Post-pandemic participation

Exploring labour force participation in the UK, from the Covid-19 pandemic to the decade ahead

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Labour market inactivity has increased. Many of the newly inactive won’t come back. Boosting labour market participation means focusing on older workers, women with children, and those affected by rising ill-health and disability – groups where progress has been made and scope for more remains.

Right Where You Left Me?

Analysis of the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on local economies in the UK

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Now that the Covid-19 pandemic is largely behind us, this report, part of the Economy 2030 Inquiry, considers what might be the long-term impacts of Covid-19 on spatial inequalities across the UK in key economic outcomes.  In contrast to the initial fears that Covid could permanently damage our cities (by removing office workers, with the … Continued

Covid-19
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Economy 2030

Social mobility in the time of Covid

Assessing the social mobility implications of Covid-19

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Covid-19 has had a profound impact on the economic prospects of young people. This briefing note, which forms part of the Economy 2030 Inquiry, documents the unequal impact of economic shocks on the young and assesses what these mean for social mobility. Labour market conditions at the onset of one’s career have persistent effects over … Continued

Covid-19
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Labour market

The new wave

The economic policy response to Omicron

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A new wave of this pandemic is underway, even if we can’t see much sign of it yet in the UK-wide data. The Prime Minister rightly tells us to expect “a tidal wave of Omicron coming” and in London it’s already arrived. This is not the Christmas present any of us wanted. In terms of … Continued

Covid-19
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Labour market

Post-furlough blues

What happened to furloughed workers after the end of the Job Retention Scheme?

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Going into the autumn, most official forecasters expected unemployment to be little affected by the ending of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS), which closed in September 2021. However, there were still 1.1 million workers on furlough as the scheme ended, skewed towards sectors like aviation that are still far from reaching pre-pandemic levels of … Continued

Covid-19

Job well done

18 months of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

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The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS) ends in just a few short days. Over the past 18 months, it has covered the wages of some 11.6 million people, and has provided for 2.3 billion days of furlough (both full and partial furlough) at a cost to the Government of almost £70 billion (in gross terms). … Continued

Covid-19
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Labour market

The beginning of the end

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The furlough scheme is less than 90 days from closing down, with 1 July 2021 marking the beginning of its wind-down now that employers are contributing 10 per cent of furloughed employees’ wages. This short note looks at which sectors, people and places are currently more likely to be using the scheme and what this … Continued

Covid-19
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Demographics
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Low pay
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Labour market
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Intergenerational Centre

Boom(erang) Time?

An analysis of younger adults living with their parents

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Different data sources tell different stories about the share of younger people that have lived with their parents during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, even before the pandemic younger people on lower-pay and in more precarious forms of work were more likely to live with their parents.

Covid-19
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Welfare

In need of support?

Lessons from the Covid-19 crisis for our social security system

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This briefing note looks at the lessons we have learnt about the UK’s welfare system over the course of the Covid-19 crisis so far, and what those lessons might mean for its future direction. The £111 billion spent so far on supporting incomes during the pandemic should remind us of the importance of welfare systems. … Continued

A U-shaped crisis

The impact of the Covid-19 crisis on older workers

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It is well established that the Covid-19 crisis has generated substantially large employment affects for young people in the UK. However, older workers have also been severely affected, more so than middle-career workers, even if not as badly as the young.  This briefing note examines the impact of the crisis on older workers, assesses the … Continued

After shocks

Financial resilience before and during the Covid-19 crisis

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This report provides some of the first evidence on how the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on households has differed across countries. It studies the living standards-related factors that contribute to financial resilience (or the lack of it) both before and during Covid-19 in the UK, France and Germany. Overall, we find that pre-crisis vulnerabilities … Continued

Uneven steps

Changes in youth unemployment and study since the onset of Covid-19

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In order to reduce the spread of Covid-19, and thereby save lives, large sectors of the UK economy were temporarily shut down during parts of 2020 and 2021. Although unemployment rose by less than anticipated during this period, with the unemployment rate among people aged 16 and older rising by just over one percentage point … Continued

Covid-19
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Migration

Migration during the pandemic

Have 1.3 million migrants really left the country?

