Joseph Evans

Good news for wages: OBR expects economic growth to be driven relatively more by productivity increases & investment, and less reliant on low wage labour.

Look out for forthcoming @ippr.org work on empowering workers to shape how AI affects their working lives - and get in touch if you're interested / already thinking about this!

Graph source: organise-speakout.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Worker+power...

Clear example of AI deployment making work more demanding, rather than taking workers' jobs

In other words, "degrading" work rather than "displacing" it

This isn't just a US thing - about 5x more UK workers say AI is making their jobs worse than those who say AI took their job

Key Employment Rights Act protections have broad support from the public. Why would a frontrunning populist party want to rip them up?

Reform UK are no friend of the workers - here’s why – HOPE not hate Contact: media@hopenothate.org.uk / 0207 952 1183 With the British Steel factory in Scunthorpe in the news this week, Nigel Farage and Reform UK have attempted...

The policies in the bill are popular with the public, including with Reform supporters

Voters want an end to zero hours contracts, better access to sick pay and more flexible working

Reform is on the wrong side of their supporters and the public

hopenothate.org.uk/2025/04/10/r...

Making work pay: The government's mandate on worker's rights | IPPR Labour’s manifesto pledged to strengthen employees’ protections at work, establish a ‘Fair Work Agency’ to better enforce workers’ rights, and remove restr

Living standards for workers are damaged by the UK’s low pay, low productivity, low investment economy

The Employment Rights Act lays the foundations of broader economic prosperity by strengthening workers’ rights, tackling insecurity and supporting union rights

www.ippr.org/articles/mak...

YouTube video by Reform UK Watch Richard Tice LIVE as he lays out our plans for business and energy.

Reform’s plans to scrap the Employment Rights Act won’t tackle the cost of living and aren’t popular with the public – or even with their own supporters

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLDB...

The full-speed economy: Does running a hotter economy benefit workers? | IPPR Managing the macroeconomy to achieve strong growth and low inflation is a careful balancing act. Overly restrictive macroeconomic policy – such as too-high

Once inflation normalises, the Bank of England should move quickly to loosen policy so the UK does not fall further behind

Thanks to @eirnolsoe.bsky.social for covering our latest report - see the full analysis here: www.ippr.org/articles/the...

Policymakers are careful to avoid overheating the economy, but may undersell the harms of a cold one

When inflation is at target, running the economy at full speed can deliver higher wages for low-paid workers, lower pay inequality and stronger growth

www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...

📉 | NEW REPORT: UK policy may be holding the economy below its potential. Our new research shows how a full‑speed economy could unlock stronger wages and growth.
Read the report 👇 www.ippr.org/articles/the...

A century ago, Bristol had 17 electric tram routes running across the city.

Today, it has no mass transit system at all.

Meanwhile, 23 smaller cities in France have modern tram networks.

Resilient by design: Building secure clean energy supply chains | IPPR Supply chains – the networks of people and businesses we rely on to make and move the goods we need – are strained by the recent rise of trade wars and arm

📣New @ippr.org report "Resilient by design: Building secure clean energy supply chains" by @praneshippr.bsky.social, Simone Gasperin & myself.

A guide for navigating an increasingly more turbulent world, marked by geopolitical tensions, tariff wars and competition for technological supremacy.

More from Claire Coutinho today on the other platform, comparing offshore wind results today to gas running costs, ignoring soaring gas construction costs...and we have to build something

In fact, from gov stats today:

New offshore wind: £95/MWh
New gas: £109 to ~£145/MWh

gov.uk/government/p...

CEOs have already earned more than an average worker's yearly pay in 2026 CEO pay is 113 times bigger than the average UK worker. Experts say the gap can't be fixed by increased wages alone.

I spoke to @bigissue.com about how sky-high executive pay is linked to the decline of trade unions

www.bigissue.com/news/employm...

The Employment Rights Act isn’t just good for workers - it’s good for the economy. @josephevans.bsky.social explains the wider benefits for businesses and society on @lbc.co.uk News 👇

Really helpful thread on the Bank of England's interest rate decision from IPPR's senior economist @willellisecon.bsky.social‬

Particularly interesting on how economic data compares to expectations - inflation is falling and unemployment is rising faster than the Bank or OBR expected

Stronger rights, better results: Managers’ attitudes to workers’ rights | IPPR In this research, our goal was to assess levels of support for increasing workers’ rights amongst managers, and explore the opinions of employers with dire

And finally! While we've heard a lot about businesses' concerns, we tested these policies with managers and found that many think they could have a positive impact on their organisation

www.ippr.org/articles/str...

Reaping the productivity dividend: How the employment rights bill could impact growth | IPPR Once the bill receives royal assent it will, overnight, substantially improve trade unions’ ability to access and organise new workplaces. Over the followi

These policies will benefit millions workers and create a fairer labour market

And while some of them will impose new costs on businesses, they have the potential to improve productivity - and therefore growth:

www.ippr.org/articles/pro...

...as well as a number of other policies, including:
- banning exploitative zero-hours contracts
- expanding rights to bereavement leave
- strengthening rights for pregnant workers

Unfair dismissal move will protect millions – now government must deliver full rights package, urges IPPR | IPPR Responding to the government’s decision to reduce the qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection, Joseph Evans, research fellow at IPPR, said:“The g

By 2027, workers will be protected from unfair dismissal after 6 months of employment, rather than 24 months

The new policy will restore unfair dismissal protections which applied from 1974-79 and bring us in line with comparable countries...

www.ippr.org/media-office...

...and trade unions will have new rights to access workplaces and recruit new members

This is a welcome change after decades of declining union membership, which could help to tackle low pay:

www.ippr.org/articles/mak...

Mission-driven industrial relations: The case for fair pay agreements | IPPR This report explores how fair pay agreements could support the government’s mission-based approach by resolving labour market challenges in specific sector

In October, sectoral bargaining will be introduced to adult social care - an innovative approach that could be applied to other sectors, as we outlined earlier in the year...

www.ippr.org/articles/mis...

Healthy industry, prosperous economy | IPPR While there is a tendency in health policy to focus on what government can do for health through public service delivery, which is vitally important, there

By April next year, every worker in the UK will have day-one rights to paternity leave, unpaid parental leave and sick pay

The lower earnings limit will also be removed on statutory sick pay

These are changes @ippr.org and other orgs have long called for

www.ippr.org/articles/hea...

The policies will be introduced in four "phases"

One of those phases is today!

Now that the Act has become law, two pieces of anti-union legislation - the 2016 Trade Union Act and the 2023 Strikes Act - have been repealed

The package was the outcome of years of work by unions, labour market experts and civil society groups

Collectively they shone a light on the growth of insecure, bad-quality work in the UK's labour market

Many of the solutions they proposed will now become law

The Act covers 28 distinct areas of employment law

It's a big first step in the "New Deal for Working People" - a workers' rights package designed by affiliate unions

labour.org.uk/wp-content/u...

The Employment Rights Act has received Royal Assent and is now law!

This is a huge moment for workers - one that's been years (even decades) in the making

Here's a thread on the Act, the key policies and the next phase of delivery🧵

Very helpful briefing on the state of the UK's labour market - especially the challenges facing younger workers, the role of the Bank of England in supporting a stronger economy, and the decline of workers' bargaining power in recent years

The current cap links compensation awards to pay; removing it means awards can reflect actual lost earnings

This could benefit older or disabled workers, who take longer to find new work than younger or able bodied people, and therefore lose more if they are dismissed unfairly