Childcare and the early years: what are the new entitlements and how will they be delivered? explainerIFS Associate Director Christine Farquharson explains.1 July 2024
What is ‘levelling up’ and how much progress has been made?explainerIFS Associate Director Christine Farquharson explains.29 June 2024
Schools funding: What have the two main parties promised?explainerIFS Associate Director Christine Farquharson explains.29 June 2024
What are the challenges in getting debt on a falling path?explainerSenior Research Economist Isabel Stockton explains.28 June 2024
Election Special: Your questions answeredpodcastIn the final run up to the election, we answer your questions about everything from borrowing to AI to the part that luck plays in the economy. 27 June 2024
What is the two-child limit in benefits?explainerIFS Associate Director Tom Waters explains.27 June 2024
What has been happening with university finances?explainerIFS Associate Director Christine Farquharson explains.27 June 2024
Election Special: The big issues politicians haven't spoken aboutpodcastWhat are the manifestos missing? What are the big challenges facing us? And what information should voters be aware of as they head to the polls?25 June 2024
Election Special: Has 'levelling up' worked?podcastWe discuss 'levelling up' and local government and see how much progress has been made. We also analyse the SNP and Plaid Cymru manifestos.21 June 2024
Election Special: The Reform UK and Green Party manifestos explainedpodcastWe discuss the Reform UK and Green Party manifestos and give our reaction to the policies and pledges within it.18 June 2024
Election Special: The Labour manifesto explainedpodcastWe discuss the Labour manifesto launched on Thursday and give our reaction to the policies and pledges within it.14 June 2024
Election Special: The Conservative manifesto explainedpodcastWe discuss the Conservative manifesto launched on Tuesday and give our reaction to the policies and pledges within it.12 June 2024
The Conservative manifestoexplainerIFS Director Paul Johnson responds to the Conservative manifesto.11 June 2024
Election Special: The government's record on taxpodcastWe look at changes to the size and shape of the state, and changes in the tax system. We also give our initial response to the Lib Dem manifesto. 10 June 2024
The Liberal Democratic manifestoexplainerIFS Director Paul Johnson responds to the Liberal Democrat manifesto.10 June 2024
Election Special: Is there a 'conspiracy of silence' between both parties?podcastIn this episode, we discuss the tight fiscal situation after the next budget, and also look at how the education system is faring. 6 June 2024
What does the future of the NHS waiting list look like?explainerResearch Economist Max Warner explains.4 June 2024
What is the conspiracy of silence surrounding choices facing the next government? explainerPaul Johnson, Director of IFS, explains how neither of the two main parties are addressing the big problems they would face after the general election4 June 2024
Election Special: The UK economy since 2008podcastSince 2008, the UK economy has faced a series of shocks and long-term problems - we ask what challenges the next government faces.3 June 2024
What has happened to taxes in recent years?explainerDeputy Director Helen Miller explains.2 June 2024
What has happened to NHS waiting lists since 2010?explainerResearch Economist Max Warner explains.2 June 2024
Could the two main parties raise £5-6 billion by cracking down on tax evasion?explainerIFS Deputy Director Helen Miller explains the difficulties of getting money into the Treasury and why political parties should have a backup plan2 June 2024
What has the Labour Party said about NHS waiting lists?explainerIFS Director Paul Johnson explains.1 June 2024
What does the Conservative's higher education announcement this week mean for apprenticeships and 'low-value' university courses?explainerIFS Associate Director Christine Farquharson explains.1 June 2024
How will the Conservative's National Service program be funded and how might this impact different areas of the UK?explainerIFS Associate Director David Phillips explains.31 May 2024
What are the current plans for public spending after the election? explainerSenior Research Economist Ben Zaranko explains31 May 2024
What does the Conservative's 'triple lock plus' announcement mean? And what's the context around tax and the state pension?explainerIFS Director Paul Johnson explains.30 May 2024
