Tax is just one policy lever among many others, yet our tax system affects the UK’s industrial structure in many ways. We should give consideration to these effects when designing tax policy. When we deviate from tax neutrality to steer the industrial structure, three questions need to be addressed. Is there a good reason to change a market outcome? Is tax the right tool? And can we design tax solutions where benefits outweigh costs? Removing current distortions from our tax policy is often much more sensible than layering another distortion on top.
This weekend the state pension age, for both men and women, rose to 65 years and five months. It will continue to rise every couple of months until it reaches 66 in October next year. Further increases to 67 in 2028 and to 68 a decade or so after that are planned. These increases are the obvious, if belated, response to a sharp growth in life span.
Business owners have been the fastest-growing part of the UK labour force since at least 2000. Between 2000–01 and 2015–16, the number of employees grew by 15%, while self-employment (including those operating as a sole trader or as a partner in a partnership) grew by 25% and the number of directors of companies with at most two directors more than doubled. The number of new businesses created in the UK between 2007–08 and 2015–16 was higher than in any other OECD country.
This weekend, on Saturday 6th July, the state pension age rises again, to 65 and 5 months. Naturally, this means that some will have to wait longer to receive their state pension. But it also means that some with low incomes must wait longer to receive ‘Pension Credit’ – a means-tested benefit that aims to provide pensioners with a ‘minimum income’.
In a new feasibility study, we conclude that it would be possible to implement and evaluate a new programme targeted at very young children in disadvantaged families. We also provide a blueprint for what the programme and evaluation could look like.
We have established a new partnership between academics, local government and early years practitioners to develop, implement and evaluate a home-visiting programme for parents with very young children in England. In this feasibility study, we research local priorities and existing services to evaluate the need for a new early childhood intervention in England.
The vast majority of household wealth in the U.S. is held in illiquid assets, primarily housing, making households vulnerable to unexpected income shocks. To rationalize this preference for illiquidity, we build a life-cycle model where households are tempted to consume their liquid wealth but can use illiquid housing as a savings commitment device.
Building on early animal studies, 20th-century researchers increasingly explored the fact that early events – ranging from conception to childhood – affect a child’s health trajectory in the long-term. By the 21st century, a wide body of research had emerged, incorporating the original ‘Fetal Origins Hypothesis’ into the ‘Developmental Origins of Health and Disease’.
This briefing note discusses the consequences of Jeremy Hunt's tax and spending policies, including reducing corporation tax, increasing the point at which workers become liable for National Insurance (NICs) contributions, increasing defence spending, and reducing the interest rate applied to student debt.
