At the end of October, the ONS announced that the fertility rate in England and Wales had fallen to 1.44 births per woman in 2023 - the lowest figure since records began in 1938. What will this mean for the population make-up of the country? What other big demographic shifts are occurring? Why is this trend occurring across the developed world? And…

117 days after Labour took office, Rachel Reeves has finally delivered her Budget. From tax rises and fiscal rules, to public services and investment, we'll take a tour around all of the big announcements. Paul is joined by Helen Miller and Ben Zaranko, colleagues at the IFS. Find out more: https://www.ifs.org.uk/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri…

In our first ever live episode, we're going to look at how Rachel Reeves can make her first Budget a success. It will have been 117 days since Labour took power before we finally hear what is in the Budget - in that time we’ve heard about £22bn 'black holes' and the difficult economic situation the UK faces. We’re going to think a bit about some of…

Sign up to our live event: https://ifs.org.uk/events/ifs-zooms-live-how-make-your-first-budget-success The budget coming up in a few weeks will be one of the big moments for Labour to set out their policy agenda. Over the summer, the government set out what it considers a difficult public finance picture - including a supposed £22bn ‘black hole’. T…

Sign up to our live event: https://ifs.org.uk/events/ifs-zooms-live-how-make-your-first-budget-success There’s been lots of speculation that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is looking to raise Capital Gains tax in her upcoming budget. Capital Gains tax raises around £15 billion a year, which is less than 2% of total tax revenue, and it’s paid by less than…

Sign up to our live event: https://ifs.org.uk/events/ifs-zooms-live-how-make-your-first-budget-success Currently, around 4.3 million children - that’s around 30% of all kids - are living in relative poverty. Since 2010 that figure has risen by over 700,000 and the new government has made tackling child poverty one of its key policy objectives, with…

Sign up for our live podcast event: https://ifs.org.uk/events/ifs-zooms-live-how-make-your-first-budget-success Since the introduction of auto-enrolment over 10 years ago, more people than ever are saving into a workplace pension than ever before. However, new research from the IFS shows that approximately 30% to 40% of private sector employees (5 …

We’re looking at the benefits system and answering the questions likely being asked by government ministers: how can the rising costs of benefits be managed, and what changes could improve the system? With disability and incapacity benefit caseloads rising and the Universal Credit rollout still ongoing, what options does the government have to addr…

Over the summer we’re bringing you a series of briefings on the key challenges and policy options facing the new set of government ministers. Today we’re turning to the tax system and we’ll answer the questions that the Chancellor has almost certainly been asking Treasury officials in recent weeks: how could more tax revenue be raised and how could…

Over the coming weeks, we’re bringing you a series of briefings looking at key areas of government and analysing their performance over recent years, the challenges they face and the solutions the new government may look to help them. This week, we’ll be looking at higher and further education. Over recent months, we’ve heard lots of stories about …

Over the next few weeks, we’re bringing you a series of briefings looking at key areas of government and analysing how they have performed over recent years, what challenges they face and which solutions are on the table. This week we'll start with the NHS - the UK's biggest public service. We're joined by Ben Zaranko and Max Warner, IFS experts, t…

On Monday, the new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, stood up in front of Parliament and spoke about, what was in her view, the challenging economic inheritance left to Labour by the previous Conservative government. She revealed a series of unfunded commitments by the previous government - a multibillion-pound gap in the public finances covering areas su…

In the King's Speech last week, Labour announced 40 new bills covering areas from planning and green energy, to fiscal locks and a national wealth fund. What can these bills tell us about Labour's economic strategy? We speak with IFS economists, Christine Farquharson and Ben Zaranko. Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Find ou…

In the final run up to the election, we answer your questions about everything from borrowing to growth and from AI to the part that luck plays in the economy. Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/podcasts-explainers-and-calculators/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor…

On Monday, we released our comprehensive analysis of the parties manifestos at an event in Westminster. After some time digesting and analysing the manifestos, we’ve concluded that neither of the main parties is being honest with voters about the challenges we face in coming years. So, what are the manifestos missing? What are the big challenges fa…

We discuss 'levelling up' and local government and see how much progress has been made. We also analyse the SNP and Plaid Cymru manifestos. Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/podcasts-explainers-and-calculators/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

We discuss the Reform UK and Green Party manifestos and give our reaction to the policies and pledges within them. Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/ Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We discuss the Labour manifesto launched on Thursday and give our reaction to the policies and pledges within it. Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/ Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We discuss the Conservative manifesto launched on Tuesday and give our reaction to the policies and pledges within it. Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/ Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s manifesto week, and we’ll be coming to you with plenty of analysis of the promises, pledges and numbers. In this episode, we’ll dive into some work looking at the how the size and shape of the state have changed over recent decades, and how the tax system has changed since 2010. We'll also give our reaction to the Liberal Democrat manifesto. F…

The last few days have seen plenty of competing claims about tax rises, but very little discussion of the very tight fiscal situation facing the next government. What problems will they face? Can growth ride to the rescue? Also in this episode, we explore what's happened to the education system, from funding and teacher pay, to falling pupil number…

Since 2008, the UK economy has faced a series of shocks and challenges, leaving the next government with a difficult task. From low growth to falling living standards, we ask what structural problems the next government faces. We also tackle announcements on limiting tax rises, apprenticeships and the NHS waiting list. Find out more: https://ifs.or…

In our first election special, we look at the broad economic picture and analyse announcements about the fiscal rules, the triple lock and tax. Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/ Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After years of sluggish growth and flatlining productivity, a rare political consensus has emerged that growing the economy is one of the key priorities of the next government. With an election on the way, we're bound to hear pledges and policies on how to get the economy growing again. But how can we actually grow the economy? Can we get productiv…

Today, we’re setting the stage for a key moment in UK politics — the upcoming spending review, expected this November. The spending review will set some £600 billion of departmental budgets from April 2025 onwards, and will be a crucial moment for the next government to lay out its priorities and plans for public services. How should the incoming g…