Resolution Foundation Events Podcast

Mind the gap (part I): How do people’s incomes differ across the UK?

People’s incomes are fundamental to their living standards, and closing regional income gaps is central to levelling up the UK. But there are many moving parts to household incomes, they play very different roles across the country, and there are big gaps in what official statistics tell us about this crucial question. An economic strategy which grapples with these nuances stands a markedly better chance of addressing the real causes of Britain’s spatial inequalities.
How have income gaps between and within places changed over the last two decades? To what extent are different sources of income – such as investment and self-employment income – fuelling these changes? And how can these findings be used at both local and national levels in order to close these gaps?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from new joint RF / LSE research on income gaps between places, we will hear from leading experts on what these findings tell us about the UK’s spatial inequalities and how to close these gaps.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/income-outcomes/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/mind-the-gap-part-i/ 

Brexit Britain: Assessing the impact of Brexit on people, places and firms

The British economy has altered substantially since the Brexit referendum result, as firms and workers have seen changes to investment and wages respectively. But the longer lasting impacts of Brexit on our economy are ahead, not behind us as our economy goes through the process of adjusting to life outside the single market. Some sectors will shrink, but others will grow. Some places will be affected more than others. So understanding how Brexit is, and will, affect people, places and firms is crucial to the UK navigating the challenges and opportunities of the 2020s.
What were the initial impacts of the Brexit referendum result on the British economy? How has the impact changed since the UK’s Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU came into effect? What further shifts can we expect over the coming decade – and up to 2050 – as Brexit continues to alter the economic structure of the UK? And what does this mean for the UK’s aim of becoming a high-growth, high-productivity economy?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from new research on the impact of Brexit on people, places and firms over the coming decade, co-written by the Resolution Foundation and the LSE, we will hear from leading experts on how to manage this change well.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/the-big-brexit/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/brexit-britain/ 

The net zero job: How will decarbonisation affect the world of work?

The net zero transition has changed debates about the future of the labour market, with new jobs – like wind energy engineering – growing year-on-year and worries about rapid declines in carbon-intensive industries like steel production. But the main effect of the net zero transition will be to change our jobs, as firms adapt to using low-emission technologies and processes, rather than creating or destroying them. The scale, impact and geography of this transition are hugely uncertain, and the task of making it a reality has barely begun.
How might the net zero transition impact the jobs people do and the way they do them? How could this economic change affect different regions of the UK? And are our education and training systems ready for such change?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from new research on the labour market impact of the transition to net zero, we will hear from leading experts on how to support workers and businesses to take advantage of the opportunities this transition presents.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/net-zero-jobs/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/the-net-zero-job/ 

The new NEETs? Understanding the changing nature of youth worklessness

High levels of young people not in employment, education or training  was a major social and economic concern in the 1990s. Decades of concerted policy action to reduce numbers across Britain has seen the scale of the problem shrink, but it has not gone away. Under the positive headlines, some forms of worklessness are on the rise. Understanding that complex picture is crucial if we’re to make further progress in the decade ahead.
What has driven falls the reduction in youth worklessness? Where are increases taking places under the radar? Which groups have been left behind? How different is the story for men and women, and different ethnicities? And what impact has the pandemic had?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of its Young People in an Insecure World project, supported by the Health Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from new research on youth worklessness, we will hear from leading experts on the interactions between work, education, training and mental health for young people.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/not-working/ 
Watch the event back: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/the-new-neets/ 

All change please? What going for growth could mean for different places across Britain

