The Schools Bill: what's changing and why? podcast<p class="p1">The bill aims to improve education and social care for children. But will it work?</p>11 March 2025
Family values: inheritance, inequality and social mobility podcast<p><span style="font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;">Wealth concentration among baby boomers and stagnant earnings are driving the rise of the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’, affecting social mobility.</span></p>3 March 2025
How important is the OBR forecast? podcast<p>The OBR forecast will underpin the Chancellor’s decisions at the next Spring Forecast.</p>12 February 2025
Spring Forecast 2025: IFS analysis event 27 March 2025 <p><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(37, 61, 64);display:inline !important;float:none;font-family:"DM Serif Text", serif;font-size:20px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">At this online event IFS researchers will present their initial analysis of the Chancellor's Spring Forecast.</span></p>
How can people be better helped to draw on their pension wealth in retirement? event 1 April 2025 <p><span data-teams="true">This online event will present new analysis of the way in which defined contribution pension wealth is currently being accessed.</span></p>
IFS residential conference 2025: How do we build a business tax system for the 21st century? conference 3 April 2025 <p>This conference, in association with <a href="https://www.deloitte.co.uk">Deloitte</a>, will discuss the UK business tax system in the context of the new Corporate Tax Roadmap.</p>
Jobs landing page<p>At IFS, we recruit and train top-quality economists and professional support staff. We aim to foster a respectful and inclusive working environment.</p>20 July 2022
Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy The Research Centre at the heart of IFS is the CPP.
Two-child limit mitigation in Scotland would help larger poor families but policy design could harm work incentivescommentMitigating the two-child limit policy would be an effective way to reduce child poverty, but designing an effective policy is not straightforward. 14 March 2025
The IFS Scottish Budget Report – 2025–26reportThis report analyses the Scottish Government’s Budget for 2025–26, with chapters on tax strategy, school spending, public sector pay and more.25 February 2025
Scottish Budget 2025-26: IFS analysisevent 20 February 2025 at 10:00 At this online event, IFS researchers presented their analysis of the Scottish Budget proposals and the wider Scottish tax and spending context.
Scottish Budget: the overall fiscal and spending outlookreportFunding and spending growth are set to slow. Without a top-up, health spending will be flat in 2025–26 and tricky trade-offs elsewhere loom too.20 February 2025
After a bumper top-up this year, current plans imply a real-terms freeze in day-to-day Scottish health and social care spending in 2025–26press releaseAfter £1.5 billion of in-year top-ups in 2024-25, the plans for day-to-day health and social care spending in 2025-26 represent a real-terms freeze.20 February 2025
Scottish public sector employment and payreportHow have public sector pay and employment changed in Scotland in recent years and what are the implications of those changes?18 February 2025
Public sector pay up by 5% in Scotland since 2019, in contrast to no UK-wide increasepress releaseAs a result, public sector workers in Scotland now enjoy a considerable pay premium relative to their counterparts in the rest of the UK.18 February 2025
Scottish school spending, teachers and pupil numbersreportScotland’s schools are relatively well funded. Falling pupil rolls and workforce planning represent both challenges and opportunities going forwards. 14 February 2025
Scottish Government and Scottish councils need a long-term plan for a schools system set to lose 90,000 pupilspress releaseBy 2040, the number of pupils in Scotland is projected to be 90,000 lower than in 2024. Policymakers face a major choice over how to respond.14 February 2025
Scottish council tax: ripe for reform reportCouncil tax in Scotland – as in England – is out of date, regressive and distortionary. How should it be reformed, and what would the effects be?12 February 2025
Scottish Government should grasp the nettle of council tax reformpress releaseBroader reform alongside a council tax revaluation could improve the fairness and efficiency of the Scottish tax system.12 February 2025
Assessing Scottish tax strategy and policyreportScotland’s Tax Strategy is welcome but says little concrete about tax policy. And some actual tax policy is divorced from any sensible strategy. 6 February 2025
Scottish Government boosts NHS spending – and holds £350 million in reservecommentIn-year top-ups mean big increases in Scottish NHS spending this year – but that means plans for 2025–26 now look relatively less generous.31 January 2025
Initial response to the Scottish Government’s 2024–25 Spring Budget Revision commentHow will the latest plans for spending in 2024–25 boost the amount that the Scottish Government has to spend next year and beyond?30 January 2025
SNP’s tax strategy is a missed opportunitycommentShona Robison’s budget speech failed to set out a long-term plan for growth-enhancing reforms5 December 2024
An initial response to the Scottish Budget commentOur initial response to the Scottish Government’s Budget for 2025-26.4 December 2024
NHS recovery in Scotland is lagging behind England’scommentHow is the NHS in Scotland performing, and what does this mean for the Scottish Budget?27 November 2024
The UK Budget has improved the Scottish funding outlook, but tough choices loom down the line commentThe UK Budget has improved the Scottish funding outlook, but tough choices loom down the line 26 November 2024
A decline in foreign students and higher costs create a perfect storm for Scottish universitiescommentFalls in funding for home students, a decline in international enrolments and higher labour costs put Scottish university finances under pressure.19 November 2024
The increases in Scotland’s top rate of income tax may have reduced revenues – although significant uncertainty remainscommentScotland’s income tax rises have likely increased tax avoidance and migration – but the size of the effects is uncertain.15 November 2024
How important is the OBR forecast? podcast The OBR forecast will underpin the Chancellor’s decisions at the next Spring Forecast. 12 February 2025
Change in selected departmental capital budgets since 2007–08 data item The Ministry of Justice saw the biggest cuts to its capital budget over the 2010s, but then has seen the largest relative increases since. 11 February 2025
What is this government’s ‘theory of growth’? Nobody knows comment "Shifting the performance of an entire economy requires a long-term, consistent and persistent direction." Paul Johnson writes for the Times. 20 January 2025
Scottish Budget: the overall fiscal and spending outlook report Funding and spending growth are set to slow. Without a top-up, health spending will be flat in 2025–26 and tricky trade-offs elsewhere loom too. 20 February 2025
A look ahead to the 2025 Spring Forecast comment What are the Chancellor’s options if – and it is very much an if – the upcoming Spring Forecast puts her on track to miss her fiscal targets? 6 March 2025
Scottish Budget 2025-26: IFS analysis event 20 February 2025 at 10:00 At this online event, IFS researchers presented their analysis of the Scottish Budget proposals and the wider Scottish tax and spending context.
Do work search requirements work? Evidence from a UK reform targeting single parents working paper We assess whether work search requirements for out-of-work welfare claimants are effective in inducing individuals to work & delivering fiscal savings 1 February 2023
The impact of area level mental health interventions on outcomes for secondary school pupils: Evidence from the HeadStart programme in England working paper This paper provides the first robust evaluation of the impacts on school outcomes of HeadStart for area-level mental health interventions. 13 October 2022
Prioritization, risk selection, and illness severity in a mixed health care system working paper We study the link between illness severity and the use of public health care services by the privately insured under a public health system. 16 June 2022
