A new briefing note published by the IFS analyses the latest government HE reforms, some of which was voted on in the House of Commons on Tuesday 27 January 2004.

How should international financial institutions target funds to alleviate poverty and encourage development? Which programmes deliver the best results? New research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies investigates the effectiveness of a programme aimed at improving the life chances of poor children in Latin America and hence fostering prosperity for the future in developing countries. If successful, as preliminary analysis indicates, the programme could provide a blueprint for other countries to improve the lives of their poorest citizens.

How governments should direct money to families with children seems to be a constant part of the political and policy debate. The present government has made many changes to the structure of financial support to families with children, culminating in the child tax credit and working tax credit, perhaps the most radical reform in this area since child benefit replaced family allowance in the late 1970s. This research set out to improve our understanding of the way successive UK governments' have financially supported parents, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has kindly supported the IFS in an analysis of how child-contingent support has changed since 1975, and how this relates to changes to taxes and benefits, the characteristics of households with children, and the costs of children.

Analysis of the Chancellor's Pre-Budget Report.

Collaborative research by Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM) Fellows shows that in 2001 the two largest contributors to the gap with the US were services in which the UK is usually thought to do well -the retail/wholesale sector and financial services. In these two industries relative productivity versus the US has actually worsened. What's more, over the past decade employment in the UK has shifted into some of the lowest productivity sectors, adding to the aggregate gap.

IFS produced an article for the Evening Standard on Thursday 4th December which contained some figures relating to the tuition fee debate. This note explains how the figures in that article were calculated.

This new study reveals that the health and well-being of older people are strongly related to wealth and social position. The study, conducted jointly by University College London, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the National Centre for Social Research has collected detailed information from over 12,000 people aged 50 and over. It will continue to follow the same group of people over time to build up a unique picture of how older people live in Britain today.

The TLRC responds to the DTI's consultation on a framework for the legal recognition of same-sex couples.

The Pension Credit is introduced on Monday. New IFS research, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, published today shows that the Pension Credit will increase support for many low and middle income pensioners, will reward pensioners for having saved in the past, but on average is unlikely to encourage retirement saving among today's working age individuals, and may even discourage it.

In the great state pension debate, the main political parties have switched sides from where they stood six years ago. In opposition Labour argued that pensioners should no longer be subjected to means-testing, but in government they have extended it. Now it is the Conservatives in opposition who say means-testing should go, despite raising meanstested benefits more than universal support when they were in office.