Facts and figures about UK taxes, benefits and public spending.
Income distribution, poverty and inequality.
Analysing government fiscal forecasts and tax and spending.
Analysis of the fiscal choices an independent Scotland would face.
Case studies that give a flavour of the areas where IFS research has an impact on society.
Reforming the tax system for the 21st century.
A peer-reviewed quarterly journal publishing articles by academics and practitioners.
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In this paper we show how estimates of aggregate spending in the UK would be affected by using grossing weights that take account of the known dimensions of non-representativeness of the Family Expenditure Survey. Currently a uniform weighting scheme is used by the ONS. Having estiiuated a model of spending at different degrees of disameption, corresponding to the commodities of interest as far as ONS totals are concerned, we show which dimensions of non-response are most s4nificant in determining spending patterns. We derive five sets of grossing weights which control for combinations of these factors. We show the effects of these different grossing factors for commodity groups and for the goods for which the FES is the sole source of information in the National Accounts. The effects vag, but for some of these goods (for example, theatres and taxis) controlling for non-response in computing population aggregates could increase estimates of total spending by almost nine per cent.
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Recent IFS Working Papers
Identifying the drivers of month of birth differences in educational attainment
This paper is the first to apply the principle of maximum entropy to the month of birth problem.
The drivers of month of birth differences in children's cognitive and non-cognitive skills: a regression discontinuity analysis
This paper uses data from a rich UK birth cohort to estimate the differences in cognitive and non-cognitive skills between children born at the start and end of the academic year.
The impact of age within academic year on adult outcomes
We provide the first evidence on whether differences in childhood outcomes translate into differences in the probability of employment, occupation and earnings for adults in the UK.
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