Andrew Phillips

Jam tomorrow? Work, finances and retirement in an era of a rising State Pension age As the State Pension age rises to 67, we think the government needs to put in place policies to ensure that as many people as possible have financial security throughout their 60s and beyond.

Both - a higher number of people in their 60s overall and a higher proportion of people aged 60-64/65 in income poverty. See charts 3 and 11! www.standardlife.co.uk/centre-for-t...

Saving penalties • Resolution Foundation Means-tested benefits in Britain are built on the principle that individuals with significant financial resources should use those before turning to the state for help. That’s why wealth – as well as ...

Savings in private pension pots are exempt from this rule, which is good - although you're absolutely right that it penalises other types of saving. And the thresholds of £6,000 and £16,000 have been frozen in cash terms since 2006! See www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...

@csfoot.bsky.social @patrickjthomson.bsky.social @naomiclayton.bsky.social @stephenevans.bsky.social @louisemurphy.bsky.social @charliemccurdy.bsky.social @emilyishness.bsky.social @dan-goss.bsky.social @sarahoconnorft.ft.com @jburnmurdoch.ft.com @amyborrett.ft.com @marymcd.bsky.social

Jam tomorrow? Work, finances and retirement in an era of a rising State Pension age As the State Pension age rises to 67, we think the government needs to put in place policies to ensure that as many people as possible have financial security throughout their 60s and beyond.

New report out today

"Jam tomorrow? Work, finances and retirement in an era of a rising State Pension age"

Higher State Pension age has led to higher employment among people in their 60s.

But there are 250k more people in pre-retirement poverty than in 2010

www.standardlife.co.uk/centre-for-t...

Rightly lots of debates about growth this weekend - rightly because it was low productivity growth that saw wages entirely flatline during the 2010s.

😬

See the report for our recommendations for targeted government interventions to scale the supply of skills to match growing demand.

May be of interest to @acjsissons.bsky.social, @codrinacretu.bsky.social, @annaclarke.bsky.social, @chrisstark.bsky.social, @zackleather.resolutionfoundation.org

76,000 jobs in England have heat pump-relevant skills but they overlap with those needed in construction and infrastructure.

To ensure homes are heated reliably, we need a skilled and competent workforce to maintain public confidence, as well as expanding the number of people with heat pump skills.

Workforce planning for clean heat - Aldersgate Group New labour force research makes policy recommendations to take up significant opportunities to expand the heat pump workforce

📣 New research 📣 High competition for skilled workers is a significant risk for the UK's transition to clean heat.

New @aldersgategroup.bsky.social research from WPI Economics uses Lightcast data to examine where the heat pump workforce will come from.

www.aldersgategroup.org.uk/publications...

This is the point. Policy *should not* be adjusted or fine-tuned in response to minor forecasting judgements. Decisions about whether or not to break a prominent manifesto promise *should not* depend on minor forecasting judgements. This stuff matters. We've got to do better than this.

Is gas still the reason energy bills are so high? Despite rising non-commodity costs on energy bills, high gas prices remain the primary reason for expensive energy for most British households, making the switch to homegrown energy a top priority

Is gas still the reason GB energy prices are high? New Nesta blog by me.

There's been a lot of talk about non-commodity costs on electricity bills, and how they're now dominating bill rises.

My conclusion is: yes, they're a problem and need tackling; but they're not yet as big a problem as gas.

Where are the public sector reformers? Can you help us find them?

At @kinship.works, we thought we'd try to map the different public sector reform 'tribes' & where to find them (orgs, events, networks/communities, online spaces, newsletters/publications/podcasts etc) - but we need your help!

Future of the state pension | Standard Life Today, the state pension is at a critical juncture, facing questions over affordability and intergenerational fairness in the context of an ageing population and increasing longevity.

Yes, we've discussed this idea quite a bit! However, overall we think that the simplicity of a single, universal State Pension age is worth keeping. This is partly based on our research with members of the public in two workshops we ran in 2022. See: www.standardlife.co.uk/centre-for-t...

