Ben joined the IFS in 2017. His work has two main strands. The first is research into the design, performance and distributional implications of the health and social care system. The second is detailed analysis of UK government fiscal policy and spending decisions. Since 2021, he has also been an editor of the IFS Green Budget, which examines the major economic challenges and policy trade-offs facing the Chancellor ahead of the Budget each year. Before joining the IFS, Ben worked in the private sector as an actuarial consultant.
Education
MSc (Distinction) Economics, University College London, 2020
BA (1st Class) Economics and Management, University of Oxford, 2016
Scottish Labour set out a vision for big expansion of the welfare state - with no sense of how much this would eventually cost or how it would be paid for
The Scottish Conservatives offer extra spending on the NHS and a range of targeted measures – but an ambition to cut income tax looks unlikely to be realised without cuts to at least some services.
The SNP’s manifesto offers big gains to a number of targeted groups in Scotland - but would involve difficult trade-offs in a tight budgetary environment.
We find that reductions in social care spending led to substantial increases in use of Accident & Emergency (A&E) departments by individuals aged 65 and above. The impacts were most pronounced among the very oldest (those aged 85 and above) and those living in more deprived neighbourhoods.
This paper examines the impact of changes in public long-term care spending on the use of public hospitals among the older population in England, and the cost and quality of this care.
The 2020 Spending Review, due to conclude on 25 November, will not be the comprehensive, multi-year review we were originally promised. Instead, the Chancellor has decided to set plans for 2021−22 only – a sensible decision in the circumstances. But while this Spending Review might be more short-term in its nature than usual, it will still contain important announcements.
This year's Spending Review is likely to be the most difficult to date. At this event, Ben Zaranko looked ahead to the upcoming Spending Review, and outlined the options, opportunities and challenges facing the Chancellor. He was joined by Graham Atkins from IfG, who looked at the impact of Covid on public services.
Providing equal access to healthcare to all solely on the basis of need was a founding principle of the NHS. Despite this, large differences persist in the amount of care used by people living in different areas and with different backgrounds. At this event we explored the findings of new IFS work outlining what has happened to educational inequalities in health care in England since 2002-03.
