Labour market The good, the bad and the ugly: the experience of agency workers and the policy response 30 November 2018 by Lindsay Judge The final output from a two year work progamme, this report presents both qualitative and quantative research investigating the world of agency workers. We show how the agency worker experience is plural, with good, bad and ugly practice encountered by many. We also reflect on how policy makers can best respond to the complex reality that we reveal. READ MORE
Labour Market Outlook· Labour market· Pay The Resolution Foundation Earnings Outlook Q2 2018 13 November 2018 by Stephen Clarke and Nye Cominetti Our quarterly earnings outlook for Q2 2018. We focus on the decline in regional job mobility (people moving region for work) and argue that this is due to structural rather than cyclical trends – potentially due to the rise of remote working, and fewer people working in large firms with multiple locations. 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
Budgets & fiscal events· Economy and public finances· Welfare How to spend it: Autumn 2018 Budget response 30 October 2018 by Matthew Whittaker This paper sets out RF’s overnight response to the 2018 Autumn Budget, using HMT and OBR data and projections to consider what is going on in the public finances and what the outlook is for household living standards. READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Economy and public finances· Welfare Tunnel vision: Autumn Budget 2018 and ‘ending austerity’ 24 October 2018 by Matthew Whittaker Our look ahead to the 2018 Autumn Budget, focusing on what sort of public finance outlook the Chancellor might be handed and on what is happening in the economy more generally. READ MORE
Labour market· Pay Irregular Payments: Assessing the breadth and depth of month to month earnings volatility 15 October 2018 by Daniel Tomlinson This research addresses the question of earnings volatility, unearthing striking findings about the lived experience of work – and the pay we receive for it – in the UK today. This report makes use of anonymised transaction data from over seven million Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) accounts in order to demonstrate the breadth and depth of changes in pay from month to month. READ MORE
Labour market· Pay Count the pennies: Explaining a decade of lost pay growth 9 October 2018 by Stephen Clarke and Paul Gregg This paper gets to the bottom of why real wages are still 3 per cent below their level before the crisis. It both explains why the wage squeeze was so much worse in the UK compared to other advanced economies and why the recovery since 2014 has been so sluggish. 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
Living standards· Inequality & poverty An unexpected cut: Revisiting the Diamond Commission and assessing inequality in post-war Britain 10 August 2018 by Tom Kelsey In 1974, the government established the Diamond Commision on the Distribution of Income and Wealth. This note looks at the Commission’s findings and considers how Britain has changed in the intervening years. It looks at the impact the findings had on policy and public debate in the country and reflects on what can be learnt by those trying to secure a more equal Britain today. This project was undertaken as part of the Historians in Residence programme, which is based at King’s College, London. READ MORE
Labour Market Outlook· Labour market· Pay The RF Earnings Outlook Q1 2018 2 August 2018 by Stephen Clarke Our quarterly earnings outlook, for Q1 2018. The outlook explores whether the current pace of wage growth is as good as it gets. Despite signs of improvement, annual growth in weekly wages is almost 1.5 percentage points lower than the pre-crisis average. READ MORE
Firms· Productivity & industrial strategy· Economic growth Is everybody concentrating? Recent trends in product and labour market concentration in the UK 26 July 2018 by Daniel Tomlinson and Torsten Bell This paper analyses trends in product market and labour market concentration in the UK, to see whether (as is the case in the US) larger firms are accounting for a larger share of economic activity today than in years gone by. READ MORE
Living standards· Inequality & poverty The Living Standards Audit 2018 24 July 2018 by Adam Corlett and Stephen Clarke and Conor D’Arcy and John Wood Britain’s weak post-crisis living standards recovery went into reverse last year for the poorest 30 per cent of families. Our analysis shows how important cash benefits like tax credits have been for supporting ‘just about managing’ families and tackling child poverty since the millennium. READ MORE
Living standards· Inequality & poverty· Pay Opportunities Knocked? Exploring pay penalties among the UK’s ethnic minorities 18 July 2018 by Kathleen Henehan and Helena Rose Over the past two decades ethnic minority groups have made substantial gains in relation to education and employment. But in spite of this progress, large pay gaps remain: even after accounting for education, occupation and other key factors, black male graduates are on average paid 17 per cent less than their white male counterparts; Pakistani/Bangladeshi non-graduate men are paid 14% less. READ MORE
