Low pay· Pay Fifteen years later: A discussion paper on the future of the UK National Minimum Wage and Low Pay Commission 4 July 2013 by James Plunkett and Alex Hurrell In 15 years the UK National Minimum Wage (NMW) has evolved from a bold and experimental labour market intervention into a permanent and generally uncontroversial tool of economic policy. The Low Pay Commission (LPC), enshrined in law in 1998 to recommend the rate of the NMW, has won widespread support, with its decisions endorsed by … Continued READ MORE
Labour market enforcement· Labour market A Matter of Time: The rise of zero-hours contracts 25 June 2013 by Matthew Pennycook and Giselle Cory and Vidhya Alakeson It is not hard to see why zero-hours contracts can appear attractive to employers. They allow for maximum flexibility to meet changing demand. They can facilitate the management of risk, reduce the costs of recruitment and training, and they can, in certain circumstances, enable employers to avoid particular employment obligations. Yet it is clear that … Continued READ MORE
Housing The challenges of build to rent for UK housing providers 24 June 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson This briefing note looks at the challenges that build to rent poses for housing providers. It is based on a six month project conducted by the Resolution Foundation and Social Finance to develop a financing model for institutional investment in a build to rent portfolio of 778 rental units nationwide aimed at middle income households. READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances Narrowed Horizons: The fiscal choices at Spending Review 2013 and beyond 20 June 2013 by Matthew Whittaker The government’s plans for deficit reduction have increasingly stark implications for public spending as their deadline draws nearer. While overall expenditure is set to remain relatively flat in 2015-16 (the period covered by the latest Spending Review) the pace of reduction in total government spending is due to increase significantly in the two subsequent years. READ MORE
Welfare Getting On: Universal Credit and older workers 28 May 2013 by Giselle Cory Britain is missing a crucial opportunity to encourage more older people into work because the government’s new flagship welfare reform delivers only mixed benefits for the age group. While many older workers will be better off under Universal Credit (UC) – the system replacing tax credits and several other benefits from this year – others … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Political parties and elections 2015 – The living standards election? 29 April 2013 The electorate is broadly split over whether, come the next general election, it will still be possible for the government of the day to ensure steadily rising living standards. This analysis, ‘2015- the living standards election?’, gives a unique insight into what voters think that politicians can – and can’t – promise to achieve at … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances Resolution Foundation analysis of the 2013 Budget 8 April 2013 by Vidhya Alakeson and Alex Hurrell and Matthew Whittaker The Chancellor’s fourth Budget was a relatively quiet affair. While pre-announced changes mean that millions of households will face further reductions in benefit and tax credit receipts from April, the latest financial statement said nothing new about welfare cuts (though it confirmed that departmental spending is set to be tightened still further). 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
Labour market Sizing the UK ‘Jobs Gap’ 12 March 2013 by James Plunkett The UK is more than 800,000 jobs short of the amount it would need to restore employment rates to those seen before the recession, a study from independent think tank the Resolution Foundation has found. While the number of people in employment had climbed by 160,000 since 2008 to nearly 30 million, this positive news … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Living standards· Inequality & poverty Squeezed Britain 2013 13 February 2013 by Matthew Whittaker We now know that the squeeze on living standards will be longer and deeper than projected this time last year. Average wages are not expected to rise in real terms until late 2014 after a period of stagnation and decline. Despite stronger than expected job growth in the private sector, many people continue to work … Continued READ MORE
Welfare No Clear Benefit 30 January 2013 by Matthew Pennycook and Alex Hurrell Low-income families will see their council tax bills rise by up to £600 a year from April. As a result of council tax benefit reform, No Clear Benefit shows that three-quarters of local authorities are set to demand increased payments from the 3.2 million poorest working-age households who currently pay either no council tax or a reduced … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Pay· Living Wage Beyond the Bottom Line: The challenges and opportunities of a living wage 20 January 2013 by Matthew Pennycook and Kayte Lawton Beyond the Bottom Line, a joint report from the Resolution Foundation and IPPR, presents the first full economic analysis of the living wage in the UK, including: modelling its potential impact on labour demand and considering the potential costs of living wages for employers; analysing which workers and families benefit most from the living wage; … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Incomes· Inequality & poverty The squeezed middle: The pressure on ordinary workers in America and Britain 16 January 2013 by Sophia Parker As wages stagnate but living costs keep rising, the pressure on working people grows more intense. The issue of living standards has become one of the most urgent challenges for politicians in both Britain and America. ‘The squeezed middle’ brings together experts from both sides of the Atlantic to ask what the UK can learn … Continued READ MORE
