Mike Brewer

We are keen to hear from individuals withexperience working in government, think tanks, applied academic research, or the private sector.

This is a permanent role at our Westminster office. Applications for full-time or part-time hours are welcome.

www.resolutionfoundation.org/about-us/opp...

This is a high-profile role, and successful applicants will need experience of leading major research or policy programmes, and line managing a team of high-performing individuals. Post-graduate level economics (or equivalent work experience) is essential.

New week, new job at Resolution Foundation?

We have a vacancy at the top of our research team to plan and manage major strands of our research and policy output. In particular, they will develop and lead our work on growth and productivity, building on the Economy 2030 Inquiry.

Meant to read it when it came out. @chrisgiles.ft.com makes the case that costs are NOT spiralling, and UK welfare doesn't deserve its moral panic. on.ft.com/4hfE9kr

📢 New analysis!

What is the OBR’s forecast for trend productivity growth, and why does it matter so much for the Budget?

Find out more here ⤵️ buff.ly/KmJEg1Y

"The wealth tax debate shouldn’t be separate from the one about how we tax property and pensions – that’s where most of the country’s wealth sits."  c/o @resfoundation.bsky.social Bet it will continue to be, though. 🙄

Part of the Inequalities Seminar Series Tuesday 30 September, 12.30 - 1.30pm. In-person and online seminar. CBG 2.03. Speaker: Dr Katy Morris, Postdoctoral Fellow, Swedish Institute for Social… LSE III Event | Local versus National: The effect of income (mis)perceptions on inequality beliefs

Missed our recent Inequalities Seminar?

@katymorris.bsky.social explores the effects of income misperceptions on inequality beliefs and preferences, comparing the local and national levels.

Watch now ⬇️

Lifetime of earnings not enough for UK workers to join wealthiest 10%, report says Research finds it would take average worker saving all their earnings for 52 years to match wealth of richest 10th of society

My small contribution to today's great RF report on wealth inequality was to have us headline with the metric for measuring wealth gaps that I first came across in the work of the late John Hills

www.theguardian.com/inequality/2...

The most radical Labour plan you haven’t heard about Collective bargaining in social care could save an ailing sector — but only if it’s done properly

Great column from @sarahoconnorft.ft.com where she casts her forensic eye over the introduction of collective bargaining in the social care sector. TL:DR it could work given adult care is a weird market largely paid for by local authorities; but as usual will there be enough cash? on.ft.com/4mSfeVm

1. the good news Real Household Disposable Incomes (RHDI) have grown by a healthy £1,100 over the past 18 months (between the end of 2023 and mid 2025).

2. the bad news So why don’t we feel richer? Because incomes this summer were still £110 lower than they were in 2021, just before the cost of living crisis started.

3. beneath the averages RHDI tells us about averages, but this recent growth will not have been shared evenly. Food prices are rising sharply. Energy bills are going up right when the temperature is going down. Private rents are out-pacing wages. Many families are still feeling the pinch.

4. lots of ground to make up Over the past twenty years, Britain's living standards slowdown has cost families £20,000 a year in lost income. Lifting living standards is the defining challenge facing Britain today.

There's good news and bad news on household incomes.

While we've seen healthy income growth in the past 18 months, incomes have yet to recover from the cost of living crisis.

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...while also diminishing the importance of the remaining contributory benefits?

Amid reports that MPs and an advisory taskforce will recommend scrapping the two-child limit on benefits, it's worth noting that this step would be the most targeted and cost-effective way for the Government to meet its aim of reducing child poverty ⤵️

Lifting the lid on our work to improve labour market statistics The ONS’s new Director-General for Surveys and Economic and Social Statistics, James Benford, talks through work going on beyond the scenes to improve our statistics after a week with several major

Helpful and easy to read blog from ONS on their improvements to labour market stats. More of this kind of thing, please ! Couple of things to highlight
blog.ons.gov.uk/2025/09/23/l...

Useful reminder from Peter Kellner on the problems we refuse to acknowledge are getting better, and the politics of hopelessness that this breeds

open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...

You now own two inflatable kayaks and a set of garden furniture.

UK CPI inflation was 3.8% in August, in line with market and BoE expectations. Below the top line there was some good news on underlying inflation but food price inflation accelerated to 5.1%, increasing pressure on struggling families. Short thread to follow...

This report, which I’ve worked on round the edges, is really interesting & contains some good news on both savings & credit card debt

BUT sign up to find out why this hasn’t done much for the sense of economic security & some critical caveats, like energy arrears

bsky.app/profile/mrjo...

Stronger shock absorbers • Resolution Foundation Savings are supposed to be the first line of defence against financial shocks. But in reality, millions of families across Britain don’t have enough to be more than a few pay-days away from trouble. F...

Not too late to sign up for our event on low-to-middle income Britain's financial resilience (on tomorrow/Wednesday morning).

www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/stron...

Image with text: We're hiring! Principal Economist or Researcher ( Fixed term - 15 months) Design and deliver an ambitious programme of research and policy on tax. Apply by 08:59am on Sept 19th

🚨 We're hiring for a Principal Economist 👀

This is a unique opportunity for an individual who can conduct economic and policy analysis independently at an advanced level.

Full details here ⤵️ buff.ly/2mcx5aR

IT'S OUT! @ukandeu.bsky.social brand new survey of the policy challenges confronting the UK, done in partnership with the wonderful @resfoundation.bsky.social ukandeu.ac.uk/reports/poli... 1/???

A quick word on today's ONS household cost indices which are the key metric for inflation experience across different household groups. Key takeaway from this morning's data (to June) is that inflation for poorer families is once again picking up...

New workplace pension participation statistics were published this morning, revealing that certain groups remain at greater risk of heading into retirement with insufficient savings. Here’s what you need to know 🧵

I had such a good time going to Orkney one summer. 18 degrees was a hot day.

Labour’s social security reforms ignore devolution - British Politics and Policy at LSE The Goverment's social security reforms ignore the fact that they will have different consequences depending on which part of the UK one lives in.

Some heatwave weekend reading on why devolution needs to be talked about more in connection with the disability social security cuts.

@lsepoliticsblog.bsky.social blog w/ @safety-nets.bsky.social colleagues @haylesben.bsky.social @sionedps.bsky.social

blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

The DWP published this year's stats on households impacted by the two-child limit today, which include some welcome new breakdowns on gender and ethnicity, receipt of health/disability benefits, conditionality group, and whether households are affected by the benefit cap. Quick thread/

Which is what makes the Wealth Tax Commission's work so good. Two lawyers and one economist as authors.

And the other parties are different from this how?

The Seventh I am not supposed to be here. That’s almost all I can think as I run as fast as I can away from Tavistock Square. It is 7 July 2005. I am not supposed to be here. I am supposed to be at work. I nev…

20 years ago today, a bomb exploded on a bus at Tavistock Square. I was there. This is what happened:

The latest u-turn looks to be removing all PIP changes from the bill. Remaining net savings in the crucial year for fiscal rules of....about zero. Doesn't mean the bill is nothing though: still very important changes to, and a sensible rebalancing of, universal credit (with savings in future years)