Living standards· Prices & consumption· Intergenerational Centre Consuming forces: generational living standards measured through household consumption 30 September 2017 by Laura Gardiner and Donald Hirsch and Laura Valadez-Martinez This report sheds further light on living standards across generations by considering levels and patterns of expenditure for working-age households in detail. It explores changes over time for different age and income groups. READ MORE
Tax Will future tax cuts reach struggling working households? 2 April 2013 by Donald Hirsch This briefing looks at how exactly tax cuts interact with Universal Credit and quantifies how little low to middle income working households will keep from a higher personal allowance or a 10p tax rate under UC. It also suggests a simple way in which the Government could ensure that the benefits of tax cuts do … Continued READ MORE
Housing Priced Out 27 December 2011 by Donald Hirsch and James Plunkett and Jacqueline Beckhelling 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, with increases in the price of food, fuel and other basics greatly outstripping general inflation in recent years. READ MORE
Childcare· Welfare Childcare support and the hours trap: the Universal Credit 14 November 2011 by Donald Hirsch The Government recently announced the terms under which childcare costs will be supported as part of Universal Credit from 2013. It has made an extra £300m available, compared to present spending levels. This briefing updates the earlier briefing Childcare support and the hours trap, published in May 2011, to show the impact of the government’s … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Tackling the adequacy trap: earnings, incomes and work incentives under the Universal Credit 16 February 2011 by Donald Hirsch and Jacqueline Beckhelling This briefing explores the relationship between gross earnings and net incomes at various points in the bottom half of the income distribution, under both the current tax and benefit system and the future Universal Credit model. It considers how these alternative systems relate to poverty and adequate income levels and concludes with some general observations … Continued READ MORE
