Centre for Research in Social Policy

School of Social, Political and Geographical Sciences

Blog

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“Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living, barely getting by …”

Record rates of employment and small increases in pay have not halted the increase in the number of those in work living on incomes below what they need, particularly working families with children. In recent years the phrase ‘hard-working families’ has figured prominently both in defining and defending ‘difficult’ policy decisions. The programme of welfare […]

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4 in 10 people living in households with children in London can’t afford a minimum standard of living

Over the past couple of years there have been lots of stories of families – and 30-somethings more generally – leaving London and moving to the other big cities in the UK because of the high cost of living London.  Our new research sheds light on the pressures felt by families living in the capital. […]

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“For there is in London all that life can afford” (Samuel Johnson) … if you can afford London life.

While many costs associated with living in London are similar to the rest of the UK, a minimum decent standard of living is substantially more expensive in the capital. There is a long held view that life costs more in London. This view is not just confined to the usual suspects of housing, childcare and […]

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What price a decent life in London?

This week, billboards across the capital displayed quotes illustrating some of the personal stories underlying the quantitative patterns of migration into and out of London. Many of these billboards highlighted the financial reasons that Londoners gave for leaving the capital, with reference to people’s experiences of the high costs of living in London: In addition […]

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The economy may have turned the corner, but many are still struggling to make ends meet

Despite signs of economic recovery, nearly four in ten families with children are living on incomes below what they need and making up lost ground is going to take time. Recent weeks and months have seen a growing assertion that following a long period of decline, we might just have turned a corner and 2015 […]

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Employment growth does not mean a socially acceptable standard of living for many young adults

At the end of 2014, we learned that joblessness in the UK reached its lowest since the beginning of the financial crisis of 2008.   According to the ONS, unemployment is now 6 per cent, having reached its peak at 8 per cent in 2009. This seems to be good news, especially for young adults who […]

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Two cheers for low inflation

Low inflation is better news than it used to be for people on low incomes Today’s record-equalling increase of half a per cent in the Consumer Prices Index is short-term good news for the great majority of people in the UK, who have seen prices rising faster than their incomes in recent years. It increases […]

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Housing and hardship in Leicester

Falling levels of housing support are putting a small but significant proportion of households in Leicester at risk of serious hardship with little or no prospect of an improvement in circumstances in the near future. There is little doubt that life has become more and more difficult for many households over the past few years.  […]

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