Living standards· Cities and regions London Stalling: Half a century of living standards in London 27 June 2018 by Stephen Clarke London’s post-crisis recovery has been similar to that of the rest of the country, in good and bad terms.The city now has an employment rate in line with the UK average but productivity and pay growth have both been sluggish. Where London is unique is that it has a number of looming problems – demographic change, high living costs and inequality – which make the city a particularly challenging place for those on low-incomes. READ MORE
Wealth & assets· Scotland The £1 trillion pie: how wealth is shared across Scotland 22 June 2018 by Conor D’Arcy and Torsten Bell The wealth of Scottish households has grown rapidly in recent years and now exceeds £1 trillion for the first time. But from a living standards perspective, what matters is how that wealth – including property, pensions and savings – is shared. The report explores some of the key inequalities when it comes to wealth in … Continued READ MORE
Economy and public finances Healthy finances? Options for funding an NHS spending increase 12 June 2018 by George Bangham and Adam Corlett and Matthew Whittaker The National Health Service turned 70 on 5 July 2018, at a time when public concerns about its future were at their highest level in 20 years. This paper looks at different approaches the government could take to deliver real increases in NHS funding over the next Parliament. READ MORE
Low pay· Pay Low Pay Britain 2018 18 May 2018 by Conor D’Arcy Our annual look at low pay, for 2018. With low pay falling, we suggest policy makers should focus on three challenges: progression (low paid workers lack thereof), power (likewise), and the gender pay gap. READ MORE
Living standards· Intergenerational Centre A new generational contract: the final report of the Intergenerational Commission 8 May 2018 Families have adjusted to the 21st century’s intergenerational challenges, and now as a society we need to do so too. We have presented a policy agenda that addresses the concerns of both old and young, and in so doing rebuilds the intergenerational contract. READ MORE
Living standards· Wealth & assets· Intergenerational Centre The new wealth of our nation: the case for a citizen’s inheritance 8 May 2018 by George Bangham This paper makes the case for a citizen’s inheritance – a £10,000 lump-sum payment made available to every young person when they reach the age of 25 – to address some of the key risks they and as part of a policy programme to renew the intergenerational contract that underpins society READ MORE
Wealth & assets· Tax· Intergenerational Centre Passing on: options for reforming inheritance taxation 2 May 2018 by Adam Corlett Inheritances are growing rapidly in importance at the same time as fiscal pressures mount. But the current inheritance tax system manages to raise relatively little while also being especially unpopular. This paper proposes a Lifetime Receipts Tax that would address Inheritance Tax’s problems while also raising more revenue and encouraging individuals to spread their wealth more widely. READ MORE
Labour market· Skills· Intergenerational Centre Technical Fault: Options for promoting human capital growth 27 April 2018 by Kathleen Henehan and Anna Vignoles This is the 20th paper for the Intergenerational Commission, focused on the pace of and inequality within education attainment. It proposes a ‘twin-track’ approach to reforming the skills landscape in order to restart generational progress on human capital: both ‘fixing’ the technical (non-A level/university) education offer for future generations of young people, and providing additional support for those lower-qualified young adults who have already left school. READ MORE
Housing· Intergenerational Centre Home improvements: action to address the housing challenges faced by young people 17 April 2018 by Lindsay Judge and Daniel Tomlinson How we can tackle one of the biggest issues for young people in 21st century Britain: the housing crisis? In this report we move beyond a diagnosis of the problem to set out a series of policy options relating to three key areas: insecurity in the private rented sector, falling home ownership rates for young people and a long-term lack of house building. READ MORE
Labour Market Outlook· Labour market· Pay The RF Earnings Outlook Q4 2017 28 March 2018 by Stephen Clarke In Q4 2017 the pay squeeze for that year looked set to dissipate and employment rates continued to rise. But, taking a longer view, weaker than expected productivity growth suggests that the outlook for real pay growth is likely to remain subdued. READ MORE
Housing· Tax· Intergenerational Centre Home affairs: options for reforming property taxation 20 March 2018 by Adam Corlett and Laura Gardiner This paper assesses options for reforming property taxation, with a focus on the existing council tax system which now bears far too much resemblance to the unpopular poll tax it was brought in to replace. It sets out a range of options for making property tax fairer, simpler and more economically efficient. READ MORE
