Highest number of days lost to strikes in ten years – but set to continue rising as public sector real wages fall

Recent industrial action has led to the highest number of days lost to strikes in October 2022 since November 2011, and this is set to rise in the coming months as labour disputes over falling real wages continue, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the ONS labour market statistics. The largest strike action … Continued

‘Leaky walls’ are the biggest challenge for England’s energy efficiency drive, and radical steps are needed to support less affluent families with home improvements

England’s plans to insulate its housing stock must step up a gear by focusing on the most difficult barrier – nine million homes with ‘leaky walls’ – which poorer owners will simply be unable to address without more radical state support, according to new research published today (Monday) by the Resolution Foundation. Hitting a brick … Continued

Global trends are set to push down UK inflation

Global economic trends that have been the principle driver of the inflation surge of the past 12 months – including high demand for goods from US consumers and trade disruption, as well as fast rising energy prices – have all started to ease in recent months and will put downward pressure on inflation over the … Continued

Britain’s ‘part-time work divide’ offers higher life satisfaction for many lower earners, but career constraints or lower living standards for others

People choose to work part-time for a number of reasons, many of them positive, but lower living standards, limited progression, and underemployment are key areas for concern, with the concentration of low hours work among lower earners amounting to a ‘part-time work divide’ between rich and poor households, according to new research published today (Wednesday) … Continued

Energy Price Guarantee on course to cost £16 billion over the winter months

The Ofgem announcement today (Thursday) that the annual energy bill of a typical household would have risen to £4,279 between January and March 2023, were prices not capped by the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), means that supporting all households with energy bills over these three months will cost £16 billion, according to Resolution Foundation … Continued

British workers are living through a two-decade wage stagnation costing £15,000

Chancellor’s tax heavy consolidation adds to pressure on the ‘squeezed middle’ as well as the top

The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement has piled further pressure on ‘the squeezed middle’, with personal tax rises announced during the parliament set to deliver a permanent 3.7 per cent income hit to typical households, the Resolution Foundation said today (Friday) in its overnight analysis of the Autumn Statement 2022. Key findings from the Foundation’s overnight analysis … Continued

Hunt combines George Osborne rhetoric and Gordon Brown policy, announcing energy support today and tougher times tomorrow with top-heavy tax rises and backloaded spending cuts

The Chancellor has responded to a grim economic outlook with renewed energy support next year and a backloaded fiscal tightening, combining huge stealth tax rises with far less concrete spending cuts, the Resolution Foundation said today (Thursday). The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts combine an energy shock driven recession – unemployment is set to … Continued

Cost-of-living gap between rich and poor hits fresh high, as effective inflation rate for low-income households hits 12.5 per cent

A jump in energy costs, despite the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), and rising food prices, which rose by 16.4 per cent (the biggest annual increase since 1977), pushed CPI inflation to 11.1 per cent in October, and 12.5 per cent for low-income households, the Resolution Foundation said today (Wednesday) in response to the latest ONS … Continued

Older generations will face the greatest income squeeze from surging energy costs this winter – but young people will struggle most to afford their bills

Older people will spend a higher share of their income on energy bills this winter than other age groups – with the over-75s expected to spend 8 per cent of their total household income on bills, even with significant government support – but younger households are most at risk of being unable to pay bills … Continued

First fall in GDP since the pandemic sets Britain on course for quickest return to recession in nearly half a century

The UK economy shrank by 0.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2022, setting Britain on course for the quickest return to recession since 1975 and offering sobering backdrop to the Autumn Statement next week, the Resolution Foundation said today (Friday). While a smaller fall than markets expected, the latest contraction was widespread, with … Continued

Technology has not been the swift ‘job destroying tsunami’ many predicted, and more of it will be needed to raise pay and productivity for everyone

Fears about robots taking people’s jobs are overplayed, as their negative impacts on some people’s pay and jobs have been offset by gains elsewhere, and the real fear to overcome should be Britain’s lack of productivity-enhancing robots, software, AI and other technologies, according to new Resolution Foundation and LSE research published today (Thursday). Adopt, adapt … Continued

Lifetime interest rate costs for recent first-time buyers have more than doubled, and brought their overall housing costs to a record high

Recent first-time buyers will be hit hard by surging interest rates, with their lifetime interest costs more than doubling over the past five years and their total lifetime costs reaching record highs, although coming house price falls will offer some respite to the next generation of homeowners, according to new Resolution Foundation analysis. With the … Continued

Rishi Sunak inherits a £40bn fiscal hole and is likely to opt for tax rises, not just spending cuts, to fill it

A deteriorating economic outlook and the legacy of Trussonomics has left Rishi Sunak’s Government on course to announce a fiscal tightening of at least £40 billion which is likely to require tax rises, not just spending cuts, according to new analysis published today (Tuesday) by the Resolution Foundation ahead of the Autumn Statement on 17th … Continued

10.1 per cent benefits rise due next April crucial to helping 10 million working-age families through deepening cost-of-living crisis

CPI inflation increased by 10.1 per cent in September – driven by surging food prices – which should prompt a significant increase in benefits next April that will help to support families through the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, the Resolution Foundation said today (Wednesday). The Foundation notes that inflation in September was driven by rising food … Continued

Jeremy Hunt rewrites Government’s entire economic policy, setting taxes on course to rise to their highest level since 1950, and energy bills to rise to £4,000 next Spring

The new Chancellor has reversed 60 per cent of the mini-Budget’s tax cuts and committed to scale back energy bill support next year in order to reduce the pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates, and on the Treasury to cut public spending, the Resolution Foundation said today (Monday). The Foundation notes … Continued

Britain’s £26 billion mortgage hike – five million households set for average mortgage bill increases of £5,100 by end of 2024

Over five million families are set to see their annual mortgage payments rise by an average of £5,100 between now and the end of 2024 – with £1,200 of that reflecting higher expectations of interest rate rises since the ‘mini-budget’ – according to new analysis published today (Saturday) by the Resolution Foundation. With the UK’s … Continued

Prime Minister reverses 45 per cent of her tax cuts but leaves the new Chancellor two weeks to fill Britain’s £20-40 billion economic credibility gap

Today’s dramatic mini-Budget reversal, in which the Prime Minister sacked her Chancellor and re-instated the previous Chancellor’s plans to increase corporation tax from 19 to 25 per cent, means that 45 per cent of the tax cuts announced on 27 September have now been abandoned, the Resolution Foundation said today (Friday). However, the combination of … Continued

Cutting benefits uprating would save £3 billion but leave poorest families incomes at lows not seen since the turn of the century

Uprating benefits in line with earnings next year could save £3 billion but would set the typical incomes of the poorest fifth of working-age families back to levels not seen since 2000-01, according to new analysis published today (Thursday) by the Resolution Foundation. With the Government considering various ways of reducing the deficit in the … Continued

Record lows in unemployment and record highs in long-term sickness poses huge challenge for policy makers

A tight labour market has seen pay growth strengthen and unemployment fall to a near-50-year-low. But the workforce continues to shrink, driven by economic inactivity due to long-term ill-health rising to a record 2.49 million, highlighting the dilemma facing policy makers, the Resolution Foundation said today (Tuesday) in response to the latest ONS labour market … Continued

One-in-seven workers in Britain today have a disability, with the biggest growth among those reporting mental health problems

A huge increase in the number of working-age people with a disability (up 2.3 million over the past decade), coupled with rising employment rates among disabled people, mean that the share of workers with a disability has grown by 50 per cent since 2013 to around one-in-seven of workers, according to new Resolution Foundation research … Continued

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