Childcare· Welfare The costs of childcare after housing costs 24 December 2012 by Alex Hurrell It is well known that the UK has some of the most expensive childcare in the OECD, accounting for a third of household income in some cases. New analysis published by the Resolution Foundation shows that the picture is even bleaker for families than we generally assume. The analysis looks at the costs of childcare … Continued READ MORE
Household debt· Wealth & assets On borrowed time? Dealing with household debt in an era of stagnant incomes 23 December 2012 by Matthew Whittaker On borrowed time? examines how and why household debt grew in the pre-crisis years, before turning to study the current scale and distribution of exposure to debt across households. Finally, the report looks at the link between household debt and prospects for economic growth, setting out a range of broad policy considerations that will frame our … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public spending· Economy and public finances Resolution Foundation analysis of the 2012 Autumn Statement 7 December 2012 by Matthew Whittaker In this note we look in more detail at the distributional impact of this welfare cut, in combination with the decision to increase the personal tax allowance by a further £235 in April 2013 and the announcement that the higher rate threshold would increase by 1 per cent a year from April 2014. Having considered … Continued READ MORE
Living standards Gaining from growth: The final report of the Commission on Living Standards 31 October 2012 by James Plunkett Millions of households are heading for a long period of stagnant living standards unless bold steps are taken to ensure that growth over the next decade is broadly shared. Even with a return to steady growth, it’s now entirely possible living standards for a large swath of low and middle households will be no higher … Continued READ MORE
Childcare· Welfare Counting the Costs of Childcare 28 October 2012 by Vidhya Alakeson and Alex Hurrell Counting the Costs of Childcare finds that high childcare costs mean that a woman working full-time could bring home as little as £4 a week in extra pay. In the most extreme case, a second earner working full-time at the minimum wage in a family where her partner is already working full-time at the same … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Welfare Conditions Uncertain 5 October 2012 by Matthew Whittaker and Matthew Pennycook Conditions Uncertain finds that almost 1.2 million low-paid workers entitled to support under Universal Credit will have to look for extra work or face the risk of having payments withdrawn. The report reveals for the first time how many working people are likely to be affected by a new regime which will require the lowest-paid … Continued READ MORE
Low pay· Pay Low Pay Britain 2012 29 September 2012 by Matthew Whittaker and Matthew Pennycook One in five British workers – just over five million employees – are low-paid as the national minimum wage falls in real terms for the third consecutive year. Low Pay Britain 2012 shows that the nation’s share of low-paid work has grown steadily over the past 30 years to 21 per cent – one of the highest … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Pay Trends in wages and incomes: 2003-2008 21 September 2012 by Alex Hurrell Prior to the crash the economy was growing steadily, with real GDP per capita growth of 7.0 per cent between 2003 and 2008, equivalent to an average annual growth rate of 1.4 per cent. Yet the benefits of this relatively strong economic performance did not filter down to the average worker; after accounting for inflation, … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Pay What a drag: The chilling impact of unemployment on real wages 19 September 2012 by Paul Gregg and Steve Machin Real wage growth in the UK labour market, since around 2003, has slowed down and stagnated. This report documents the nature of real wage changes across the wage distribution over the last three decades, showing that the recent period of stagnant real wage growth represents a distinct break of trend that pre-dates the onset of … Continued READ MORE
Welfare Shrinking Support: what Universal Credit indexation means for living standards 11 September 2012 by Matthew Whittaker In Budget 2010, the Chancellor announced that the uprating of benefits, tax credits and public service pensions would, from April 2011, be made with reference to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rather than the Retail Prices Index (RPI) or Rossi Index. Because CPI tends to give a lower measure of inflation than the other two … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Unfinished Business: Barriers and opportunities for older workers 8 August 2012 by Giselle Cory The UK could miss a historic opportunity to boost employment among the over 50s. This new analysis finds that the UK ranks 15th out of 34 OECD countries, for older workers, lagging the five top countries by over fifteen percentage points. Closing this gap would mean around 1.5 million more people in work. The report … Continued READ MORE
Tax Fairer by design: efficient tax reform for those on low to middle incomes 31 July 2012 by Paul Johnson The current system of redistribution through taxation and welfare is inefficient and could be reformed to give more support to those on low and middle incomes whilst reducing economic costs according to a new report for the Resolution Foundation Commission on Living Standards. The report, written by Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal … Continued READ MORE
