Luke is a Research Fellow attached to the Education, Employment and Evaluation sector. His general research interests include education policy, political economy and poverty and inequality. In the recent past, he has conducted research into the following specific areas: school funding; the impact of the home learning environment on child outcomes; trends in top incomes; trends in child poverty and income inequality; and the politics of tax policy.
Education
MSc (Distinction) Economics, University College London, 2008
BSc (First Class) Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2005
On the face of it, there appears to be much agreement between the three main UK parties on education policy: they all propose the creation of new schools or academies, and all plan to introduce a 'pupil premium' that is intended to provide more funds to schools with disadvantaged pupils. On closer examination, however, this apparent consensus fades away - there are real and significant differences between the parties' approaches to the education system.
Sensibly, there is general agreement between the three main parties on the need to tackle the large rise in youth and long-term unemployment caused by the recession, and all parties have policies to help deal with the high number of people who are out of work and receiving disability benefits. Today, the IFS publishes an analysis of the welfare and back-to-work policies proposed by the three main UK parties for welfare reform.
In this Briefing Note, we assess the changes to living standards that have occurred under the first 11 years of the Labour government and compare these changes with what happened under previous governments.
This election briefing note finds strong evidence of an increase in the rate of severe poverty since 2004-05, mirroring a rise in the official poverty rate, although the rate of persistent poverty does seem to have fallen under Labour, at least until 2007.
IFS researchers assess the rationale for a pupil premium and offer an empirical analysis of how such a scheme might operate in practice and affect school finances.
This book documents the first five years of life of the children of the influential Millennium Cohort Study, which is tracking almost 19,000 babies born in 2000 and 2001 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
One of David Cameron's key themes in his speech to the Conservative Party conference was that Labour has "made the poorest poorer", "left youth unemployment higher" and "made inequality greater". How fair are these accusations?
Gordon Brown's speech to the Labour party conference confirmed that, if it wins the general election, the Government will provide free early education and childcare places for 2 year old children in low-income families in England by 2015, to be funded by scrapping the tax break on employer-provided childcare vouchers. Who will win and lose from this change, and what does it tell us about the Government's priorities?
How fast is unemployment rising? Recently, the number of people claiming unemployment benefits has been rising at a slower rate than the numbers unemployed on a broader measure. The Government has announced an investigation into this apparent discrepancy. But is there really any discrepancy at all?
Event
8 May 2009 at 11:30<p>7 Ridgmount Street<br />London<br />WC1E 7AE</p>
The Government's latest figures on the distribution of income and the extent of relative poverty in the UK will be released by the Department for Work and Pensions on Thursday 7 May. The IFS will release a full report on the latest figures and recent trends on Friday 8 May.
