2025 might be its trickiest year yet. The combination of increases to employer National… Continue Reading
Publications Money, money, money The shifting mix of income sources for poorer households over the last 30 years 17 February 2025 by Lalitha Try This briefing note examines the components of income for low-to-middle income families. It considers how income from earnings and benefits have changed over the last 30 years, and how fixed… Continue Reading
Events Unpredictable earnings The volatility of pay packets and its impact on living standards Tuesday 4 March 2025 Most people are used to receiving regular monthly pay cheques, hopefully with the occasional bonus and an annual rise. But while this is often taken for granted, for other workers… Continue Reading
Publications The Living Standards Outlook 2024 29 August 2024 by Alex Clegg and Adam Corlett This is our sixth annual Living Standards Outlook. It provides an assessment of incomes, poverty and inequality as things stand in 2024-25, and projections up to 2029-30 using economic forecasts… Continue Reading
Comment Five takeaways from new living standards data 22 March 2024 by Adam Corlett and Lalitha Try The annual release of DWP’s Households Below Average Income (HBAI) figures is far less timely than other economic indicators and, as it is based on survey data, it is noisy.… Continue Reading
Publications Narrowing the youth gap Exploring the impact of changes to the minimum wage on the incidence of low pay among young people 20 December 2023 by Louise Murphy and Esiri Bukata In the Autumn Statement last month, the Chancellor announced big changes to the minimum wage. Alongside the announcement that the adult-rate minimum wage (the ‘National Living Wage’, or NLW) will… Continue Reading
Events Rising rents and rebounding wages Where is Britain’s cost-of-living crisis heading? Thursday 14 December 2023 Inflation is down, but Britain’s cost-of-living crisis is still very much with us. The legacy of previous price rises for energy and food are now combining with a new pressure:… Continue Reading
Comment Flat pay, little wealth and a shrinking safety net. Whatever happened to the millennials? What does the Intergenerational Audit say about UK Millennials 13 November 2023 by Molly Broome Recently, there’s been good news for millennials from across the pond where the latest data suggests their living standards are catching up with (and on some measures surpassing) previous generations.… Continue Reading
