Robert is Deputy Director at the IFS. His research focuses primarily on the labour market, the drivers of income and wealth inequalities, and the design of the welfare system. Currently this includes work examining the impacts on jobs and pay of rises in the minimum wage, the short and long term effects of the universal credit reform to working-age benefits, and the impacts of changes in the demand for different skills on the prospects of different workers.
This presentation was delivered at the IZA Workshop on 'The Future of Labor: The Effects of the Economic Crisis on the Labor Market, Unemployment and Income Distribution' in Bonn, Germany on 21st February 2013
The Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill proposes to cap the annual increases in most working-age benefits at 1% in cash terms in 2014-15 and 2015-16, in addition to the 1% cap on increases already confirmed for 2013-14. This observation examines the effects of this proposal on incomes and work incentives, and puts this in the broader context of trends during the recession and subsequent fiscal tightening
On Monday, Child Benefit will effectively become an income-related benefit for the first time. This observation reviews the key features of this new policy, highlights unaddressed issues regarding its operation in the long run, and considers how it will fit into the wider welfare system.
This chapter forms part of a book that analyses the impact of the Great Recession on household incomes and how the major economic downturn has affected how well-off people are.
This presentation was delivered in Brussels on 21st November 2012, at the EUROMOD Analytical Conference hosted by the European Commission Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.
In his speech to the Conservative party conference today, the Chancellor of the Exchequer again stated an intention to reduce welfare expenditure by a further £10 billion per year by 2016–17. In this observation, IFS researchers analyse the suggested cuts.
This report examines cuts made to expenditure in Wales and considers some scenarios for how much local authorities may have to spend in the period up to 2020-1.
In this article we assess whether there are differences in early measures of cognitive and socio-emotional development between children born to cohabiting and married couples, and if so, whether marriage is the cause of these differences.
How have household incomes evolved since the onset of the financial crisis? What is the gap between rich and poor? Who was hit hardest by the recession? How many people are there in poverty? Which groups are most likely to face poverty? This report looks at the trends in poverty, inequality and living standards using the most recent government data.
