Briefing notes
We produce short briefing notes on current policy issues, drawing on our expertise and research findings.
Briefing note
This short briefing note sets out what we know about those excluded from the government's Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and what options the government has for extending it to them.
Briefing note
A year and a half ago we launched the IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities. When we did so, the chair of the Review, Nobel Laureate Sir Angus Deaton, raised the possibility that inequalities may prove a threat to our economic, social and political systems unless they are tackled effectively.
Briefing note
On Thursday, the government set out its plans for council funding in England next year. In this briefing note we examine plans for both core funding and top-ups for ongoing COVID-19 related costs, and look at some of the issues looming beyond next year.
Briefing note
The past nine months have seen huge swings in households’ spending, both in total and across various goods and services. In this briefing note, we analyse the geographical patterns of these changes.
Briefing note
The research summarised in this briefing note has taken an important first step in understanding how the timing of individuals’ pension saving interacts with the accumulation of housing wealth.
Briefing note
The current system of alcohol taxes in the UK is incoherent. The UK’s departure from the European Union offers an opportunity to improve the way that alcohol is taxed, as EU regulations that place constraints on the system of alcohol duties will no longer apply. In this briefing note, we provide ...
Briefing note
In recent years, some of the most talked-about trends in the UK labour market have concerned
the growth of ‘non-standard’ or ‘alternative’ forms of work. These have been central to concerns
over inequalities stemming from the world of work – either because they are seen as symptoms
of ...
Briefing note
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to dramatic changes in the delivery of routine health care in England. To prioritise access to hospital beds, staff and ventilators for COVID-19 patients, and to minimise the risk of infection for other patients, much routine health care was postponed or replaced with ...
Briefing note
The measures taken to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, resulting from both policy and consumers’ changes in behaviour, have had major impacts on consumer spending patterns. In this briefing note, we explore how consumer spending has evolved, both during lockdown and in the recovery phase since.
Briefing note
In this briefing note, we examine the ethnic diversity of academic economists who provide much of the research that ultimately feeds into policymaking. We use data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to look at which groups are more or less well represented as academic economic ...