Tom Clark

Microsimulation methods are used to identify the contribution of tax and benefit reforms to the significant growth in UK income inequality since 1979.

Child poverty in Britain fell in Labour's first term, though by much less than micro-simulation exercises suggested.

This paper analyses the thrust of the UK Government's pension reforms in the context of the system they inherited.

In 1997, the Labour Party was elected in the UK with few explicitly articulated ideas about social security reforms. This paper reviews the large number of subsequent reforms to social security, and argues that some consistent themes have emerged.

This papers traces trends in public spending since the 1970s.

This briefing note looks at the interaction of the tax and benefit system with stakeholder pensions. In particular, it asks how, in the light of recent reforms to the system of state pension provision, the welfare system differentially affects the incentive to invest in a stakeholder scheme for various groups in the population.

This paper argues that after five years of the current Labour government, consistent trends in social security policy have emerged

In this note, the authors examine how we might measure the fiscal stance in terms of the scale of the public deficit. They show the path the gap between state income and expenditure has taken since 1946. The paper also tries to isolate the effects of government policy as opposed to the economic cycle.

This note traces the trends in public spending and taxation in the UK during the twentieth century.

Before the 2001 election the Treasury said that `tax and benefit reforms announced in this Parliament will lift over 1.2 million children out of relative poverty. But official figures released on 11 April show a smaller fall in child poverty, of only 0.5 million since 1996-97. This commentary attempts to explain the discrepancy.

The Labour government has been at pains to stress the importance of public investment. A large portion of Spending Review 2000 was devoted to explaining why we should care about public investment: it provides the infrastructure that is a prerequisite for improvements in output and growth and is necessary both to supply and to enhance public services. This notes looks at public investment over the last 25 years and identifies trends in the various spending areas.

In 2003: the government will introduce new tax credits to provide financial support for children and low-paid workers: the integrated child credit and the employment tax credit. The reform to support for children aims to unify existing payments in a way that provides a guaranteed stream of income for those with children, whether they are working or not. The credit for people in work will provide an income top-up for low earners - something that those without children have not benefited from before. The government has not announced the impact of the reforms on the public finances, but both will cost the exchequer money, so this Commentary considers the likely sums involved. We also examine whether the reforms look like fulfilling their stated aims: making work pay, relieving poverty and creating a new type of state support that is simpler and less intrusive for claimants.

The Conservatives have made several proposals for tax and benefit reform, including benefit changes, reforms to savings taxation, a cut in fuel duty and a package of tax cuts for families. This Election Briefing Note analyses how these measures would affect household disposable incomes, how much they would cost and what the implications for the structure of the tax and benefit system might be.