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Why is the government reforming health-related benefits?
podcast
We discuss the government's welfare reforms aimed at helping sick and disabled people into work, and what the changes mean for health-related benefits
14 May 2025
What's the future of corporation tax?
podcast
Corporation tax was introduced 60 years ago. Despite many predictions of its decline, it is now forecast to raise record amounts. 
10 April 2025
Spring Statement 2025: IFS Zooms In
podcast
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(13, 13, 13);counter-reset:list-1 0 list-2 0 list-3 0 list-4 0 list-5 0 list-6 0 list-7 0 list-8 0 list-9 0;cursor:text;font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"> What were the decisions and trade-offs made by Chancellor Reeves?
27 March 2025
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Guides, manuals, software and more Fiscal facts: public finances, tax and benefits
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IFS Annual Lecture: Trade Wars and the Future of Globalisation
conference 20 May 2025
Professor Meredith Crowley will deliver the 2025 <span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(37, 61, 64);display:inline !important;float:none;font-family:"DM Serif Text", serif;font-size:20px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">IFS Annual Lecture. 
From Sure Start to Family Hubs: how can evidence best inform policymaking for joined up family support in the early years?
conference 22 May 2025
This event will explore the evidence and policy landscape around early years family support. It will also mark the launch of a new report from IFS.
A look ahead to the 2025 Spending Review
event 2 June 2025
At this online event, researchers will present what the key choices will be at the Spending Review.
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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
Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy
The Research Centre at the heart of IFS is the CPP.
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Topics

Consumption and prices

Our work in this area looks at how consumers respond to price signals and other incentives to change their borrowing, saving and spending behaviour, as well as how different households' welfare is affected by inflation and changes in indirect taxes.

Showing 61 – 80 of 745 results

Changes to universal credit regime must take account of rising prices

Comment

They might not know it yet, and it is likely to pass the rest of us by entirely, but for more than two and half million families, today is a very big day.

9 May 2022

Higher inflation means an unintended cut to the Chancellor's spending plans

Report

IFS Senior Research Ben Zaranko responds to the Spring Statement for Public Finance.

29 March 2022

High inflation threatens to raise nightmare scenario for pensioners

Comment

Director Paul Johnson on the effects of inflation on pension policy in The Times.

28 March 2022

Spring Statement: inflation, living standards and uncertainty

Podcast

We look at the Chancellor's Spring Statement and discuss how effective it is, and what the long-term implications are.

25 March 2022

Suited man walks past signs to UK Parliament

Pre-Spring Statement Presentation

Presentation

Pre-Spring Statement Presentation

21 March 2022

Consumer bankruptcy, mortgage default and labour supply

Working Paper

We estimate a lifecycle model of consumption, housing demand and labor supply where individuals may file for bankruptcy or default on their mortgage.

18 March 2022

Sunak could delay the pain for households but he can’t take it away

Comment

"We haven’t lived through a period like this perhaps since the oil crisis of 1973. That made us poorer. This crisis will also make us poorer."

14 March 2022

Stimulus payments and private transfers

Working Paper

We report a survey experiment where individuals were asked how they would respond to a £500 payment.

17 February 2022

Government uses high inflation as cover for hitting students, graduates and universities

Comment

Using inflation as a cover, the government is cutting maintenance loans, increasing student loan repayments and lowering maximum tuition fees.

10 February 2022

Helping the poor is easy, chancellor, everyone else may just have to suffer

Comment

Paul Johnson considers what HM Treasury civil servants might be advising Rishi Sunak in response to the cost-of-living crisis.

31 January 2022

Price floors and externality correction

Journal article The Economic Journal

We evaluate the impact of a price floor for alcohol introduced in Scotland in 2018, using a difference-in-differences strategy with England as a contr

31 January 2022

What should the government do about rising energy prices?

Podcast

With energy prices going up, we ask what the government can do to bring down prices.

26 January 2022

We let our guard down on inflation and now we must parry the blows

Comment

"We haven’t had to worry much about such things for a long while. For this year at least, we need to."

17 January 2022

The cost of living crunch

Comment

We examine the rising cost of living, its impacts on different kinds of households, and the mitigation measures available to the government.

12 January 2022

What you should be paying attention to in 2022

Podcast

As 2022 starts, we speak to four IFS experts and find out what we should be looking out for this year.

12 January 2022

Rationalizability, cost-rationalizability, and Afriat’s eﬃciency index

Working Paper

This note explains the equivalence between approximate rationalizability and approximate cost-rationalizability within the context of consumer demand.

11 January 2022

The cost of living crisis – who is hit by recent price increases?

Comment

This observation looks at how today’s high inflation figures are affecting different income groups.

17 November 2021

Price floors and externality correction

Working Paper

We evaluate the impact of a price floor for alcohol introduced in Scotland in 2018.

15 November 2021

Consumption spending in the wake of the pandemic

Report

This briefing note compares trends in output, consumer spending and saving from the 2020 recession with those from two previous recessions beginning in 1990 and 2008.

12 November 2021