 Facts and figures about UK taxes, benefits and public spending.
Analysing government fiscal forecasts and tax and spending.
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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The increased adoption of means-tested benefits and tax credits in the UK and elsewhere has refocused employment policy on creating incentives for lower-skilled individuals to gain and retain employment. This has been the subject of increased attention in our research.
There are three main areas where further development is planned. First, labour supply decisions within the family. This area is particularly relevant given the growing importance of in-work benefits and childcare subsidies. Second, incentives in the tax and welfare system for employment retention and earnings enhancement once in the labour market. This is closely allied to the issue of wage progression and our research on human capital accumulation. Third, labour supply decisions for older workers and the complex interactions between early retirement incentives in pension systems, incapacity benefit rules and working opportunities for older people. Search
The child tax credit and working tax credit were introduced in April 2003. When fully operational, the child tax credit will represent the majority of government financial support for children. It is designed to simplify the system of financial support for parents, and provides support that is means-tested against family income. The working tax credit is designed to make work more financially attractive. It means that people with or without children in work and on a low income may receive extra help from the State. This Briefing Note looks at the changes that have been made and asks why the new tax credits have been introduced, how they work, the cost and distributional impact, the impact on work incentives and what levels of take-up we might expect.
Alissa Goodman, Michal Myck and Andrew Shephard
This commentary reviews the government's tax and benefit reforms affecting pensioners to date, and examines the evidence from the latest official low income figures on the government's record on pensioner poverty so far.
The Economics of Public Spending investigates the extent of government involvement in the economy, details its rational, and traces its historical record.
Gillian Paull and Mike Brewer
This briefing note is provided as evidence to the Work and Pensions Select Committee as to whether childcare could be provided for all parents who need it to help them to work. It looks at the ways in which this could be achieved.
Gillian Paull and Mike Brewer
This briefing note is provided as evidence to the Work and Pensions Select Committee as to whether childcare could be provided for all parents who need it to help them to work. It looks at the ways in which this could be achieved.
Tom Clark and Carl Emmerson
This paper analyses the thrust of the UK Government's pension reforms in the context of the system they inherited.
Gordon Keenay and Edward Whitehouse
This paper examines the tax treatment of pensioners in 15 industrialised countries.
Richard Disney and Denise Hawkes
From 1998 Q4 to 2002 Q4, employment among people aged 50 and over
Renata Bottazzi, Tullio Jappelli and Mario Padula
We estimate the effect of pension reforms on households' expectations and wealth accumulation decisions.
We examine the role of ill-health in retirement decisions in Britain, using the first eight waves of the British Household Panel Survey (1991-98).
Browse publications & research
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   Past research into pension reform has contributed to evidence given to government on public service pensions.
Reform of the complex French state pension system was informed by recommendations by IFS researchers.
Changes to the benefit system recommended by IFS researchers have made working less than 16 hours a week more attractive to benefit recipients.
The Mirrlees Review shows the importance IFS attaches to high quality empirical evidence in the design of tax and benefit system.
Our ERA analysis contributed to the evaluation literature and informed the Government about the validity of the experimental findings.
IFS evaluated the Pathways to Work programme. This work proved key to the policy debate about how to get disability benefit claimants in work.
Proposals by IFS researchers to simplify the benefit system and strengthen the incentives for low-skilled adults to work have attracted the attention of Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
IFS researchers found that the In-Work Credit encouraged lone parents to leave benefit more quickly but did not increase work retention.
IFS researchers present and discuss new research on retirement saving with a group of business leaders and policy makers.
IFS researchers develop a model of the Mexican tax system that will be used by the Mexican Government analysts.
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