Published in Gavin Kelly’s blog·PinnedSystem collision: the interaction of Universal Credit and Child Benefit withdrawal is creating a messIf there is anyone out there still harbouring the quaint idea that it’s the super-rich who face the highest marginal tax rates in the land, they should think again. There are various contenders for that dubious prize but we can now announce a clear winner: the small but fast-growing group…6 min read6 min read
Published in Gavin Kelly’s blog·Sep 22, 2022The real Living Wage increases explainedThe below is my foreword to the Resolution Foundation report setting out the 2022/23 Living Wage rates. This is the seventh year that the Living Wage Commission (LWC) has overseen the wage rates for the UK and London. This year’s rates are being announced in the middle of the worst…5 min read5 min read
Published in Gavin Kelly’s blog·Apr 2, 2022Talking ‘tax cuts’ amid Britain’s social stagnationThe social recession of the 2010s risks becoming a slump in the 2020s The letters from my kid’s school asking for voluntary contributions to help meet rising running costs are getting ever more desperate. It’s just a straw in the wind but speaks to the wider condition of the UK’s…4 min read4 min read
Published in Gavin Kelly’s blog·Nov 15, 2021Real Living Wage rates for 2021–2022: what’s behind this year’s increase?(The below is my foreword to the Resolution Foundation report setting out this year’s Living Wage calculation) This is the sixth year that the Living Wage Commission (LWC) has set the wage rates for the UK and London and, in the face of the continued economic challenges facing workers and…4 min read4 min read
Published in Gavin Kelly’s blog·Aug 29, 2021We all pay the price for narrow thinking on social protectionWe all pay the price for narrow thinking on social protection Whatever else ‘building back better’ was supposed to mean it is now clear it involves returning to exactly the system of social protection that existed before Covid struck. When the furlough scheme and the crisis-related increase to Universal Credit…4 min read4 min read
Published in Gavin Kelly’s blog·Jul 2, 2021Preparing for a decade of economic change: lessons from the era of White HeatBoris Johnson’s administration may well oversee the start of a period of major upheaval for the UK economy — quite possibly the largest since the 1980s. Whether it is post-Brexit trade dislocation, new patterns of production and consumption resulting from the imperative of Net Zero, a long Covid hangover, or…10 min read10 min read
Published in Gavin Kelly’s blog·Mar 17, 2021Prospects for a fair work recovery?These are my slides for a recent talk called ‘A Fair work recovery?’ given to an event organised by the Fair Work Convention.3 min read3 min read
Published in Gavin Kelly’s blog·Dec 9, 2020The welfare state after Covid: learning from our Bismarckian momentA version of this article was first published by the Financial Times. The significance of choices made in the midst of a crisis often get overlooked. During the first lockdown the UK government scrambled to invent a generous system of wage insurance for employees and income-protection for the self-employed. It…4 min read4 min read
Published in Gavin Kelly’s blog·Nov 9, 2020More than 200k reasons to celebrate the Living WageAs the new real Living Wage rates get announced — £9.50 in the UK and £10.85 in London — it is a good moment to reflect on the impact of the Living Wage campaign over recent years. For all the publicity it attracts, what do we really know about how…5 min read5 min read
Published in Gavin Kelly’s blog·Aug 28, 2020The Child Trust Fund comes of ageIt presents a unique opportunity to learn about the difference that asset ownership can make — With little fanfare the UK is about to witness a mass experiment in the extension of access to capital. Other nations may have sovereign wealth funds, and some have experimented with universal basic incomes, but the UK is the first to create a citizen’s endowment for all young adults. From…5 min read5 min read
