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The Autumn Statement performances today shows our political leaders on both sides should stop fixating reducing the deficit to zero. Today’s Autumn…

Though no panacea for working poverty, a higher national minimum wage is probably right. But Ed Miliband’s announcement that Labour would dictate such an outcome is certainly…

The changes to taxes and benefits that came into effect in April 2013 are the Coalition’s most important single package of work and welfare reforms. Some, above all the…

The people at the very top of our large corporations: what guides the decisions they take and does it matter? The TUC’s new pamphlet on “corporate governance” is made up of…

Tomorrow DWP publish the latest official poverty numbers, but politicians, commentators and voters take note: they will reflect the year 2012/13 – before the main benefit cuts were…

In promising to subject the Low Pay Commission to central diktat, Ed Miliband risks damaging a body he should cherish. The minimum wage was one of New Labour’s greatest successes.…

The arithmetic of welfare reform does not offer the Northern Ireland Assembly a way to avoid difficult decisions The political debate on welfare reform continues in Northern…

In our opening blog yesterday, we used Cameron’s row with the Catholic hierarchy to make the point that alongside the better known cash benefits, the social security safety net…

On the day when those claiming social security benefits see an annual increase in the money they get, we launch a series of blogs looking at what is happening to the 'safety net'.…

The employers’ organisation, the CBI, certainly thinks that the economy recovery which started some twelve months is a good one. In a press release put out last month, its Director…

Is “a home not a dwelling, sound, affordable and secure” now the rock on which efforts to end child poverty should be built? This was the week when the government was expected…

Rich Watts recently made the argument on the Arbitrary Constant blog that the abolition of the Department for Work and Pensions should be considered. The Centre for Welfare Reform…

Hostility to Ed Balls’ Fabian Society speech on a future Labour government’s economic policy has been directed towards the promised return of a 50 pence top rate of tax on annual…

‘Tougher than the Tories when it comes to slashing the benefits bill’ was how Rachel Reeves positioned herself and Labour when she was appointed Shadow Secretary of…

With an annual budget last year of more than £220 billion, stewardship of social security is one of any government's greatest responsibilities. Many things could be said about how…

How inflation is measured ought to be something that can safely be left to economists while the rest of us go down the pub. Sad to say, some of the detail behind the Autumn…

What does a period of sustained economic growth look like? Twenty years ago, the UK was in the early stages of a recovery that went on to become the best eight years for the UK…

George Osborne will certainly find next week’s Autumn Statement an easier ride than in 2011 or 2012. In the past two years, the opposition charge that his austerity had caused…

The government's Caring for our Future consultation gives the clearest picture yet of how the new system of paying for care will work from April 2016. The main change is the…