As the UK is facing a massive cost-of-living crisis, high inflation and falling real wages, the Intergenerational Foundation is supporting the Stop the Squeeze campaign. Alec Haglund, IF Researcher, sets out the argument for why the government ought to implement the policies advocated by the Stop the Squeeze campaign in order to avoid the largest… Read more »
Category: Employment
A budget for the wealthy, to the detriment of everyone else
A week on, Alec Haglund, IF Researcher, argues that the government’s 23rd September budget and the turmoil that has followed its announcement will lead to disastrous consequences for the economy as a whole, and hurt low- and middle-income workers and the prospects of the young the most. The direction the new government wants to take… Read more »
What working children in Peru can teach us about intergenerational fairness
Jessica K. Taft is Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is the author of The Kids Are in Charge. In this blog for the Intergenerational Foundation’s Worldwide Blog Week, she explores what adults can learn from young people, specifically the community of working children in Peru.… Read more »
The leadership will change – will any policies?
Alec Haglund, IF researcher, explores whether the 2022 Conservative leadership race will provide an opportunity for a renewed national debate and discussion about solving the country’s problems. Empty talk For a democracy to be healthy and thriving, there must always be space for an open discussion about how to improve people’s lives and how to… Read more »
Spring Statement: compounding the cost of living crisis for young people
On March 23, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, delivered his Spring Statement to Parliament, announcing a number of measures intended to alleviate the cost of living crisis. However, IF Co-Founder, Angus Hanton, argues that this package, combined with the government’s longstanding economic and fiscal policies, will do very little to solve the cost of… Read more »
Two years of COVID-19: the pandemic, young people and what next?
Almost two years have passed since COVID-19 was declared a public health emergency by the WHO. IF’s digital campaigns officer Liam Hill analyses how the pandemic, the lockdowns and other restrictions have affected young people in the UK, and asks what can be done to address the issues they face. Two years of turmoil It… Read more »
Rise in National Living Wage not enough to help younger people
The government announced a rise in the National Living Wage this week, presenting it as a win for lower-paid working people. Lizzie Simpson, IF Researcher, discusses the details of this rise in the context of inflation and rising costs of living, and questions the merit of the UK’s age-based minimum wage system. Changes to the… Read more »
National Insurance: young people and lower earners hit the hardest
Yesterday, MPs voted to approve raising employees’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) by 1.25 percentage points, breaking a key manifesto promise not to raise taxes. While the government marketed the rise as “progressive”, in reality it is an intergenerationally unfair tax reform which will affect younger generations the most. Lizzie Simpson, IF Researcher, explains. A regressive… Read more »
Overqualified and underemployed: a sombre snapshot of the labour market for young people
Graduates are leaving university with scant prospects, feeling let down by policy-makers and waking up to the generational divide. Carlotta Hartmann, IF Intern, investigates the labour market pressures facing young Brits today Graduates feeling let down Young people across OECD countries have been disproportionately affected by the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to… Read more »
National insurance, intergenerational fairness and paying for social care
Robert Ashton looks at how National Insurance could be changed for the better, raising more money to pay for social care without penalising younger generations, many of whom are already paying a greater part of their incomes than previous generations on high rents and student loan repayments. How can we make National Insurance work better… Read more »