Low pay· Pay Higher ground: who gains from the National Living Wage? 2 September 2015 by Conor D’Arcy and Adam Corlett and Laura Gardiner In this note, the first in a series looking at the opportunities and challenges associated with the National Living Wage, we focus specifically on who stands to gain. Which groups of workers will benefit, and by how much? And how does this wage legislation interact with the tax and benefits system, and therefore household incomes? … Continued READ MORE
Labour market A steady job? The UK’s record on labour market security and stability since the millennium 28 July 2015 by Paul Gregg and Laura Gardiner The story on pay is well-established but other aspects of job quality are less routinely measured. Therefore, in this note we return to some commonly-used broad measures of job security and stability, in particular to understand developments over the past two decades and how experiences have differed across genders and the generations. READ MORE
Labour market Completing the job: the pursuit of full employment 20 July 2015 by Matthew Whittaker and Paul Gregg While there is some consensus around the merits of pursuing full employment, there is no widely agreed definition of what constitutes ‘full’. Nor have we heard much on quite how any given target might be achieved. In this briefing– which marks the launch of a major piece of research on the topic which will conclude before … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances· Welfare A Budget for workers? The impact of the Summer Budget on work incentives in Universal Credit 16 July 2015 by David Finch The combination of increases in the minimum wage (via the introduction of a National Living Wage), cuts to income tax and sharp reductions in working-age welfare presented in the Summer Budget produces a complex mix of winners and losers. Those not currently in receipt of benefits and tax credits (or Universal Credit) are likely to … Continued READ MORE
Low pay· Pay Analysing the National Living Wage: Impact and implications for Britain’s low pay challenge 10 July 2015 by Conor D’Arcy and Gavin Kelly The most eye-catching announcement in the Summer Budget was the National Living Wage (NLW). National Minimum Wage workers aged 25 and over will, from April 2016, receive a premium on top of the current legal wage floor, raising their hourly earnings from £6.70 to £7.20. Thereafter, the NLW is expected to rise steadily, surpassing £9 … Continued READ MORE
Tax Finding some relief: the case for applying fiscal discipline to tax expenditures 7 July 2015 by Adam Corlett Since becoming Chancellor in 2010, George Osborne has introduced a range of institutional changes to lock-in budget scrutiny, reduce borrowing and restrain welfare spending. But in relation to public ‘spending’ in the form of special tax rules or reliefs for particular groups, evaluation of value for money remains as weak as ever. Using a narrow … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Making the most of UC: Final report of the Resolution Foundation review of Universal Credit 8 June 2015 by David Finch The improvements necessary to enable UC to, at a minimum, make work pay and smooth the transition into work must be made before millions of families are moved onto the new system. The start of the new parliament provides a natural opportunity to review the potential impact of UC and set out plans for its … Continued READ MORE
Labour market An Ocean Apart: the US-UK switch in employment and benefit receipt 4 June 2015 by Adam Corlett and Paul Gregg There was a time when some looked to the US model – in which out-of-work benefits are less readily available, time-limited and significantly less generous – for answers to the problem of extensive European levels of worklessness. This was particularly the case during the so-called ‘tough love’ era of the 1990s. The reforms of this … Continued READ MORE
Pensions & savings· Labour market The self-employed and pensions 26 May 2015 by Conor D’Arcy The UK’s self-employed populace is now 4.5 million strong. Although there has been a modest fall in their numbers of late after years of rising, the self-employed look set to continue being a larger part of the workforce than in recent decades. While much has been made of their poor earnings performance relative to employees, … Continued READ MORE
Pay Securing a pay rise: The path back to shared wage growth 25 March 2015 by Conor D’Arcy and Gavin Kelly After the longest fall in modern history, real wages have moved into positive terrain and appear to be turning the corner. Yet the outlook for wages – how strong and shared pay growth might be in the years ahead – remains highly uncertain. What emerges will shape not just what happens to living standards but … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Looking through the hourglass: hollowing out of the UK jobs market pre- and post-crisis 23 March 2015 by Laura Gardiner and Adam Corlett A large and growing body of research details the ‘hollowing out’ of developed labour markets (the relative decline of mid-skilled jobs and expansion of low- and high-skilled jobs) from the 1970s to the 2008-09 recession. Previous Resolution Foundation research (Plunkett & Pessoa, 2013) confirmed that these trends continued in the UK in the early years of … Continued READ MORE
Living standards Time to catch up? Living standards in the downturn and recovery 12 March 2015 by Matthew Whittaker width=”476″ height=”400″ frameborder=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ marginheight=”0″ scrolling=”no”> READ MORE
