IFS Zooms In: The Economy

What makes a job “good”? Is it pay, flexibility, progression, security, purpose, autonomy, or the people you work with?

Policy debates about inequality often focus on wages and getting people into work. But jobs are about much more than income. The quality of work affects people’s health, wellbeing, productivity, family life and future opportunities.

In this episode, Helen Miller is joined by Jonathan Cribb and Naomi Clayton, Chief Executive of the Institute for Employment Studies, to explore what good work really means, who gets access to good jobs, and what government can do to improve the quality of work in the UK.

They discuss inequalities in pay, gender and geography, the importance of progression and training, the rise of flexible and insecure work, the role of employment rights, and how trends such as AI could shape the future of jobs.

This is the fourth and final episode in our series on inequality.

This episode draws on work done as part of the IFS-Deaton Review, funded by the Nuffield Foundation.

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The UK is one of the most geographically unequal countries in the developed world. People living in London and the South East tend to have higher incomes, higher levels of education and better health outcomes than people elsewhere in the country.

But why did Britain become so regionally unequal? How much of the divide is driven by the shift away from industry and towards services? What role has public investment, infrastructure and decades of regional policy played? And what can policymakers realistically do to change things?

In this episode, part of our mini-series on inequalities, we look at the scale of the UK’s regional divides, why London has become so dominant, and whether stronger cities, devolution, better coordination and more stable policy could help narrow the gap.

Helen speaks with IFS economists Jonathan Cribb and Xiaowei Xu to ask what “levelling up” should mean in practice, whether improving opportunities outside London could boost national productivity, and how politicians should think about places that may not benefit directly from big-city growth.

This episode draws on work done as part of the IFS-Deaton Review, funded by the Nuffield Foundation.

Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership

Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/podcasts-explainers-and-calculators/podcasts
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Around 80% of people think the gap between those on high and low incomes is too big. But only around 40% think the government should redistribute income from the rich to the poor.

Why is there such a gap between concern about inequality and support for action to reduce it?

In the second episode of our mini-series on inequality, we ask why people care about inequality, whether they distinguish it from poverty, and how views about luck, hard work, wealth and power shape attitudes to policy.

Helen Miller is joined by Jonathan Cribb, Deputy Director at IFS, and Bobby Duffy, Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London. They draw on work for the IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, to explore what the British public thinks about inequality, what kinds of inequality worry people most, and what they want government to do about it.

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Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/podcasts-explainers-and-calculators/podcasts
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In the first episode of our new series, we set out the big picture on inequality in the UK. We look at what has happened to income and wealth inequality and how Britain compares with other countries.

But inequality is not just about money. It shapes people’s opportunities, education, health, family life and where they live. Some gaps have narrowed over time, while others remain stubbornly wide - and some inequalities in one generation can shape the chances of the next.

Helen speaks with Paul Johnson and Jonathan Cribb to explore what the key facts tell us about modern Britain, what kinds of inequality we should worry about most, and where trade-offs with growth, fairness and redistribution become unavoidable.

This episode draws on work done as part of the IFS-Deaton Review, funded by the Nuffield Foundation.

Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membership

Find out more: https://ifs.org.uk/podcasts-explainers-and-calculators/podcasts
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Britain’s public finances are under pressure. Public debt is high, borrowing remains high, and the government is spending far more on debt interest than in the past. Taxes are heading towards historic highs, while public services remain under strain and demand on the state continues to rise.

In this episode, we set out the fiscal backdrop that will shape British politics over the coming years. Whoever is Prime Minister or Chancellor will face many of the same constraints: expensive borrowing, difficult spending choices and the need to get debt on a more sustainable path.

Helen Miller is joined by IFS colleague Max Warner and Chris Giles, economics commentator at the Financial Times, to explain the state of the public finances, why borrowing costs matter, what the government’s fiscal rules do, how realistic current spending plans are, and whether there is any room for a future government to do things differently.

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.