https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/money-on-my-mind/ Key findingsBritish households are carrying far lower levels of consumer debt than in the past. Among the poorer half of families, average debt has fallen from £2,617 in 2006-08 to £2,256 in 2020-22 – a 14 per cent real-terms drop. Higher-income households have seen an even larger fall of 21 per cent over the…
New Reports
£24 billion of support is unclaimed
https://policyinpractice.co.uk/publication/missing-out-2025/ “The scale of unclaimed support in Britain is still staggering. Over £24 billion is left on the table at a time when many are struggling to stay afloat. But this isn’t a failure of the public. It’s a failure of a social security system that is still too complex, too fragmented and too passive….
Hunger in the UK 2025
https://www.trussell.org.uk/news-and-research/publications/report/hunger-in-the-uk-2025 This research sets out compelling evidence that despite falling inflation, there has been no progress on hunger in the UK. There are concerning signs that the levels of hardship people are facing are deepening, and severe hardship is becoming entrenched in communities across the UK. Three separate reports sit alongside this publication exploring Hunger…
Not so Universal: the two-tiered health element. How the Universal Credit Bill will create a two-tiered system for disabled people.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publications/not-so-universal-the-two-tiered-health-element-how-the-universal-credit-bill/ The government’s decision to remove cuts to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) from the Universal Credit Bill (UC bill) was the right call. However, damaging and unjustified cuts elsewhere in the health and disability benefits system have been overlooked. The UC bill will have a devastating impact on disabled people and their families. An estimated…
How the private rented sector database can support enforcement and drive up standards
https://neweconomics.org/2025/07/detailing-the-database The Renters’ Rights Bill presents a once in a generation opportunity to tackle England’s long-standing crisis in the private rented sector (PRS). Among its most consequential components is the introduction of a national PRS database. If ambitiously implemented, this new system could transform the enforcement landscape by driving up transparency, enabling accountability, and giving…
Work incentives aren’t working: is the Universal Credit review asking the right questions?
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publications/work-incentives-arent-working-is-the-universal-credit-review-asking-the/ The Universal Credit (UC) system includes elements designed to encourage claimants’ transition into employment. These range from measures ensuring people are financially better off (such as the taper rate and the work allowance) to penalising people for failing to take active steps towards work (conditionality and sanctions). These mechanisms cannot necessarily offset the systemic…
Exploring the psychological harm of national government debt collection.
https://www.moneyandmentalhealth.org/publications/nothing-personal/ This report examines how central government departments collect debt. In particular it focuses on how the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) recoups benefits overpayments – showing its approach to be more sudden and harsh than that of consumer creditors. The research shows that 1.1 million people across the UK owe the DWP money…
Secretive DWP Welfare Algorithms Put Millions’ Rights at Risk
https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/press-releases/37614/ Secretive DWP Welfare Algorithms Put Millions’ Rights at Risk Millions of people across the UK are being profiled by biased algorithms every year by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), with the high-tech tools threatening data rights on a mass scale while officials fight to keep details out of public view. ‘Suspicion by…
A year of Labour but no progress: JRF’s cost of living tracker, summer 2025
https://www.jrf.org.uk/cost-of-living/jrfs-cost-of-living-tracker-summer-2025 A year into the new Labour Government, key hardship measures show no improvement — over 7 million low-income families are still going without essentials. For low-income families with 3 or more children, the situation is acute, with almost 9 in 10 families going without the essentials, and the highest number of families in arrears…
Unpacking the rising cost of essentials for low-to-middle income Britain
https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/bare-necessities/ Essentials take up more of households’ total spending than they have in the past, with spending on essentials for low-income households increasing the most. A more essentials-heavy spending basket also left poorer families facing faster price growth in recent years. Higher energy costs, coupled with rapid food inflation, have led to hardship for many….