This report analyses the changing economic positions of tenants in subsidised public housing. It shows how low their incomes are today, how these low incomes interact with higher rents and the housing benefit system to reduce their returns to work and looks at a number of reforms to the benefit...

This report shows the extent to which low pay and unemployment are related, the effects of periods out of work on future earnings and the degree to which low pay is a persistent phenomenon. Importantly it demonstrates the way in which a minimum wage might affect a much higher proportion of the...

Government wants both to reduce carbon emissions and to reduce 'fuel poverty'. Energy prices have risen in part because of a multitude of policies aimed at reducing emissions. There are also multiple policies aimed at ameliorating these effects. Altogether, this leads to a complex policy...

This report, funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), examines the effect of UK government policies on energy use and carbon pricing. The work was undertaken by researchers from the ESRC Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy...

In this book, we examine in detail some of the key risks to the Chancellor’s plans for reducing the deficit. We set out in detail what has been happening in the housing market and the role of government policies aimed, at least in part, at boosting homeownership. We also document what has been...

On 5 July this year the NHS will be 70. In all its 70 years it has rarely been far from the headlines. It has been through more than its fair share of reforms, crises and funding ups and downs. Over that period, the amount we spend on it has risen inexorably. Yet, today, concerns about the...

The last 25 years have seen two periods of public expenditure restraint in the UK (the 1990s and the 2010s) and one period of increased spending (between 2000 and 2010). Over that whole time, the Treasury has been responsible for controlling government spending, setting fiscal rules and the...

[Preface ...] In this book, we examine how the public finances, and the plans for fiscal consolidation, have evolved during this parliament. We set out what has happened to the pay of different groups, and assess the current direction of travel as real earnings growth slowly returns. We consider...

The UK finds itself in an unfortunate economic and fiscal bind. Living standards have endured an unprecedentedly long stagnation. Taxes are at record levels for the UK (though remain lowto-middling by European standards). Public services are showing visible signs of strain and are, in many...