The UK’s initial post-Brexit trade plan must be replaced with a far more ambitious strategy to protect Britain’s vulnerable high-value manufacturing firms – reliant on being part of European supply chains – while pioneering a new approach to trade negotiations to capitalise on its strengths as a global services superpower, according to major new research … Continued

The strength of regular pay growth in recent months means that the UK’s 18-month real wage squeeze may well have ended, at least for now. But this welcome news for workers will concern the Bank of England who may want to raise interest rates higher and for longer in order to cool pay growth, the … Continued

Economic inactivity due to ill health among 18-24 year-olds has nearly doubled over the past decade, and is heavily concentrated among those struggling with education, with four-in-five young people who are too ill to work having only qualifications at GCSE-level or below, according to new research published today (Monday) by the Resolution Foundation. The Foundation’s … Continued

The UK must – and can – urgently reform its £32 billion of road taxes so that the welcome transition to Electric Vehicles (EVs) does not put pressure on the public finances and road congestion, according to new research published today (Thursday) by the Resolution Foundation. Where the rubber hits the road – the 36th … Continued

New ONS data published today (Thursday) showed that overall net migration hit a record high of 606,000 in 2022. But Resolution Foundation analysis of separate ONS data shows that the number of migrant workers rose by 170,000 over 2022 – up from lows immediately post-Brexit but significantly below the pre-Brexit average of 230,000. The latest … Continued

Ofgem’s announcement today that the energy price cap will fall to £2,074 on 1 July still leaves bills far higher than they were pre-crisis, but marks the welcome moment when falling wholesale gas prices start to benefit consumers, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday). The latest price cap is a decrease of over £1,000 since … Continued

CPI inflation fell back to its lowest level since March 2022, but rising core inflation will be disappointing for the Bank of England, while surging food prices will be very worrying for families, the Resolution Foundation said today (Wednesday) in response to the latest ONS prices data. CPI inflation fell back to 8.7 per cent … Continued

Rising employment and falling economic inactivity drove a big expansion in the workforce in early 2023 – putting aside fears that it had been permanently shrunk by the pandemic. But more recent data showing falling vacancies and the first decline in payrolled employment in over two years, suggest that firms’ demand for more workers is … Continued

The Bank looks set to have almost finished the sharpest interest rate tightening cycle since the 1980s, but the switch from variable to longer fixed-rate mortgages has delayed the impact on households, with two-thirds of the eventual £12 billion increase in annual mortgage costs still to be passed on, according to new research published today … Continued

The Bank of England is approaching the end of the largest tightening cycle since Norman Lamont was hiking rates to keep Britain in the ERM, but it says further rate rises may be needed if high inflation is proves to be stickier than expected, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday) in response to the Bank’s … Continued

Different coping mechanisms are being used by different groups to get through the cost-of-living crisis, with middle-aged people running up debts, young people turning to friends and family, and poorer people resorting to more extreme measures like eating less and visiting food banks, according to new analysis published today (Thursday) by the Resolution Foundation. The … Continued

The UK borrowed £139.2 billion in the last financial year – £13.2 billion less than the latest OBR forecast – but the UK’s public sector net worth is also falling, and shows that the country is failing to invest in its future, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the latest ONS public … Continued

The UK’s fragmented, weak and under-resourced system for enforcing labour market rights costs workers billions a year and a radical overhaul is needed, according to new Resolution Foundation research published today (Tuesday). Enforce for good – the final report of a four-year project on labour market enforcement, supported by Unbound Philanthropy – examines the scale … Continued

Inflation eased by far less than expected last month, with food prices continuing to accelerate and leaving Britain with double digit inflation of 10.1 per cent – twice the rate of the US (5 per cent) – the Resolution Foundation said today (Wednesday) in response to the latest ONS price data. The biggest upward pressures … Continued

The UK workforce expanded in the three months to February, driven by young people leaving full-time education and moving into work, but the longer-term problem of rising ill-health continues to worsen, the Resolution Foundation said in response to the latest ONS labour market statistics today (Tuesday). The UK workforce continued to expand in recent months, … Continued

Around one-in-six people aged 18-34 – 2.6 million people in total – live in people poor quality housing, and it is having a detrimental impact on their physical and mental health, according to new research published today (Saturday) by the Resolution Foundation. The briefing Trying Times – supported by the Health Foundation – uses data … Continued

The share of employees receiving off-the-job workplace training has fallen by 30 per cent over the past two decades, from 9.8 per cent to 6.9 per cent. But while some might have expected low-paid, and generally lower trained, workers to have borne the brunt of this decline, in fact it has been driven by higher-paid … Continued

The size of the UK’s ‘stealth tax’ threshold freeze over six years has almost trebled to £25 billion, compared to the £9 billion forecast when it was originally announced in the 2021 Budget, and later extended, according to new Resolution Foundation analysis published today (Saturday). Happy new tax year, 2023! examines the personal tax and benefit … Continued

Around 1.7 million workers are set to directly benefit when the National Living Wage (NLW) rises by 9.7 per cent to £10.42 an hour on 1st April, with new analysis showing that the NLW has almost doubled real pay growth for Britain’s lowest earners, the Resolution Foundation says today (Friday). The 92p rise in the … Continued

Britain’s cycle of weak and highly volatile public investment has left the country poorer, and is so deeply embedded that a complete overhaul is needed of how we make decisions on critical public investment, according to new research published today (Thursday) by the Resolution Foundation. Cutting the cuts – the 34th report of The Economy … Continued

Unprecedented government support helped to ensure that typical disposable incomes didn’t fall over the course of the pandemic, and actually rose for poor families, in marked contrast to the biggest income squeeze in a generation that Britain is currently living through, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday) in response to the latest Households Below Average … Continued

A surprise rise in inflation last month – with CPI rising from 10.1 to 10.4 per cent – will further complicate the decision over what to do about interest rates when MPC members meet tomorrow, the Resolution Foundation said today (Wednesday) in response to the latest ONS prices data. The inflation rise in February was against market … Continued

Over the past year, soaring inflation has caused a massive fall in workers’ real wages. But Britain’s pay problems – and the stagnation in living standards they have contributed to – go much further back. If wages had continued to grow as they were before the financial crash of 2008, real average weekly earnings would … Continued

The Chancellor announced an impressively broad suite of policies to encourage more people into work, but Britain’s economy remains stuck in a deep funk – with people supported into work but getting poorer, and paying more tax but seeing public services cut, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday) in its overnight analysis. The Foundation’s Budget … Continued