The complicated issue of HE finance

Understand this issue

Sure Start achieved its aims, then we threw it away

comment

"We know that poor children grow up with poor life chances. We know how to ameliorate that. The choice is ours." Paul Johnson writes for the Times.

15 April 2024

The way Chancellors respond to economic news adds to our debt - here's why

explainer

Chancellors don’t respond symmetrically to good and bad economic news. The result is higher debt.

1 March 2024

Spring Budget 2024: the Chancellor’s options

event 27 February 2024 at 10:00

At this online event, IFS researchers outlined some of the constraints facing the Chancellor ahead of the Spring Budget.

Policy analysis

The short- and medium-term impacts of Sure Start on educational outcomes

report

We study the medium-run effect of Sure Start on academic outcomes, finding large benefits, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

9 April 2024

Sure Start greatly improved disadvantaged children’s GCSE results

press release

New research from IFS finds that Sure Start generated big improvements in the educational performance of children from low-income backgrounds.

9 April 2024

What you need to know about the new childcare entitlements

comment

This comment looks at who will be eligible for free childcare, whether funding is high enough and what impact the new entitlements might have.

28 March 2024

Academic research

6th World Bank/IFS/ODI Public Finance Conference | Driving Progress: Public Finance and Structural Transformation

conference 26 September 2024

We invite researchers from both academic and policy institutions to submit a paper or an extended abstract of two or more pages by April.

Higher Education Access and Funding: challenges and policy options

conference 14 May 2024 at 11:00

This one-day academic conference will look at access to and funding of Higher Education systems.

Labour market inequality and the changing life cycle profile of male and female wages

working paper

We estimate the distribution of life cycle wages for cohorts of prime-age men and women in the US.

15 April 2024