Pensions & savings Building a living pension Closing the pension savings gap for low to-middle income families 23 January 2021 by David Finch and Cara Pacitti The Living Wage has been successful in providing a focus on the living standards of low-paid workers and increasing pay for many lower-paid employees. However, there has been much less of a focus on the future living standards of the same group. A ‘Living Pension’ could help us understand the savings required today to provide … Continued READ MORE
Cities and regions· Welfare The long and winding road The introduction and impact of Universal Credit in Liverpool City Region and the UK 21 January 2020 by Laura Gardiner and David Finch Universal Credit (UC) – the fundamental re-design of Britain’s welfare system involving merging six benefits into one – is an enormous undertaking. This report reviews both the national UC picture and the experience in Liverpool City Region in particular. READ MORE
Welfare Back in Credit? Universal Credit after Budget 2018 12 November 2018 by David Finch and Laura Gardiner This briefing note focuses on the implications of recent changes to Universal Credit – in particular the £1,000 increase in work allowances announced in Budget 2018 – for the number of winners and losers from the switch to this new benefit system, for its generosity and for its impact on work incentives. READ MORE
Pay· Living Wage Calculating a Living Wage for London and the rest of the UK 5 November 2018 by Conor D’Arcy and David Finch This report sets out the method through which the Living Wage rates in London and the rest of the UK were calculated for the 2018/19 rates. Resolution Foundation undertakes this calculation on behalf of the Living Wage Foundation. READ MORE
Welfare The benefits of moving: Managing the transition of existing claimants to Universal Credit 6 September 2018 by David Finch This note considers how best to avoid further implementation difficulties over the course of the managed migration of existing benefit claimants onto Universal Credit. It provides recommendations intended to boost Universal Credit’s chances of boosting benefit take-up – one of its key original objectives. READ MORE
Incomes· Living standards· Inequality & poverty The Living Standards Outlook 2018 22 February 2018 by Adam Corlett and George Bangham and David Finch This report projects forwards the real spending power of typical households and the distribution of income to 2022-23. Results incorporate household income data up to 2015-16, what we know about the key drivers of living standards to 2017-18 and the latest economics forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). READ MORE
Living standards· Pensions & savings· Wealth & assets· Intergenerational Centre A welfare generation: lifetime welfare transfers between generations 5 February 2018 by George Bangham and David Finch and Toby Phillips This paper updates John Hills’ seminal research on life-cycle welfare transfers between generations. It estimates the extent to which past and future cohorts contribute to the welfare state via taxation and withdraw from its core pillars – education, health and social security – over the course of their lifetimes. READ MORE
Welfare· Intergenerational Centre As good as it gets? The adequacy of retirement income for current and future generations of pensioners 27 November 2017 by David Finch and Laura Gardiner This report assesses pensions adequacy from an intergenerational perspective. We present detailed findings on the adequacy of retirement incomes for recent cohorts of retirees in Great Britain, along with projections of future adequacy both across and within generations. READ MORE
Pay· Living Wage Calculating a Living Wage for London and the rest of the UK 6 November 2017 by Conor D’Arcy and David Finch 2017/18 saw a rise in the minimum wage rate to £8.75 in the UK. We set out a method for determining the independently-calculated Living Wage rates in London and the UK. This comes at a time when crucial policy changes put upward pressure on the Living Wage rates. READ MORE
Welfare Universal Remedy: ensuring Universal Credit is fit for purpose 31 October 2017 by David Finch and Daniel Tomlinson and Mike Brewer As Universal Credit’s rollout continues, this report sets out ways in which the payment can be reformed to make it fit for purpose. We look both at design problems, such as the six-week wait, and issues with UC’s adequacy compared to the tax credit system it replaces. READ MORE
Low pay· Pay The Great Escape? Low pay and progression in the UK’s labour market 19 October 2017 by Conor D’Arcy and David Finch For most low-paid workers, poorly-paid positions are not acting as a first rung on the ladder: it is the only rung. Of all those low paid in 2006 by 2016 only one in six people managed to escape low pay. READ MORE
Living standards· Welfare· Political parties and elections Still just about managing? Pre-election briefing on the main political parties’ welfare policies 21 May 2017 by David Finch Our pre-election series of briefing notes have so far centred on the main parties’ approaches to deficit reduction and to tax. To complete the fiscal ‘set’ we must also consider their take on welfare. This note explores future welfare challenges for an incoming government and examines the extent to which the differing party commitments might … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Intergenerational Centre A mid-life less ordinary? Characteristics and incomes of low-to-middle income households age 50 to State Pension age 3 May 2017 by David Finch and Helena Rose This report provides an insight into the financial situation of those older low to middle income households highlighting the living standards challenges they face, some unique to this group but others shared by all working-age households. In doing so it aims to provide better understanding of the characteristics of older low to middle income families … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances Are we nearly there yet? Spring Budget 2017 and the 15 year squeeze on family and public finances 9 March 2017 by Matthew Whittaker and Stephen Clarke and Adam Corlett and David Finch and Laura Gardiner and Kathleen Henehan and Daniel Tomlinson Resolution Foundation’s overnight briefing on the 2017 Spring Budget. READ MORE
