Resolution Foundation Podcasts

Making Britain work for everyone: How can employers go further to recruit and retain disabled workers? Speakers include Charlie Mayfield, lead of the Keep Britain Working review  Boosting employment among people with a health condition or disability is a crucial part of this Government’s agenda; from reaching an employment rate of 80 per cent, to reducing economic inactivity and curbing welfare spending. Yet disabled people continue to face barriers to employment. Encouraging employers to go further in hiring and retaining disabled people is key to shifting the dial on this.

From healthcare to carers’ care How disabilities and caring responsibilities impact the lives of lower-income Britain The rising prevalence of ill-health and disability across Britain has been under the spotlight recently; not least the implications for the country’s benefits bill. But the impact on those who are ill or disabled, and the family members who care for them, has been less discussed. Disability and the caring needs that can come with it already disproportionately affect the poorer half of Britain, and many of these families face a severe income penalty as a result.

A timely discussion exploring the profound transformation of global trade, amid rising tariffs and mounting geopolitical tensions. What are the broader economic implications for the UK, US and wider global landscape? The discussion will be chaired by Chaired by the Rt Hon Lord David Willetts, joined by an expert panel; Professor Meredith Crowley, Russell Napier and Sherman Robinson. Brought to you by the Resolution Foundation, Society of Professional Economists and Royal Economic Society.

New deal or no deal How will the Employment Rights Bill impact workers, businesses and the wider economy?   Kate Bell Assistant General Secretary at the TUC Neil Carberry Chief Executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation Darren Newman Employment Law Consultant Nye Cominetti Principal Economist at the Resolution Foundation Greg Thwaites Research Director at the Resolution Foundation (Chair)

The price is tight How are the cost of essentials affecting low-to-middle-income families across Britain?   Speakers Clare Moriarty Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Peter Levell Deputy Research Director at the IFS Lalitha Try Economist at the Resolution Foundation Mike Brewer Deputy Chief Executive at the Resolution Foundation (Chair)

Britain is racked by pay divides – on gender, race, age and education status. But one of its starkest inequalities centres on geography, which is far more complex than Londoners earning more than everyone else. But while regional pay inequality is widely discussed, what drives these divides is less well understood. And that really matters if we’re to tackle these inequalities.

The Government’s fiscal events have had a shaky start so far. The Autumn Budget unveiled £41 billion of tax rises by 2029-30, while the Spring Statement was dominated by controversial welfare reform that will hit poorer families the hardest. The Spending Review provides a fresh opportunity to focus on growth and living standards, as it sets out the details of over £40 billion additional annual day-to-day public service spending, and over £100 billion worth of infrastructure funding. But with Britain facing the strong headwinds of global economic turbulence and strained public services, will it be third time lucky for the Chancellor? Has the Government boosted public services across the board, or has the NHS taken the lion’s share of the cash? Has public investment centred on repairing Britain’s fraying social infrastructure – its schools, hospitals and housing stock – or building new economic and energy infrastructure? Have limited resources been effectively prioritised to support growth and improve living st

The effects of Covid-19 and double-digit inflation may have faded, but the cost of living remains a top concern for families. Recent tax increases, coupled with rising utility bills and housing costs, are adding to the pressures that households face. The jobs market is loosening with unemployment rising and real-pay rises shrinking. And these domestic pressures sit aside global economic uncertainty that will inevitably impact families at home. How has the outlook for living standards changed in light of recent events? What do these developments mean for the experiences of different households?  How might changes in the economic or policy outlook affect households, for better or for worse? And what policies would have the biggest impact for lower-income families?  

Book launch for Exile Economics: What happens if globalisation fails by Ben Chu

Where are the Government’s welfare reforms heading?

Which areas of public investment should be prioritised at the Spending Review?

What are the labour market experiences of foreign-born workers? How do systemic issues allow poor practices to persist? What are the wider implications for the UK labour market? And how can policy – including the measures in the upcoming Employment Rights Bill – better protect workers?

Our homes are now the second biggest contributor the UK’s carbon footprint, and efforts to address this rely on the widespread replacement of gas boilers with electric heat pumps. But the rollout of heat pumps is slow and behind schedule, despite generous grants on offer, and particularly so among low-to-middle income families and those living in urban areas. Home heating is one of the most visible parts of the net zero transition to households, and a policy shift is required to get more fitted into homes and ensure that all families ultimately benefit via lower energy bills. But these shifts are neither free, nor straightforward.

Despite the cuts announced in the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, spending on public services is set to be on average £43 billion higher over the years of the upcoming Spending Review, compared with what was set out by the previous Government at the 2024 Spring Budget. But with much of this extra spending front-loaded to this year and next, questions remain about funding pressures in the years after that. These services are vital for families – providing ‘in kind’ benefits which provide a huge boost to the living standards of lower-income households. So future provision will make a difference to the outlook for living standards.

What is driving the US’ impressive productivity outperformance? How does it differ from the UK, and what lessons can be drawn? And what can firms and policy makers do to reverse the UK’s productivity woes, and prevent another decade of economic stagnation in Britain?

Book launch for The Measure of Progress by Diane Coyle.

The minimum wage has been a huge success story since its introduction in 1999 – but 2025 might be its trickiest year yet. The combination of increases to employer National Insurance and a bigger-than-expected 6.7 per cent rise in the National Living Wage has left businesses warning of jobs cuts and hiring freezes. Previous such warnings haven’t materialised, but with the jobs market already in recession territory, might this year be different? It is amidst this uncertainty and challenging backdrop that the Government will need set out a longer-term plan for the minimum wage.

How has the economic outlook changed since last Autumn? What are the impacts of any tax and spend decisions the Chancellor has made to meet her fiscal rules? How might they affect households across the income distribution? And what does the latest outlook, and the Chancellor’s response, tell us about Britain’s quest for stronger growth and rising living standards?

In her Budget last Autumn, the Chancellor set out plans to boost public spending and investment by £300 billion, alongside the largest tax increases in over 30 years. She also announced new, binding fiscal rules and left herself £10 billion of headroom against meeting them. But the UK economy – and the world – has changed in the past five months…   To what extent will the UK’s poor recent economic performance feed through into the Office for Budget Responsibility’s new economic and fiscal outlook, and how it will affect the amount of headroom the Chancellor has? What policies may be required – on tax, welfare and public service spending – to hit the fiscal rules? And how do these policies sit in the wider context of the UK needing to defend itself and its allies, grow its economy, and boost living standards throughout the country?

Britain is becoming sicker, with a sustained increase in levels of ill-health and disability. This creates financial challenges for families, and a fiscal challenge for the Government, with spending on incapacity and disability benefits forecast to rise from £40 billion today to £60 billion by the end of the Parliament. Everyone agrees that the current system is not working. But no-one can agree on how to change it. The Government will need to break that stalemate in its upcoming Green Paper.