The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee has published a report on changes in labour supply since the start of the pandemic, for which IFS Deputy Director Robert Joyce acted as a Specialist Advisor.
The report ‘Where have all the workers gone?’ cites several pieces of IFS research from this year, particularly work from IFS Associate Director Jonathan Cribb and Research Economist Bee Boileau on economic activity among older workers in their 50s and 60s. The report draws on their research on the rise in economic inactivity among people in their 50s and 60s and whether worsening health is leading to more older workers quitting work. Recent work on the increase in new disability benefit claimants by Tom Waters, Sam Ray-Chaudhri and Robert Joyce, and on long COVID and the labour market by Tom Wernham and Tom Waters are also cited in the report.
The report is available to read on the Economic Affairs Committee’s website here.
Authors


Research Economist
Bee joined the IFS in 2021 as a Research Economist and works in the Retirement, Saving and Ageing sector.

Deputy Director
Jonathan is a Deputy Director and Head of Retirement, Savings and Ageing, focusing on pensions, savings and later-life economic activity.

Associate Director
Tom is an Associate Director at the IFS and Head of the Income, Work and Welfare sector.

Senior Research Economist
Tom's main research areas are living standards and poverty, the benefits system, and its interactions with the labour market.

Research Economist
Sam joined the IFS in 2022 and works as a research economist in the Income, Work and Welfare sector.
Announcement details
- Publisher
- Institute for Fiscal Studies
More from IFS
Understand this issue

Spending Review 2025: What it means and why it matters
We take a closer look at the Spending Review and what the policies mean for public services, investment and the wider economy.
12 June 2025

Sure Start’s wide-ranging and long-lasting benefits highlight the impact of integrated early years services
Over the long run, Sure Start’s financial benefits could be twice as high as its costs
22 May 2025

How to fix UK pensions?
Can the UK pensions system deliver a decent standard of living in retirement? We explore the challenges and changes needed.
4 July 2025
Policy analysis

The government’s proposed reforms to health-related benefits: incomes, insurance and incentives
This report examines how the government’s recent proposed welfare reforms affect incomes, insurance, and incentives to work and claim benefits.
26 June 2025

The Pensions Review: final recommendations
We provide concrete recommendations to improve the UK pension system to secure better standards of living for future pensioners.
2 July 2025

Changes to benefit reforms reduce saving from bill by £3bn in 2029-30 but create huge difference in support between claimants
These changes more than halve the saving of the package of reforms, making the Chancellor’s already difficult Budget balancing act much harder.
27 June 2025
Academic research

Job competition in civil service public exams and sick leave behaviour
In this paper, we investigate the impact of new openings for civil service positions on sickness absences using data from Spain between 2009 and 2015.
23 June 2025

Future challenges for health and social care provision in the UK
We consider recent trends in health and social care productivity and the scope for future improvements.
6 June 2025

Call for papers: IFS-ADBI-GHE Workshop on Health Economics in LMICs 2025
Submissions are open until 15th February for the IFS-GHE Workshop on Health Economics in LMIC 2025