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.
Recent trends in and the outlook for health-related benefits Report Recipients of and spending on health-related benefits have risen rapidly since the start of the pandemic, posing a serious challenge for policymakers. 19 April 2024
The IFS Scottish Budget Report – 2024–25 Report This report looks at the key budgetary and public service issues for the Scottish Government for the 2024–25 financial year and beyond. 22 February 2024
Scottish Budget: The medium-term outlook and choices Report Devolved income tax revenues are forecast to boost the Scottish Government’s funding over the next five years, but many services could still see cuts. 6 February 2024
Constraints and trade-offs for the next government Report The next government is likely to face some of the most difficult economic and fiscal choices the UK has faced outside of pandemics and major crises. 25 January 2024
The effects of reforms to the Work Capability Assessment for incapacity benefits Report We investigate the potential impacts of the government’s proposed reforms to the Work Capability Assessment. 26 October 2023
The labor market effects of disability benefit loss Working Paper Leveraging age and health cutoffs in the reassessment, the paper estimates employment responses to loss or reduction of benefits. 29 September 2023
Is it time to reboot welfare economics? Overview Journal article The articles in this Fiscal Studies symposium engage with the question of how to revive normative questions as a central issue in economic scholarship 5 September 2023
Employment, earnings and incomes in Scotland Report How have employment, earnings and incomes performed in Scotland compared with the rest of the UK? What drives geographic inequalities within Scotland? 9 August 2023
Poverty Report We investigate recent trends in poverty, and government policies aimed at alleviating it. 13 July 2023
Living standards and inequality Report We examine recent trends in households’ living standards, with a particular focus on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–21 and 2021–22. 7 July 2023
Earnings and income inequality in Scotland Presentation This presentation to the Royal Society of Edinburgh provides an early preview of upcoming work on labour market trends and inequalities in Scotland. 28 June 2023
Lots more people are working, but in jobs that keep them in poverty Comment "As well as a continuing focus on making sure people can get into work, we also need to look at the quality of work." Paul Johnson in the Times. 8 May 2023
What impact did lowering the benefit cap have? Comment DWP study finds that lowering the benefit cap led to some moving into paid work, some moving onto an exempting disability benefit and some moving home 20 April 2023
New DWP study on sanctions may not be all it seems Comment This comment investigates the robustness of a new DWP report suggesting that benefit sanctions reduce employment. 6 April 2023
The policy menu for school lunches: options and trade-offs in expanding free school meals in England Report The expansion of free school meals has been frequently discussed. IFS researchers consider the costs and benefits of different options. 29 March 2023
Spring Budget 2023: the challenges ahead Event 28 February 2023 at 10:00 via Slido and Youtube Jeremy Hunt delivered his first Budget on 15th of March. At this online event, IFS researchers outlined the challenges he faced.
Scottish Budget 2023-24: IFS analysis Event 17 February 2023 at 10:00 Ahead of the final Scottish Parliament vote on the Budget, IFS researchers presented their analysis of the proposals.
Analysis of Scottish tax and benefit reforms Report We analyse the impact of changes to devolved income tax rates and bands and benefits, and show the total impact of the changes. 9 February 2023
Freezes in housing support widen geographic disparities for low-income renters Comment We examine the impact of the government’s decision to continue the freeze on Local Housing Allowance rates for 2023-24. 3 February 2023
Inequality and the benefits system Event 2 February 2023 at 11:00 At this online event, we presented and discussed findings from a major new work on benefits.
