Welfare Tax and benefit systems must do more to make work pay 17 July 2012 The current system of redistribution through taxation and welfare is inefficient and could be reformed to give more support to those on low and middle incomes according to a new report for the Resolution Foundation. The report, written by Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and drawing heavily on the Mirrlees Review … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Key Cameron ally calls for end to universal benefits for better-off pensioners 10 July 2012 Leading Tory moderniser, Nick Boles MP, calls for end to Winter Fuel Payments, free prescriptions, free bus travel and free TV licenses for better-off pensioners from 2015 to help ensure the government can do more to help working people achieve rising living standards in the future. In a major speech to the independent think tank, … Continued READ MORE
Welfare No evidence that tax credits surpress wages, says think tank 27 June 2012 There is no evidence that tax credits hold down low wages, according to new research published today by independent think tank the Resolution Foundation. The analysis discredits the assumption that tax credits, available to low and middle income families, enable employers to pay lower wages. Tax credits reach around six million families, providing substantial support … Continued READ MORE
Housing Stagnant economy will mean record numbers renting their homes 10 June 2012 Just one in four households will own with a mortgage by 2025 if the economy continues to stagnate, pushing record numbers into the private rented sector, new research says today. A new report commissioned by the Resolution Foundation and Shelter from Cambridge University looks at how the housing market will change if current economic … Continued READ MORE
Housing Lowest income households borrowed to spend in run up to crisis 15 May 2012 Low to middle income households were reliant on borrowing to fund much of their spending for more than a decade before the financial crisis, according to a new report for the independent think tank the Resolution Foundation. The report reveals the full extent of the increase in borrowing and deterioration in household savings rates in the … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Big business can afford to pay living wage 7 May 2012 Paying a living wage is affordable for big companies in UK banking, construction, computing and food production sectors, according to a new report jointly published by the think tanks Resolution Foundation and IPPR. The new analysis shows that the average increase in the wage bill for listed companies in these sectors would be about 1 … Continued READ MORE
Housing One in five people struggling to keep heads above water 22 April 2012 Almost one in five people (18%) are finding it increasingly hard to afford essentials such as food and energy bills, according to new polling from independent think tank, Resolution Foundation. With the recovery remaining highly fragile and new cuts to tax credits starting to bite, the number of those expecting their financial situation to get worse … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Minimum wage now lower than eight years ago 17 April 2012 The national minimum wage has reduced wage inequality but without damaging employment, according to a new report for the independent think tank the Resolution Foundation. The news comes in light of this year’s just announced 11p increase from £6.08 an hour to £6.19, with the rate frozen for young people. This is the third successive … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Black Friday as Chancellor wields cuts to tax credits 5 April 2012 Thousands of low income working families will lose up to a quarter of their household income from this Friday, the start of the new tax year, as major cuts to tax credits start to bite. In particular, low to middle income couples working less than 24 hours will no longer be eligible for working tax … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances Resolution Foundation 2012 Budget Reaction 21 March 2012 ANALYSIS The further increase to the personal tax allowance to £9,205 in April 2013 will benefit all basic rate tax payers by on average £220 a year, worth £170 after inflation. Our first priority to target gains more directly on low to middle income households would have been to reverse £1.6bn of cuts to working … Continued READ MORE
Labour market We’re all managers now 2 March 2012 Job title inflation has been a growing phenomenon in recent years, with an increasing proportion of people with senior sounding job titles still earning middle-ranking wages, according to new research published today for the independent think tank the Resolution Foundation. The research finds that the proportion of managers in the retail sector earning below £400 … Continued READ MORE
Welfare The high price of motherhood 9 February 2012 British women are paying a shockingly high price for motherhood as they are forced into lower-skilled, part-time work after having children, according to the findings of a new survey by Netmums and independent think tank, Resolution Foundation. The poll of over 1,600 part-time working mothers revealed almost half (48%) of mothers on low to middle … Continued READ MORE
Living standards Political battle for the squeezed middle escalates 23 January 2012 The squeezed middle remain the key political battleground, facing a new tax credits squeeze on top of a continued fall in real wages, a growing chance of a lifetime renting, increasingly precarious household finances and incomes unlikely to rise beyond their pre-recession (2007) levels even by 2020, according to a new report from independent think … Continued READ MORE