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 According to the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the number of people living in the UK but born overseas fell by approximately 1 million between the first and third quarters of 2020, while the number of UK-born UK residents in this same category band rose by 1.3 million over the same period. Some have cast doubt … Continued

Covid-19
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Public spending

The 12-month stretch

Where the Government has delivered – and where it has failed – during the Covid-19 crisis

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This note explores the big picture of how policy makers have responded to the pandemic over the past 12 months, taking a step back to explore what they have done, and what that has done to health and economic outcomes.

How to throw good money after good

Budget 2021 and the challenge of delivering a rapid recovery from Covid-19

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While the strength of the economic recovery from Covid-19 will depend on the vaccine rollout and the Government’s ‘road map’ for easing social distancing restrictions, it will also depend on decisions taken at the Budget which are the economic counterpart to that reopening plan. This paper assesses the economic context to the Budget: how the … Continued

Universal Credit
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Covid-19
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Welfare

Half-measures

The Chancellor’s options for Universal Credit in the Budget

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The Government has still to decide on whether to continue the £20 per week uplift to Universal Credit (UC) and Working Tax Credit (WTC), due to expire in just 45 days. There are suggestions the Chancellor will opt for a halfway house of keeping the uplift for six months. Compared to the pencilled-in default of … Continued

Covid-19
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Labour market

Long Covid in the labour market

The impact on the labour market of Covid-19 a year into the crisis, and how to secure a strong recovery

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This is the third time we have written a report taking stock of the impact of the virus on the labour market. Nine months on from our first report in June last year, some things are similar. The health effects of the second wave may be starting to recede, and thoughts are again turning to … Continued

Covid-19
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Housing

Getting ahead on falling behind

Tackling the UK’s building arrears crisis

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This briefing note examines how families have managed their housing costs over the Covid-19 period. Although the Government has done much to support families over the past year (not least via the furlough scheme and the £20 per week uplift to UC), it is clear that financial strain has grown as the pandemic has worn … Continued

Covid-19
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Firms
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Economic growth

On firm ground?

The impact of Covid-19 on firms and what policy makers should do in response

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The coronavirus crisis has had huge repercussions across the economy, and the corporate sector is no exception. This paper analyses how the crisis has affected firms’ finances, puts that in context compared to previous recessions, and assesses the ability of firms to contribute to the post-crisis recovery. This is important because firms’ investment and hiring … Continued

Covid-19
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Living standards

Pandemic Pressures

Why families on a low income are spending more during Covid-19

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Household spending has fallen during the Covid-19 pandemic, but not for many of those on the lowest incomes. This note brings together data from representative surveys with vivid accounts from parents and carers participating in the ‘Covid Realities’ research programme to explore the reasons behind, and consequences of, the cost pressures that many have faced since the pandemic began.

Covid-19

Lockdown lessons

What 2020 has to teach us about the difficult weeks ahead

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2021 begins with England and Scotland heading into new lockdowns, and tough ones at that. Lasting until at least late February, England’s new restrictions are more comparable to those of spring 2020 than the more relaxed autumn affairs. In this short note we focus on the experience of that first lockdown, and what it can … Continued

Home and away

The UK labour market in a post-Brexit world

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This briefing note considers a number of ways in which the labour market could be affected as the UK moves to a tighter, post-Brexit immigration regime in January 2021. Under the new rules, legal avenues for low-skilled migrant workers to enter the UK will be more restrictively drawn, with implications for firms, resident foreign-born workers … Continued

Covid-19

Time out

Reforming Statutory Sick Pay to support the Covid-19 recovery phase

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In a pandemic, sick pay should play a crucial public health role, as well as providing income protection. But the UK’s Statutory Sick Pay is low by international standards, and misses out two million of our lowest-paid workers. Evidence suggests that this contributes to the low level of compliance with the legal obligation to self-isolate … Continued

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