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Seven key facts about UK living standardsMore from IFS
Understand this issue

Why is the government reforming health-related benefits?
We discuss the government's welfare reforms aimed at helping sick and disabled people into work, and what the changes mean for health-related benefits
14 May 2025

Average household consumption spending before and after housing costs, and mean weekly per-capita income, in different local authorities, 2018–2019
Londoners may have the highest average incomes, but their household spending once you account for housing costs is lower than other regions.
11 April 2025

Rank of local authorities by average household income compared to rank by average consumption after housing costs
On average, London local authorities rank at the top of the income distribution, but are bottom of the net-of-housing consumption distribution.
11 April 2025
Policy analysis

IFS Deaton Review: Inequalities in the 21st Century special session at the RES 2025 Annual Conference
This year's RES Conference features a special session on the IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities with key IFS contributors to the review.
16 June 2025

Expanding winter fuel payment eligibility
In this comment we consider what options the government has to expand WFP eligibility
21 May 2025

Which places have the highest standard of living?
Measuring living standards using average household spending gives a starkly different picture of regional inequalities than using average income.
11 April 2025
Academic research

The health effects of universal early childhood interventions: evidence from Sure Start
We estimate the health impacts of Sure Start, a universal integrated ECI in England, from infancy to adolescence.
9 May 2025

Measuring cost of living inequality during an inflation surge
We provide new evidence that inflation inequality surged during the 2021–2023 cost-of living crisis.
9 May 2025

Estimating intra-household sharing from time-use data
Estimating intra-household sharing is crucial to understanding overall inequality. However, expenditure data is almost always at the household level.
2 May 2025