Pensions & savings Perfectly adequate? Revisiting pensions adequacy 20 years after the Pensions Commission 10 October 2024 by Molly Broome and Ian Mulheirn In 2002, the Labour Government established the Pensions Commission to review the UK’s private pensions system and make recommendations for reform. Twenty years on from the Commission’s landmark first report, the auto-enrolment pension regime it proposed has finally come to fruition, revolutionising pension coverage in the UK. But alongside the rollout of this pioneering policy, … Continued READ MORE
Prices & consumption Paying the price How the inflation surge has reshaped the British economy 17 May 2024 by Nye Cominetti and Ian Mulheirn and Cara Pacitti and Simon Pittaway and James Smith The UK has experienced its highest inflation for more than 40 years, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But next week will bring the welcome news that inflation has returned close to the 2 per cent target for the first time since July 2021. In this briefing note we take a step back and look at … Continued READ MORE
Pensions & savings· Wealth & assets Precautionary tales Tackling the problem of low saving among UK households 12 February 2024 by Molly Broome and Ian Mulheirn and Simon Pittaway Families in Britain are confronted with what can be termed a ‘triple savings challenge’. This encompasses a lack of accessible ‘rainy day’ savings to cushion small cashflow shocks, inadequate precautionary saving to see people through large and unexpected income shocks, and insufficient saving to provide an adequate income in retirement. These three savings challenges are … Continued READ MORE
A wealth of variety The variation in household wealth across Britain and what it means for policy 30 October 2023 by Molly Broome and Ian Mulheirn and Simon Pittaway In this briefing note we explore how wealth was distributed across the nations and regions of Britain on the eve of the pandemic, what determined those differences, and how wealth has evolved in different places since the recent rise in interest rates began. We also explore the policy implications, in particular how Council Tax as … Continued READ MORE
Wealth & assets Peaked Interest? What higher interest rates mean for the size and distribution of Britain's household wealth 17 July 2023 by Molly Broome and Ian Mulheirn and Simon Pittaway Over the past four decades, the total value of wealth owned by UK households has been on a seemingly-relentless upward path: rising from around three-times GDP in the mid 1980s to almost eight-times. The key driver of this rise in wealth has been falling interest rates and the associated increase in asset prices. But the … Continued READ MORE