How can we support better, longer careers in the context of a rising State Pension age?

Come and discuss this with us at our event in London on 13 November with our speakers @csfoot.bsky.social, @naomiclayton.bsky.social, Sarah Ellis and Dr Suzy Morrissey:

events.standardlife.co.uk/ExtendingThe...

Enjoyed reading this article on planning for retirement and how it changed during the 20th century. Interesting reflections from people who attended 'pre-retirement education' courses, designed to help people plan and prepare for retirement.

The justice minister is right to be 'absolutely terrified' of prisons running out of space. As @cassiarowland.bsky.social's report showed last week, prison capacity will be on a knife edge for the next two years unless the govt takes further action to free up space

UK Hongkongers rue the rockiness of their ‘lifeboat’ after threatened visa changes People who fled Chinese territory are angry after London looks at doubling length of time required to gain citizenship

You may have heard about UK ministers' plan to double to 10 years the time needed to reached settled status in the UK. But did you realise that it threatened access to pensions for the 180,000 people who came from Hong Kong on the UK government's visa scheme? My dispatch: www.ft.com/content/8b91...

How can we support better, longer careers in the context of a rising State Pension age?

Come and discuss this with us at our event in London on 13 November with our speakers @csfoot.bsky.social, @naomiclayton.bsky.social, Sarah Ellis and Dr Suzy Morrissey:

events.standardlife.co.uk/ExtendingThe...

How can we support better, longer careers in the context of a rising State Pension age?

Come and discuss this with us at our event in London on 13 November with our speakers @csfoot.bsky.social, @naomiclayton.bsky.social, Sarah Ellis and Dr Suzy Morrissey:

events.standardlife.co.uk/ExtendingThe...

Why are so many young people not learning or earning?

Sign up for the discussion next week, as we launch our upcoming report on the rising incidence of young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) ⤵️ buff.ly/HZ28fWV

Today’s data show that a weakening jobs market is feeding through into pay. Depressing stat of the day: real weekly wages have increased by just £1.50 since Sep 2024. Here is our thread (from me and @hannahslaughter.bsky.social).

@csfoot.bsky.social @patrickjthomson.bsky.social

New research out today

"Retirement Voice 2025: How an era of uncertainty is affecting our attitudes towards retirement"

We used a new 6k survey of the UK population. I had fun designing the charts! Find out how people feel about finances, work and retirement

www.standardlife.co.uk/centre-for-t...

A textbook case of how not to report polls.

'50%? Oh my god!'
'Oh, you mean a 9-point increase'?

1. Looks like skills is moving to DWP. What might this mean? I assume it's 19+ funding, which these days is the Adult Skills Fund (£1.5bn, 2/3 devolved to mayors) & apprenticeships (£3bn, inc small numbers of 16-19s). All Govt structures create silos. You need to pick least bad & work around them.

🚨 New research published today 🚨

Our analysis finds that inactivity is rising and unemployment has not yet peaked.

Learn more 👉 buff.ly/a9SnWhw

Today’s labour market statistics show that the jobs market is continuing to loosen, with jobs, vacancies and pay growth all weakening.

Our @resfoundation.bsky.social take, from myself and @hannahslaughter.bsky.social, is below...

Counting on Experience: The demographics of the Industrial Strategy workforce Over 50s have driven much of the employment growth over recent decades as more people work to older ages, and the age profile of our workforce changes. This matters to individuals, as they navigate th...

You can find the research (and lots of nice charts!) here: www.standardlife.co.uk/centre-for-t...

Good piece in the FT which cites our research from the Standard Life Centre for the Future of Retirement on the demographics of the Industrial Strategy workforce.

If AI is being used extensively in office jobs, then should we be letting students use AI in the classroom?

No - here's why.

With reference to 3 papers that show what you do in a job isn't the template for what you do in the classroom.

substack.nomoremarking.com/p/education-...