The £600 billion problem awaiting the next government podcastWe speak to David Gauke and Giles Wilkes, two experts who have been at the heart of the spending review process.25 April 2024
Be the Chancellor Our interactive tool lets you be the Chancellor. Change spending plans, set tax policies and see how your choices impact borrowing and debt.
Should we worry about government debt? podcastDavid Miles joins us to discuss high government debt and its impact on the economy. 11 April 2024
IFS Annual Lecture - Innovation and productivity policies: a budgetary perspective event 15 May 2024 Professor Heidi Williams (Dartmouth College) will deliver the 2024 IFS Annual Lecture on innovation and productivity policies.
Higher Education Access and Funding: challenges and policy options conference 14 May 2024 This one-day academic conference will look at access to and funding of Higher Education systems.
Jobs landing pageAt 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.
House price rises and borrowing to invest Working Paper We propose a borrow-to-invest motive by which house price gains affect household spending on residential investment. 27 March 2024
Saving after retirement and preferences for residual wealth Working Paper We use administrative data for Norway to estimate an incomplete-market life-cycle model of retired singles and couples. 18 January 2024
The future of the state pension Podcast We discuss the current challenges facing the state pension - and options for reform. 21 December 2023
Help onto the housing ladder: the role of intergenerational transfers Report We examine financial help from family to first-time buyers, quantifying this help and studying its role in homeownership and wealth inequalities. 8 December 2023
Taxes could be cut within broader reforms Comment "The Chancellor doesn’t need to wait for fiscal headroom to reform public finances" says Helen Miller in The Telegraph. 2 November 2023
Amidst confusion, there’s widespread pessimism about future standards of living in retirement Comment We have found only very limited understanding of pensions in the UK 10 August 2023
What do pensions freedoms mean for financing retirement? Event 30 June 2023 at 10:00 via Slido and Youtube At this online event we presented the findings of a new report looking at how people access their defined contribution pension wealth.
How important are defined contribution pensions for financing retirement? Report We provide new evidence on the importance of defined contribution pensions in financing the retirement of those currently approaching retirement. 30 June 2023
Who has low savings and how problematic can that be? Event 16 June 2023 at 10:00 via Slido and Youtube IFS researchers presented what we know about which groups of people are most likely to have low savings and how long this tends to last.
Characteristics and consequences of families with low levels of financial wealth Report Many families have little or no savings to access on a ‘rainy day’. We examine the types of families with low savings and what the consequences are. 16 June 2023
Who has low savings and how problematic can that be? Presentation IFS researchers presented what we know about which groups of people are most likely to have low savings and how long this tends to last. 16 June 2023
Should we abolish inheritance tax? Explainer Recently there have been calls to abolish inheritance tax. Paul Johnson takes us through the facts in 90 seconds. 7 June 2023
The heterogeneous effects of social assistance and unemployment insurance: evidence from a life-cycle model of family labor supply and savings Working Paper We empirically analyze the heterogeneous welfare effects of unemployment insurance and social assistance. 5 June 2023
Why saving for a pension has become more risky Comment "Many working-age people may not realise just how much risk they are facing when it comes to ensuring financial security in retirement." 5 June 2023
We must act now to prevent a real pensions crisis developing in future Comment "If we are to avoid sleepwalking into a future much worse than the present, we need to start acting now." Paul Johnson writes for the Times. 24 April 2023
Challenges for the UK pension system: the case for a pensions review Report This report makes the case that economic and policy changes in the last two decades necessitate a comprehensive review of the UK pension system. 20 April 2023
Private pensions explained Explainer How do private pensions work? How are defined benefit and defined contribution pensions different? And what about 'pension freedoms'? 23 March 2023
What drives how much workers are saving in their pensions? Event 8 March 2023 at 10:00 100 St John Street, London EC1M 4EH This event, hosted by the Nuffield Foundation, launched a series of new reports investigating the drivers of pension saving among workers.
Data on private pension saving in UK surveys Report This report documents the quality of private pension saving data collected in UK household surveys. 8 March 2023
The gender gap in pension saving Report We document disparities in pension incomes and pension saving between men and women in the UK, and analyse the drivers behind these gaps. 8 March 2023