George Osborne’s scrapping of the tax credit cuts announced last summer is momentous in several ways. But it is by no means the end of his mission to reduce families’ dependence on the state. First and foremost, the changes save millions of badly-off working families from some drastic reductions in their incomes next April, typically […]
Today, nearly 2000 accredited Living Wage employers will reiterate their commitment to pay workers a decent minimum – rising to £8.25 an hour based on CRSP’s calculations. The fact that the government’s new ‘National Living Wage’ will start at more than £1 below this in April, and has no reference to living costs, has caused […]
The present government has rightly drawn attention to the fact that people will be at lower risk of poverty if they work, have two parents and do not have many children. However, the translation of these realities into “behaviourist” policies – incentives to conform to certain family norms – started out more tentatively than one […]
Since the election, an important debate has opened up over how far state benefits should be underpinning family living standards. The government is clearly trying to reduce what it sees as unnecessary dependency, including for families in low-paid work. It has approached this from multiple angles. Significantly higher minimum wages and tax allowances will increase […]
Since Birmingham City Council adopted the living wage in July 2012, public sector workers in the city have seen a noticeable decrease in their risk of being paid below the living wage, but many working within the private sector continue to experience low pay and the challenges that this brings. Birmingham, as with other parts […]
George Osborne today took the biggest step forward since the introduction of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) in 1999 to commit the government to tackling low pay. His announcement of a “Living Wage” of £7.20, rising to £9 by 2020, was more than just a rebranding and raising of the NMW. Crucially, it was an […]
Zero inflation is great news these days for low income families. This is because more and more government policies affecting income are being set without regard to the inflation rate. If you work on the minimum wage, you can expect your pay to rise 23 per cent and tax allowance 18 per cent by 2020 […]
We pay taxes for the NHS in case we need healthcare – why should welfare be any different? In its search for justifications for saving money on welfare, the government has placed much emphasis on limiting out-of-work benefits in order to avoid perverse incentives. But cutting the welfare cap only produces around 1 per cent […]
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. […]
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 […]