Press Releases
10 years since the austerity budget - researchers explore impact on life in the UK
The economic shock of coronavirus has brought perennial questions about government borrowing and spending, NHS funding, social care and welfare, inequality in income and education, and wellbeing, into renewed focus. In a special edition of Advantage magazine published to mark 10 years since the Austerity budget, leading economists reflect on these issues and consider what lessons can be learnt as the UK plans its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reforming UK tax so that richest pay their ‘fair share’ could raise £11 billion to help rebuild post-Covid-19 public finances, says new report.
Around £11 billion a year could be raised from an Alternative Minimum Tax rate based on the total amount of income and capital gains that a person reports before applying any deductions or reliefs, according to new research which has gained unprecedented access to the tax records of the UK’s richest individuals.
New insights on the role of Trade Unions in struggles for rights
Trade unions are crucial in advancing workers’ rights, but it is unhelpful to consider their leaders as representatives of the working class as a whole when analysing labour relations and government policies, a new paper from the University of Warwick Department of Sociology argues.
How can a safe lockdown exit be designed? The case for a rolling age-release strategy
In a further contribution to the debate about how to balance the need to re-open the economy with the need to protect life, Warwick researchers Andrew Oswald and Nick Powdthavee point out the extreme dangers from any general kind of release from lockdown and present more detailed modelling on the fatality risks faced by different age groups.
2011 Housing benefit reform was a false economy, researchers find
Government reforms to housing benefit introduced in 2011 were intended to save the public purse hundreds of millions. Research from University of Warwick economists has found that, far from saving money, the change in policy simply shifted burdens to local councils: for every pound central government saved in housing benefit, local authority spending on temporary housing costs went up by 53p.
Researchers look for better ways to help young people in care become independent adults
Better ways to support young people as they leave the care system and become independent adults are at the heart of a major new research project led by the Monash Warwick Alliance and supported by £2m grant from the Economic and Social Research Council.