Demographics· Living standards· Intergenerational Centre Live long and prosper? Demographic trends and their implications for living standards 16 January 2017 by David Finch People are living longer. This is good news of course. A longer life is in and of itself a boost to living standards for individuals and reflects a more prosperous society. But it raises challenges too. For the individual, living longer creates a need for greater lifetime income to sustain a given standard of living. … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances Bending the rules: Autumn Statement response 24 November 2016 by Adam Corlett and David Finch and Laura Gardiner and Matthew Whittaker Our morning after briefing for Autumn Statement 2016. READ MORE
Incomes· Budgets & fiscal events· Living standards· Public spending· Economy and public finances· Welfare Under New Management: options for supporting ‘just managing’ families at the Autumn Statement 7 November 2016 by David Finch and Matthew Whittaker The new Prime Minister has been very clear in her determination to put the interests of ‘just managing’ families at the heart of her government, but she has inherited tax and benefit plans which are set to lower incomes for many in the group over the remainder of the parliament. With post-EU referendum revisions to projections for … Continued READ MORE
Pay· Living Wage Calculating a Living Wage for London and the rest of the UK 31 October 2016 by Conor D’Arcy and David Finch This paper sets out the method for determining the independently-calculated Living Wage rates in London and the rest of the UK, and the respective rates that will apply from 31 October 2016. It is built on the findings of a report published by the Resolution Foundation in July 2016 and the views of the Living Wage … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Tax Double take: workers with multiple jobs and reforms to National Insurance 1 October 2016 by Adam Corlett and David Finch The tax treatment of workers with multiple jobs may be reformed as part of proposals by the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to more closely align National Insurance (NI) and income tax. The current system of NI largely operates on a per job – rather than per person – basis, allowing a worker with two … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Living standards· Inequality & poverty Hanging on: the stresses and strains of Britain’s ‘just managing’ families 29 September 2016 by David Finch New governments have no record on which to be judged, meaning that a great deal of emphasis is placed on what they say. Our new Prime Minister has made it clear that her government will focus its attention on working families with relatively low earnings – those who are ‘just managing’. That approach has been … Continued READ MORE
Pay· Living Wage Making the Living Wage: The Resolution Foundation review of the Living Wage 27 July 2016 by Conor D’Arcy and David Finch The recommendations outlined in this review aim to further strengthen the Living Wage campaign. They set out an improved Living Wage methodology to underpin the campaign as it moves into the next stage of its development while being more firmly grounded in the cost of living. READ MORE
Labour market· Low pay· Skills· Social mobility Finding your routes: non-graduate pathways in the UK’s labour market 11 May 2016 by Conor D’Arcy and David Finch This report, commissioned by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, explores how poor career routes are holding back the ‘forgotten forty per cent’ of the workforce – mid-skilled workers with at least five A*-C GCSEs but without a university education. READ MORE
Welfare Universal Challenge – making a success of Universal Credit 3 May 2016 by David Finch This report sets out a three point plan for the new Secretary of State, designed to both ensure that UC will provide the support needed for families moving into and progressing in work in the future and to make implementation as simple as possible. We argue that Stephen Crabb should restate and reclaim the role … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances· Tax· Political parties and elections Time for revision: why the Chancellor needs to look again at his plans for tax cuts in the Budget 14 March 2016 by Stephen Clarke and David Finch and Matthew Whittaker This briefing note considers possible tax cuts that could feature in the Chancellor’s upcoming Budget, and looks at how these policy choices can be made in a way that better benefits lower earners. READ MORE
Incomes· Living standards· Inequality & poverty Living Standards 2016: The experiences of low to middle income households in downturn and recovery 15 February 2016 by Adam Corlett and David Finch and Matthew Whittaker This is the Resolution Foundation’s seventh annual state of the nation report on living standards, and it is testament to the depth of the downturn that has gripped households since the financial crisis hit that average incomes only just appear to be returning to the level they were at when we published the first one in the series. In … Continued READ MORE