After a decade of stagnation and many decades of persistent regional economic divides, the task of securing a brighter economic future for a wider range of places is now up in lights. It’s an ambition that resonates with the public too, and if policy makers across local, city-wide and national government are to take effective action, its vital they understand what people want – and don’t – when it comes to growth in their home towns and cities.
Do people think their local area has fared well or poorly over recent years? Which routes do they see for their place, and the people in it, to succeed? How do people’s experiences differ between major city centres, nearby commuter areas and less well-connected towns? What are the factors pushing people away from whey they live, and what are the pull factors keeping them there?
The Resolution Foundation and Open Innovations are hosting an in-person, hybrid event in Leeds – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions.
Following a presentation of the key highlights from new Resolution Foundation research on people’s experience of the economy in their local area, we will hear from leading experts – including the Metro Mayor for West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin – on what this means for local and regional economic strategies, as well as the Government’s levelling up agenda in Westminster.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/all-over-the-place/ 
Watch the event back: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/all-change-please/ 

Chatting to Chancellors: Book launch for The Chancellors by Howard Davies, featuring former Chancellor George Osborne

The nature of British economic policy, and the Treasury’s role in directing it, have ebbed and flowed over the past 25 years. Monetary policy was ceded to the Bank of England in 1997, but the Treasury then extended its grip over domestic policy. The last decade has seen it respond to two once-in-a-lifetime economic crises, oversee a period of austerity, and play a key role in the Brexit debate. The Treasury – and the Chancellors who have led it – have not had a quiet quarter of a century.
How has British economic policy evolved in recent decades? What evolution have we seen to the role of the Treasury, and has this led to better or worse policy outcomes? To what extent is this about institutions or the personality of the Chancellor? And what can we learn from the Treasury’s recent record, as Britain looks to drastically improve its economic record over the coming decade?
To debate and answer these questions, the Resolution Foundation and Society for Professional Economists are hosting a joint event to mark the launch of a new book by Howard Davies, The Chancellors: Steering the British Economy in Crisis Times, who has had leading roles at key economic institutions ranging from the Bank to the Treasury, the CBI and the LSE. The work draws on interviews with most recent Chancellors and Howard will be joined at the event by former Chancellor George Osborne.
Watch the event back: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/chatting-to-chancellors/ 

Raising the bar: What are the new frontiers for tackling low pay?

Over the past two decades, Britain’s low pay landscape has been transformed by the introduction and ramping up of the national minimum wage. This has been an unqualified policy success, so much so that the government is on course to eliminate hourly low pay this decade. With that landmark moment in sight, policy makers will need to decide if they are claiming this is job done or refocusing their ambitions on improving the world of work for lower earners. Despite significant progress, challenges for low-paid workers, from volatile hours to whether they’re even covered by the minimum wage, still loom large
How big an impact has the minimum wage had? Why have the ill-effects many predicted failed to materialise? What is happening to low-paid work beyond hourly wage rates – from job insecurity to progression out of low pay? Where does the rise of the gig economy fit in this picture? And given all of this, where should policy makers wanting to improve outcomes for low earners focus their efforts during the 2020s?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from Low Pay Britain 2022, our annual in-depth examination of labour market trends for low-paid workers, we will hear from leading experts – including world-renowned minimum wage expert Professor Arin Dube – on the future of low pay in the coming decade.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/low-pay-britain-2022/ 
View the event presentation: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/raising-the-bar/ 

Green growth: miracle or mirage? How might cutting down carbon give the UK economy a cutting-edge?

The UK’s net zero transition represents a major challenge for the UK, but also a major opportunity if we get it right. Many argue it could see the UK utilising its existing economic strengths to lead the way in cutting edge clean technology – creating jobs and new export opportunities. But with other countries holding these same ambitions, securing this success is far from guaranteed.
How realistic is it that the UK will be at the forefront of emerging clean technologies? What are the UK’s existing strengths and how can they built over the coming decade? Will there be a role for services as well as goods in our net zero transition? Which areas of the country are best placed to benefit? And how best can we unlock the investment and innovation required to seize the opportunities for growth-enhancing green economic change?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from new Economy 2030 Inquiry research from the LSE on the UK’s clean growth potential, we will hear from leading experts on how we can unlock this potential as part of a successful net zero transition.
Read the report: https://economy2030.resolutionfoundation.org/reports/growing-clean/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/green-growth-miracle-or-mirage/