Pay Who’s been getting a pay rise? 12 March 2015 by Laura Gardiner In this briefing we have attempted to provide some clarity on the recent debate – which has been a prominent feature of public narrative on the labour market – on the extent to which employees who remain in their jobs from one year to the next have experienced real pay rises. We have described the … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Credit where it’s due? Assessing the benefits and risks of Universal Credit 9 March 2015 by David Finch and Vidhya Alakeson and Mike Brewer The government’s plans for Universal Credit (UC) were first set out in November 2010, and its concept has received broad cross-party support. But the process of implementation has been dogged by a series of delays – the OBR now anticipates that it will not be fully rolled out until at least 2020, potentially 3 years … Continued READ MORE
Social care· Pay· Living Wage As if we cared: the costs and benefits of a living wage for social care workers 3 March 2015 by Laura Gardiner and Dr Shereen Hussein This report is the culmination of a year-long investigation into pay and conditions in social care, and the first authoritative study of the costs and benefits of moving to a living wage for all care workers. The report argues that pervasive low pay across the sector and tight budget constraints facing care providers means that paying … Continued READ MORE
Social care· Low pay· Pay The scale of minimum wage underpayment in social care 9 February 2015 by Laura Gardiner There is increasing recognition that a better deal for the workforce will be essential to the quality and sustainability of social care provision in the UK, but so far there has been scant evidence as to the scale of investment needed. The Resolution Foundation is currently undertaking a major investigation into the costs of improving … Continued READ MORE
Housing The Home Stretch: coping with high housing costs 8 December 2014 by Laura Gardiner and Vidhya Alakeson Despite the strain that high housing costs cause, millions of people on modest incomes continue to live in high cost areas and are somehow coping. The Resolution Foundation report explores six ‘coping strategies’ – working more, increasing the term of a mortgage, getting help from friends and family, over-crowding, lowering standards and doubling up. It … Continued READ MORE
Tax Missing the target: tax cuts and low to middle income Britain 1 December 2014 by Adam Corlett and Matthew Whittaker and Gavin Kelly This report has two main objectives. First, to assess the main political parties’ leading proposals on tax cuts for the next Parliament. Second, to consider whether there is a different approach to that advocated by the main parties that would better serve low and middle income Britain. READ MORE
Public spending· Economy and public finances In the balance: public finances in the next parliament 25 November 2014 by Matthew Whittaker and Adam Corlett With the Coalition government expected to have delivered around half of its intended fiscal consolidation programme by the end of the current parliament, debates over public finances are set to loom large in the coming election campaign. To date, we have only very broad outlines of the preferred approaches of each of the main parties. … Continued READ MORE
Low pay· Labour market· Pay Escape Plan: Understanding who progresses from low pay and who gets stuck 11 November 2014 by Conor D’Arcy and Alex Hurrell Our findings highlight that employees can move into higher paying roles but escaping completely from low pay is more difficult. Overall, the evidence presented in the report suggests that employers and government do have scope to develop the progression prospects of low paid staff. While much is already being done, there are particular groups of people … Continued READ MORE
Pay Why 2014 hasn’t been the year of the pay rise 7 November 2014 by Matthew Whittaker and Laura Gardiner A downward shift in the mix of occupations across the workforce towards lower-paying cleaning and caring roles, along with a welcome return of younger and less experienced workers to the labour market, has prevented 2014 from being the year of the pay rise, as many economists predicted. This analysis looks at the impact of changes … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Low Pay Britain 2014 30 October 2014 by Adam Corlett and Matthew Whittaker This report is our fourth annual audit of low pay in Britain. It describes in detail the scale of the problem in the latest year for which data is available (2013) and the people it affects. As with many advanced economies, the British labour market has been characterised in recent decades by a growing polarisation. … Continued READ MORE
Low pay· Pay Turning Point? The minimum wage in 2014 and beyond 1 October 2014 by Matthew Whittaker and Adam Corlett With the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rising on October 1st, this briefing note provides some background by setting out the evolution of the wage since its introduction in April 1999. It looks at the rate’s real value over the intervening period, and its relationship with median pay. It also considers the number of people affected by the NMW … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Universal Credit: A policy under review 9 September 2014 by David Finch and Adam Corlett and Vidhya Alakeson Resolution Foundation has brought together an expert panel of labour market economists, welfare specialists, employment practitioners and other experts to review the current design of Universal Credit and its likely impacts and propose changes that would make the policy more likely to support people to get into and progress in work. The cumulative impact of … Continued READ MORE
Housing More than a roof: How incentives can improve standards in the private rented sector 1 September 2014 The private rented sector is growing and, as it expands, it is housing an increasingly diverse group of tenants, including a higher proportion of people across every income decile and a growing number of families with children. However there are still a range of challenges associated with the sector which need to be addressed. These include variable standards of … Continued READ MORE
