In defence of the status quo

Understand this issue

Sure Start achieved its aims, then we threw it away

comment

"We know that poor children grow up with poor life chances. We know how to ameliorate that. The choice is ours." Paul Johnson writes for the Times.

15 April 2024

Social mobility and wealth

presentation

IFS researchers shared findings from ESRC-funded research on social mobility and its drivers.

12 December 2023

How important is the Bank of Mum and Dad?

explainer

Paul Johnson talks us through patterns of financial help for first-time buyers.

15 December 2023

Policy analysis

How do the last five years measure up on levelling up?

report

How well – or badly – has the UK fared on the 12 levelling up missions? We examine early progress and the scale of the challenge ahead.

19 June 2024

The two-child limit: poverty, incentives and cost

comment

What impact has the ‘two-child limit’ in universal credit had, and what policy choices does the next government face?

17 June 2024

Pensions: five key decisions for the next government

report

How will the next government change pensions policies? This report examines key decisions that need to be taken.

7 June 2024

Academic research

Income inequality in Ireland, 1987–2019

journal article

This paper highlights an aspect of the Irish experience that does stand out as quite remarkable.

28 June 2024

Components of the evolution of income inequality in Sweden, 1990–2021

journal article

This paper documents how the inequality of household equivalent disposable income has changed in Sweden over the period 1990–2021.

28 June 2024

The intergenerational elasticity of earnings: Exploring the mechanisms

working paper

We use data covering a single cohort’s first 55 years of life to explain the differences in the intergenerational elasticity of earnings.

3 June 2024