Andrew was a PhD scholar in the direct tax and welfare research sector. He joined the Institute in 2002, and his current work focuses upon the labour supply impact of recent tax and benefit reforms, and upon the analysis of inequality and poverty in Great Britain.
Education
PhD Economics, University College London, 2010
MSc (Distinction) Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2002
BSc (First Class Honours) Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2001
In this Election Briefing Note, we assess what has happened to living standards under Labour, setting out how average incomes, income inequality and poverty have changed since 1996-97. We compare these changes with what happened under previous governments, and highlight where there have been differences between Labour's first and second terms.
This Briefing Note provides the first published estimates of the labour market impact of the new tax credits, and the tax and benefit reforms that precededthem, on families with children.
This lecture, for the IFS Public Economics Lectures series, focuses on the factors that impact upon poverty and inequality and how to effectively measure living standards.
this paper uses a structural model of labour supply and programme participation to show the impact of a reform to in-work support (Working Families Tax Credit) on both labour supply and programme participation (or take-up).
In addition to having much-publicised targets for child poverty, the current government has also set itself the equally ambitious goal ‘to end pensioner poverty in our country’ .
This commentary reviews the government's tax and benefit reforms affecting pensioners to date, and examines the evidence from the latest official low income figures on the government's record on pensioner poverty so far.
This Briefing Note provides a brief analysis of changes to income inequality since the Labour government came to power in 1997. The most recent data from 2001-02 show that there has been little change in income inequality since 2000-01. An implication of this is that there has been little impact upon the slight upward trend in inequality that has been experienced over Labour's term in office.
An additional 100,000 children were lifted out of poverty on the most commonly cited of the government's relative poverty measures between 2000ְ1 and 2001ְ2. The most recent figures show 3.8 million children (roughly 30 per cent of all children) in Britain in households with income below 60 per cent of the median income after housing costs. Although this means that almost one in three children in Britain live in poverty on this definition, this is the lowest level recorded since 1991. Since the Labour government came to power, the total drop in the numbers in child poverty has been around 500,000.
Income inequality continued to rise under the first two years of Labour, and on the latest figures remains higher than before the present Government came to power. This briefing note sets out some basic facts about the distribution of income in Great Britain, and explains the reasons behind some of the main trends. Areas covered include the important changes which have occurred in the labour market, demographics and taxes and benefits.