Election Special: What you need to knowpodcastIn our first election special, we look at the broad economic picture and analyse announcements about the fiscal rules, the triple lock and tax.28 May 2024
How to grow the economypodcastWith an election on the way, economic growth is bound to be central to the campaigns. A leading expert explains how we can grow the economy.24 May 2024
Public investment: what you need to knowexplainerEverything you wanted to know about UK public investment but were too afraid to ask – including analysis of Labour and Conservative plans.25 April 2024
The way Chancellors respond to economic news adds to our debt - here's whyexplainerChancellors don’t respond symmetrically to good and bad economic news. The result is higher debt. 1 March 2024
The Spring Budget 2024 explained in 90 secondsexplainerIFS Director Paul Johnson gives an initial response to Jeremy Hunt's Spring Budget.6 March 2024
The changes to Labour's green investment plan explainedexplainerBen Zaranko explains Labour's latest announcement that it will no longer seek to spend £28 billion per year on green investment.9 February 2024
The economic stories that will shape 2024podcastAs we enter the new year, we take a look ahead at what to expect in 2024.5 January 2024
The NHS waiting list: when will it come down?podcastWe discuss all things waiting list - What is it? How big is it? Is there a credible plan to get it back down?29 February 2024
Should we abolish the triple lock?explainerPaul Johnson talks us through the triple lock and whether it is still a useful policy tool. 18 December 2023
This will be the biggest tax-raising parliament on recordexplainerThis has been the biggest tax-raising parliament since records began, pushing UK tax revenues to historically high levels.29 September 2023
Why we need to reform inheritance taxpodcastWe discuss the issues with inheritance tax and how to reform it.6 December 2023
Income and wealth inequality explained in 5 chartsexplainerWe document how economic inequalities have changed over the last sixty years, and how experiences have varied for different groups.9 November 2022
What's wrong with inflation?podcastInflation continues to affect the UK economy - we speak to two experts on inflation who explain the bigger picture.10 May 2023
Why politicians need to think long-term about pensionspodcastWe talk through the challenges facing the UK pensions system and future generations of pensioners.26 April 2023
The future of the state pensionpodcastWe discuss the current challenges facing the state pension - and options for reform. 21 December 2023
Should the government levy VAT on private school fees?explainerLabour have proposed levying VAT at the main rate of 20% on private school fees. Paul Johnson lays out the facts in 90 seconds.9 November 2023
Inheritance tax raises £7bn a year. It needs reform.explainerWe lay out issues with the inheritance tax system and examine options for reform.10 October 2023
Student loans in England explained and options for reformexplainerHow does the student loan system currently work in England, what will change for new students in 2023, and what are some of the options for reform?20 July 2023
The housing crisis for low-income private renters explainedexplainerTom Waters explains how the freezes in housing benefit are affecting low-income renters.29 June 2023
Should we abolish inheritance tax?explainerRecently there have been calls to abolish inheritance tax. Paul Johnson takes us through the facts in 90 seconds.7 June 2023
Why are more and more people paying the higher rate of tax?explainerIn recent decades, the amount of adults paying the higher rate of tax has increased enormously. In this explainer, we explain the reasons why.17 May 2023
How are private pensions taxed?explainerPrivate pensions form a key part of retirement saving. We explore how they are taxed.3 April 2023
Where does the government get its money? The Government raises around £1 trillion in revenue each year. Most comes from the three biggest taxes: income tax, NICs and VAT.Election 2024
How have government revenues changed over time? UK tax revenue is forecast to reach its highest ever level. One major trend since the 1970s has been a shift towards VAT.Election 2024
How do UK tax revenues compare internationally? UK tax revenue is below the average of other developed economies. The UK stands out as raising less from social security contributions.Election 2024
What does the government spend money on? In 2022–23, government spending was almost £1,200 billion, or around 45% of GDP. Health spending is a growing share of the total.Election 2024
