Britain needs a ‘Full Monty’ policy package, including a Job Protection Scheme to subsidise the wages of hospitality workers and its biggest job creation programme in peacetime, to respond to the highest unemployment since the early 1990s, according to a major new Resolution Foundation report published today (Monday). The Full Monty takes a deep dive into … Continued

The ‘Triple Lock’ is on course to increase the cash value of the State Pension by 7.6 per cent between 2020 and 2022, compared to 2.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent increases in prices and earnings respectively, largely due to the coronavirus crisis causing earnings to fall this year and spike next year, according … Continued

Lower-income households are twice as likely as high-income households to have increased their use of consumer credit during the crisis, and are 50 per cent more likely to be saving less than usual, leaving them particularly exposed to the ongoing economic crisis, according to a major new Resolution Foundation report published today (Monday). Rainy Days, … Continued

The impact of the pandemic has pushed the UK’s public debt level above the size of the economy for the first time since 1963, the Resolution Foundation said today (Friday) in response to the latest public finance figures. Public borrowing in May was the highest on record (£55.2 billion), and slightly higher than borrowing in … Continued

The UK experienced has experienced record falls hours worked and vacancies since the lockdown began, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the latest ONS figures. The latest ONS data shows that while the headline measure of unemployment (covering the period February to April) is yet to capture the effects of the economic … Continued

Every region of the UK is seeing a significant rise in unemployment, but coastal tourist destinations like Blackpool, Pembrokeshire and Devon are seeing the biggest jobs hit, the Resolution Foundation says in new analysis published today (Sunday). With a drop of nearly half a million PAYE workers between March and April, Britain is facing a … Continued

April saw the sharpest monthly contraction on record, with GDP falling by 20.4 per cent compared with March, the Resolution Foundation said in response to latest figures released today (Friday) by the Office for National Statistics.   This monthly contraction is more than 9 times greater than any pre-pandemic monthly fall since these records began in 1997 (beating the 2.2 per cent fall in June 2002).  In the three months to April output fell by 10.4 per … Continued

Nearly two-in-five (38 per cent) high-income, working-age families have strengthened their household budgets since the crisis began, by reducing their spending and avoiding a hit to their incomes, while just one-in-eight (12 per cent) low-income families have been in this position, according to a new Resolution Foundation report published today (Tuesday). Much of the debate … Continued

A new settlement for low-paid workers, hardest hit by both health and economic risks in this crisis, should be introduced to improve their pay and conditions as Britain emerges from the crisis, according to a new report published today (Wednesday) by the Resolution Foundation. The report notes that the UK’s 4.2 million low-paid workers have … Continued

One-in-eight (13 per cent) private renters have fallen behind with their housing costs since the coronavirus crisis started, compared to just one-in-twelve (8 per cent) mortgaged home owners, highlighting how the pandemic has exacerbated Britain’s housing divide, according to new Resolution Foundation research published today (Saturday). The report, based on a YouGov survey of 6,005 … Continued

The Chancellor has sensibly set out a cautious timetable for bringing employer contributions into the Job Retention Scheme (JRS), alongside extending the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme that will be very generous in many cases, the Resolution Foundation said today (Friday) in response to the Chancellor’s announcement. The Foundation says that the cautious timetable for introducing … Continued

Universal Credit (UC) has passed its first test of the crisis by coping with an unprecedented surge in demand, but tougher challenges lie ahead in protecting family incomes and helping people back into work, according to a major new report published today (Wednesday). The report, supported by The Standard Life Foundation, considers how UC has … Continued

Government borrowing reached £62.1 billion in April – the highest monthly figure since records began in 1993, and as much as the whole of last year (£62.7bn between April 2019-March 2020) – highlighting the stark fiscal cost of the coronavirus crisis, the Resolution Foundation said today (Friday) in response to the latest ONS public finance figures. … Continued

The Top 1 per cent received a far greater, and faster growing, share of the nation’s income pre-crisis than previously thought, if capital gains are included in official statistics, according to major new research published today (Thursday). The research – a collaboration between the Resolution Foundation, LSE and CAGE Research Centre at the University of … Continued

The number of employees fell by 450,000 in April, while vacancies crashed by around 50 per cent, giving an early indication of the scale of the jobs crisis Britain is currently experiencing, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the latest ONS figures published this morning. Flash estimates from HMRC’s PAYE real-time information … Continued

Over one in three 18-24 year olds, and three in ten workers in their early 60s, are receiving less pay than they did at the start of the year, compared to less than a quarter of workers aged 35-49, according to new Resolution Foundation published today (Tuesday). The report, Young workers in the coronavirus crisis, … Continued

30 per cent of Britain’s lowest-paid employees have either been furloughed or lost their jobs altogether, according to a new Resolution Foundation report published today (Saturday). The report, The effects of the coronavirus crisis on workers, based on a survey of 6,005 UK adults and supported by the Health Foundation, examines how the current economic … Continued

GDP fell by 2 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, its sharpest contraction since the peak of the financial crisis (Q4 2008), giving an ominous early indication of the scale of the economic hit the UK is currently experiencing the Resolution Foundation said today (Wednesday) in response to the latest ONS GDP figures. … Continued

The Chancellor has made the right call in announcing a four-month extension to the Job Retention Scheme, opening it up to ‘partial furloughing’, and asking firms to contribute to the scheme instead of reducing support for workers, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday). Torsten Bell, Chief Executive at the Resolution Foundation, said: “The Job Retention … Continued

The Government should reject calls for a rapid ending of its Job Retention Scheme (JRS), and instead set out plans for a gradual phasing out, with the timing dependent on the lifting of lockdown restrictions, according to new Resolution Foundation research published today (Tuesday). The report – Getting Britain working (safely) again – says the … Continued

The Bank of England’s first official take on the economic impact of coronavirus suggests that Britain is in the midst of the biggest economic contraction in over 300 years, and that even a rapid recovery will leave a longer-term legacy of high unemployment, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday) in response to the Bank’s Monetary … Continued

The current economic crisis risks pushing an additional 600,000 18-24-year-olds into unemployment in the coming year – and causing long-term damage to their pay and job prospects unless major new support is provided ­– according to new Resolution Foundation research published today (Wednesday). With evidence from previous recessions showing that young people who’ve just left … Continued

New figures announced today (Monday) by HMRC that 6.3 million workers have been furloughed since the Job Retention Scheme opened on 20 April, and new DWP figures showing that 1.8 million Universal Credit claims have been made between 16 March and the end of April (along with 250,000 claims for Jobseekers’ Allowance), show that Britain … Continued

Working women are most likely to be bearing the health risks from coronavirus by being key workers, while young people and the low-paid are most likely to work in sectors of the economy that have been shutdown, according to a new report published today (Tuesday) by the Resolution Foundation. While the current economic crisis is … Continued

The Government is seeking to raise £225 billion over the four months from April to July through issuing gilts, highlighting the stark nature of the Government’s financing needs amid the current crisis, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday) in response to new a HM Treasury announcement on gilt issuance and the ONS’ public finances data … Continued