Mike Brewer

I adore this book and tend to thrust it on anyone (and it's not science fiction...it's fiction, or speculative fiction).

In her speech yesterday, the Chancellor said the question people will be asking themselves at the next election is "are me and my family better off?"

So what is the answer likely to be? 🧵

This makes a very good point. Although a world where we only ever indexed welfare to prices would be one with ever increasing income inequality offset in part by ever improving public services.

Inequality and the Future of London Join PQ and the Mile End Institute to celebrate a new Special Collection, 'Inequality, Opportunity, and the Future of the Capital'

On 26 March, the @mileendinstitute.bsky.social and @politicalquarterly.bsky.social will be holding a special event on "Inequality & the Future of London".

Join @rupahuq.bsky.social @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social @sachahilhorst.bsky.social and Joe Fyans. All welcome!
www.eventbrite.com/e/inequality...

chart showing Welfare spending as a share of GDP (left) and in real terms (right), by category, outturn and forecast: UK

How has today's forecast affected the outlook for welfare spending?

There has been little change, and considering spending as a share of GDP it does not look out of control.

The family voting thing is weird. As a Presiding Officer, it's really difficult to deal with. The only time I've been shouted out by a voter was stepping in to try and prevent it happening.

And parents don't take kindly to you saying they can't take their kids into the booth...

🧵 of snaps from doing this piece in Gorton & Denton www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/724...

1. Longsight is … confused! … 2 shops a few feet away with BOTH Green & Labour posters up

Jonathan Marshal, Principal Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Next week’s energy price cap announcement will show a significant drop in households bills, largely because of the Government’s £6.9 billion energy bill discount. “The policy is well designed. By reducing electricity unit rates it supports the shift towards electrification at the same time as delivering savings worth twice as much to the poorest families as to the richest, as a share of spending. “However, this support is due to end in April 2029. The Government should set out a clear and durable framework for deciding which energy policy costs are funded by bills and which through taxation soon, to avoid scrambling for a solution in an election year.”

On Wednesday, Ofgem is expected to announce that the energy price cap for Q2 2026 will be nearly £120 lower than current levels.

This policy will deliver a clear boost to living standards from April, and should help to keep bills below current levels until at least 2029.

My council tax is well spent!

Life at the PDF mill is a hard, we need something to look forward to Robert

Good to hear that Millburn is being comprehensive in his review when he spoke on today programme this morning. Clearly, though, with today's stats demand for young workers is part of the problem - not just supply of them.

How can living standards stagnate, while people are working more?

@mikebrewerecon.bsky.social explains ⤵️

To round off this week's Unsung Britain conference & book launch, today's Top of the charts is a – you guessed it – Unsung Britain special.

@mikebrewerecon.bsky.social highlights a few areas that provoked debate this week, or really stood out from the past 18 months of research 👇

Unsung Britain: working harder, getting nowhere Mike Brewer explains how recent decades have squeezed the households who can least afford it

Working harder, getting nowhere?

@mikebrewerecon.bsky.social walks you through the experience of Unsung Britain, in our latest Substack ⤵️
buff.ly/ANatmtg

Unsung Britain: working harder, getting nowhere Mike Brewer explains how recent decades have squeezed the households who can least afford it

Our major new book is out today, exploring the changing circumstances of the poorer half of Britain, and setting out a policy agenda.

Read a summary of it all here resolutionfoundation.substack.com/p/unsung-bri...

I’ve noticed a difference between when the 14-year-old was very little to when my 10-year-old was very little. Within four years, you could feel the slide.

📢 Published today! 🚨

Unsung Britain represents an 18-month investigation into the lives of the 13 million working-age families across the poorest half of the country.

Read more 👉 buff.ly/7WcqrbQ

Ooooh I've been promoted (I'm not CEO don't worry Ruth's still in charge last time I checked)

There's a t shirt, yes? Surely someone's made a t shirt??

A bit late, but here is my annual confirmation that I have donated royalties from my book on inequality - a low three-digit sum - to Shelter, Gingerbread and Trussell Trust. (I am amazed it's being bought, as it's all pre-pandemic, but happy that it is)
www.amazon.co.uk/What-Know-Sh...

YouTube video by LSE Why immigration policy is hard| LSE Event

My first Lionel Robbins lecture on 'Why Immigration Policy is Hard'. 2 more to come: Monday 9th, 16th 6.30pm www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQkB...

🧵 NEW: Our report 'Listen and learn' sets out how the Government should improve Universal Credit (UC) for the 15 million people who rely on it.

13 years after its roll-out began, it’s time to get UC right.

We've co-produced recommendations with @changingrealities.bsky.social participants 👇

Will it be another plane weird UK inflation print? Blame on current air fares

INFLATION RISES AGAIN, GO THE PUSH ALERTS TO TENS OF MILLIONS OF PHONES

*Possibly to an oddity with the specific pre-Christmas day when airfares were checked on Kayak by ONS staff, something I only know because I was reading Alphaville the other day. www.ft.com/content/fdad...

New report published assesses the UK’s growth challenge 18 months into the current Parliament, examining how economic performance has evolved since the pandemic and evaluating the Government’s progress against its central mission to raise growth.
www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...

I really really want to see the bit of the Guardian's style guide that explains the difference between a magnate and a tycoon.

This is an important programme for us ...

The utterly shameless & widely covered "report" out today, claiming net zero will "cost" £9tn is based on:

* Assuming free fossil-fuel energy, free petrol cars, free gas boilers, free gas power plants etc

AND

* Including climate damages in the "cost" of net zero

I kid you not, it is that stupid

🚨Major conference🚨

We're publishing a new book – combining analysis and policy work with in-depth conversations to understand the needs of lower income families – and hosting a major conference to discuss, with keynote speeches from Andy Burnham and Ken Murphy.

Register now➡️ buff.ly/2tG8LsY

Who did we protect during the pandemic? And who fell through the cracks? Resolution Foundation Chief Economist Mike Brewer reflects on how the economic interventions in response to the Covid pandemic impacted equality – and what we could do better next time

The Resolution Foundation is on substack!

Subscribe to make sure you don't miss further insights into our publications and the latest policy developments from staff at the Resolution Foundation.

Our most recent post is from @mikebrewerecon.bsky.social ⤵️ buff.ly/gVKQE4o

This is a bad headline.
But I guess, ‘add 0.1% to total employment costs’ is less exciting.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...