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The Autumn Statement explained
podcast
We analyse the Chancellor's 2023 Autumn Statement.
24 November 2023
The Autumn Statement 2023 explained in 90 seconds
explainer
Paul Johnson responds to Jeremy Hunt's 2023 Autumn Statement.
22 November 2023
Cake or biscuit? The UK's byzantine VAT system explained
podcast
This week, we dive into the oddities of the VAT system.
16 November 2023
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Guides, manuals, software and more Fiscal facts: public finances, tax and benefits
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Education spending: an engine for levelling-up?
event 11 December 2023
The launch of the 2023 IFS Annual Report on Education Spending in England, funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
Social mobility and wealth
conference 12 December 2023
At this in-person event, IFS researchers will share findings from ESRC-funded research on social mobility and its drivers.
Where next for the state pension?
event 13 December 2023
At this online event, IFS researchers will present findings from a major new report on the future of the state pension in the UK.
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Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy
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The ESRC has funded a research centre at IFS since 1991, recognised as a global centre of excellence and now with UKRI Research Institute status.
15 July 2022
Jobs
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At IFS, we recruit and train top-quality economists and professional support staff. We aim to foster a respectful and inclusive working environment.
20 July 2022
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Xiaowei Xu

Senior Research Economist

Xiaowei joined the IFS in 2018 and works in the Income, Work and Welfare sector. Her research focuses on inequalities in labour market outcomes and health. Before joining the IFS, she worked at McKinsey, the Gates Foundation and in economic consulting.

Education

MPhil Economics, University of Oxford, 2014

BA (1st Class) Philosophy, Politics and Economics, University of Oxford, 2011

Contact

Email: Email

Twitter: @xiaoweixu_

Orcid number: 0000-0002-9007-8519

Xiaowei Xu: all content

Showing 1 – 20 of 117 results

Housing costs take up three-and-a-half times as much of the budgets of the poor as of the rich, with significant implications for their standard of living

Press Release

"It is not possible to understand income poverty or inequality without taking account of housing costs."

17 November 2023

Housing costs and income inequality in the UK

Report

This report sheds light on some of the drivers of changes in housing costs over time for different groups.

17 November 2023

Increasing concentration of high-skilled jobs in London means graduates elsewhere cannot fully capitalise on their education

Press Release

The current economic geography of the UK limits both social mobility and the effective use of talent across the country.

13 November 2023

The changing geography of jobs

Report

This report examines the way in which ‘hollowing out’ and other labour market trends have shaped the economic geography of the UK.

13 November 2023

Levelling Up: Is inequality between places Britain’s biggest problem?

Podcast

Since 2019, 'levelling up' has been at the forefront of the political agenda - but is inequality between places really Britain’s biggest problem?

16 August 2023

Pay growth for London’s top earners has driven up geographical inequality in mean earnings

Comment

Strong pay growth in business services has pushed up top earnings in London, widening geographical inequalities in mean earnings.

25 July 2023

An image of a block of flats with the City in the distance

Living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK: 2023

Event 13 July 2023 at 11:00 via Slido and Youtube

This online event presented the key findings from our latest flagship annual report on living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK.

Lump-sum cost of living payments poorly designed to alleviate deprivation

Press Release

The government has introduced a series of ‘cost of living payments’.

13 July 2023

Living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK: 2023

Presentation

This online event presented the key findings from our latest flagship annual report on living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK.

13 July 2023

Living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK: 2023

Report

We investigate how living standards have changed for different groups in the UK, with a particular focus on the cost of living payments and housing.

13 July 2023

Poverty

Report

We investigate recent trends in poverty, and government policies aimed at alleviating it.

13 July 2023

Recent changes to universal credit have much smaller effect on poverty than £20 uplift

Comment

Absolute poverty fell from 17.9% to 16.8% in the first year of the pandemic, due to rising benefit receipts.

9 July 2023

Nearly half of older adults who left the workforce in 2020–21 ended up in relative poverty

Press Release

New IFS research, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, shows that 48% of 50- to 70-year-olds who had recently left the workforce in 2020–21 ended

7 July 2023