This book aims to unravel the complexities of pension policy and provide answers or suggest alternative options to the major issues facing policymakers.

An attempt to unravel the complexities of pension policy in the UK, including financial, fiscal, labour-market and income-distribution analyses of the retirement-income system. This book, drawing on five years’ IFS research, was widely praised. A Financial Times editorial observed that ‘The...

Social security spending accounts for almost 30 per cent of public expenditure and is projected to reach £74.7 billion in 1992-93. Almost half of this spending goes to the elderly. The cost of social security to the elderly has grown steadily in the post-war period, and will continue to grow...

Prior to this year's Budget, the almost universal expectation was that the Chancellor would not attempt to make any changes to the tax system. The possible exception to this appeared to be some moves to appear 'green', perhaps by using the tax system to discourage the use of motor vehicles,...

There are many areas of the tax system in which substantial concessions are made, or appear to be made, to certain forms of activity. Such concessions, or reliefs, can cost the government money in just the same way as direct public expenditure programmes. The recognition of this fact is...

For most of teh 1980s the focus of attention at Budget time has been on tax reform and micro-economic changes. By contrast most of the interest in the 1990 Budget was in its overall fiscal stance and its possible effect on the macro-economy. This was a natural reflection of the current state of...