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Labour supply
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.

Ageing of the population has also focused attention on incentives for early retirement in the benefit and pension systems. Quantifying their impact is essential in designing effective policy and evaluating policy reform. IFS has carried out extensive modelling of labour supply decisions, and these models are being developed further to address important new tax, benefit and pension policy questions.

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.

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Year: 567 publications
04 May 2013
This presentation was delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Labor Economists in Boston, USA on 4th May 2013
17 April 2013
Employment rates through the recession have been remarkably robust, with today’s ONS figures showing employment remaining close to 30 million. The young have experienced historically low employment rates and high unemployment rates but the employment rate of women aged 60 to 64 has increased as fast since 2010 as it did during the 2000s. An important explanation is the gradual increase in the state pension age for women since 2010, which has led to more older women being in paid work. Without this policy change, the employment rate for 60 to 64 year women would have been broadly flat since 2010.
08 March 2013
W13/03
This paper uses data from the first two years after the change to the female state pension age to estimate the impact of increasing the state pension age from 60 to 61 on the employment of women and their partners.
01 March 2013
R76
This report uses business data to document what happened to a variety of indicators of labour hoarding, as well as investment and training, over the course of the 2008–09 recession.
18 February 2013
R75
This report attempts to quantify, as far as possible, the likely effects of the UK coalition government’s welfare reforms (excluding tax changes) on labour supply in Wales.
25 January 2013
W13/02
This paper suggests a method for estimating the distribution of discount rates using panel data on income and wealth. Using the English Longitudinal Survey of Ageing (ELSA), a representative sample of the English popularion over age 50, we general panel date on total consumption from the intertemporal budget constraint.
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Browse publications & research

Impact on Society
Our ERA analysis contributed to the evaluation literature and informed the Government about the validity of the experimental findings.
Past research into pension reform has contributed to evidence given to government on public service pensions.
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 evaluated the Pathways to Work programme. This work proved key to the policy debate about how to get disability benefit claimants in work.
The Mirrlees Review shows the importance IFS attaches to high quality empirical evidence in the design of tax and benefit system.
IFS researchers found that the In-Work Credit encouraged lone parents to leave benefit more quickly but did not increase work retention.
IFS researchers develop a model of the Mexican tax system that will be used by the Mexican Government analysts.
Reform of the complex French state pension system was informed by recommendations by IFS researchers.
IFS researchers present and discuss new research on retirement saving with a group of business leaders and policy makers.
Changes to the benefit system recommended by IFS researchers have made working less than 16 hours a week more attractive to benefit recipients.