Housing Households preparing for the worst as they batten down the hatches 22 January 2012 With growing pessimism about the state of their household finances, a third of Britons plan to cut back their spending this year, a significant rise from in October. More also say they are now saving and planning to pay down their debt, according to new polling from independent think tank, the Resolution Foundation. The poll is … Continued READ MORE
Living standards Rising prices of essential goods wipe out gains in living standards 27 December 2011 New analysis shows that the rising cost of essentials had already wiped out most of the gains in living standards made in the early 2000s by families on low and modest incomes, even before the recession began. The new report, for independent think-tank the Resolution Foundation, shows that increases in the price of food, fuel … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Welfare Children in low to middle income families start school five months behind 13 December 2011 Children in low to middle income families are already behind their most affluent peers when they start school, because of their upbringing – according to a major new study for the independent think tank, the Resolution Foundation. The study of over 15,000 five year olds, carried out by child development experts Jane Waldfogel and Elizabeth … Continued READ MORE
Housing Tenants ripped off by letting agents 8 December 2011 Tenants are being let down by an unregulated lettings market, with significant upfront costs, variable fees and a lack of transparency around charges, according to a new report published today by independent think tank, the Resolution Foundation. In a mystery shopping exercise of letting agents in three cities, the range and type of fees charged … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Working women key to rising living standards 6 December 2011 The rise of working women has been a critical factor in raising the living standards of low to middle income households in the last 40 years, according to new research carried out by the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies for the Resolution Foundation. In the first major study breaking down the factors which drove household … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances Autumn statement deepens squeeze on low and middle income families 29 November 2011 Today’s announcement of cuts to tax credits hit low to middle income families hard and is straightforwardly regressive, analysis from the Resolution Foundation shows. Scrapping the planned increases in Child Tax Credit and freezing more elements of the Working Tax Credit takes money from those who can least afford it, with more than three-quarters of … Continued READ MORE
Living standards US experts fly in as living standards in Britain ‘stand at a crossroads’ 21 November 2011 President Obama’s ‘middle-class tsar’ today flies into the UK for a major summit with British economists on the squeezed middle. Jared Bernstein, who ran the White House Taskforce on how to reverse the decline of the American middle-class, will speak at the meeting with British and American economists called by independent think tank the Resolution … Continued READ MORE
Living standards Households battening down the hatches risks prolonging economic woe 31 October 2011 A third of Britons are cutting back their spending, and more are anxious about their job security, according to new polling from independent think tank, Resolution Foundation. The poll is the second in a new quarterly tracker of household finances, carried out by respected polling firm Ipsos MORI. The poll reveals rising anxiety about job security … Continued READ MORE
Living standards Workers miss out on gain from growth across the OECD 28 October 2011 Workers are gaining less of the proceeds from economic growth right across the OECD, according to a report published today from the independent think tank the Resolution Foundation. The report, Painful Separation, examines the relationship between economic growth and wages for workers on middle (median) wages over the last 30 years in 10 major OECD … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Working families spared further childcare cuts 7 October 2011 Resolution Foundation’s calls for a rethink on childcare deliver success as the Government announces childcare support under the new Universal credit will be kept at current levels, compensating low to middle income working parents for 70% of their childcare costs. This is good news for working parents who had previously been threatened with a further … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Women and part-timers losing the earnings race 23 September 2011 What sex you are, whether you work part time and where you live are all critical for your chances of social mobility, according to a major new study published today by the independent think tank the Resolution Foundation. The report, Snakes and Ladders, finds that women, those working part-time and those outside of London are … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Inreasing penalty for not having a degree 7 September 2011 Those without a degree are losing the social mobility battle, accordingly to new analysis to be published soon by the independent think tank the Resolution Foundation. The new research shows that, compared to those with a degree, those without a degree are more likely to move down the earnings scale during their careers and were … Continued READ MORE
