Alex Clegg
@alexclegg.bsky.social
Economist at the Resolution Foundation, focusing on social security, poverty and living standards
Reposted by Alex Clegg
This Budget was undoubtedly a progressive one.
The combination of tax rises and giveaways since last year’s Budget means that incomes for households in the bottom half of the distribution rise by 1.0 per cent while incomes for the richer half fall by 0.7 per cent.
But beneath the surface...
The combination of tax rises and giveaways since last year’s Budget means that incomes for households in the bottom half of the distribution rise by 1.0 per cent while incomes for the richer half fall by 0.7 per cent.
But beneath the surface...
November 27, 2025 at 12:55 PM
This Budget was undoubtedly a progressive one.
The combination of tax rises and giveaways since last year’s Budget means that incomes for households in the bottom half of the distribution rise by 1.0 per cent while incomes for the richer half fall by 0.7 per cent.
But beneath the surface...
The combination of tax rises and giveaways since last year’s Budget means that incomes for households in the bottom half of the distribution rise by 1.0 per cent while incomes for the richer half fall by 0.7 per cent.
But beneath the surface...
How has the Budget impacted living standards? The distributional impact of all tax/benefit changes since Autumn Budget 2024 is progressive:poorer households gain from 2-child limit repeal and UC boost, while richer households lose from threshold freezes and new property, dividend and savings taxes
November 27, 2025 at 1:35 PM
How has the Budget impacted living standards? The distributional impact of all tax/benefit changes since Autumn Budget 2024 is progressive:poorer households gain from 2-child limit repeal and UC boost, while richer households lose from threshold freezes and new property, dividend and savings taxes
Not well understood that 6 in 10 families impacted by the two-child limit are in work, and that the vast majority have 3 or 4 children.
The Chancellor has scrapped the two-child limit, benefitting more than half a million families.
In April 2025, out of families impacted by the limit:
- 6 in 10 had 3 children.
- 6 in 10 had at least one person in work.
- And 6 in 10 are receiving a health or disability benefit.
In April 2025, out of families impacted by the limit:
- 6 in 10 had 3 children.
- 6 in 10 had at least one person in work.
- And 6 in 10 are receiving a health or disability benefit.
November 26, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Not well understood that 6 in 10 families impacted by the two-child limit are in work, and that the vast majority have 3 or 4 children.
Reposted by Alex Clegg
Live posting about the speech feels slightly unnecessary when all the details are out. But I'm a sucker for tradition nonetheless.
November 26, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Live posting about the speech feels slightly unnecessary when all the details are out. But I'm a sucker for tradition nonetheless.
Reposted by Alex Clegg
Big news on Fuel Duty - the 5p cut will be removed gradually from September. A good way to end this giveaway without pushing up inflation
November 26, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Big news on Fuel Duty - the 5p cut will be removed gradually from September. A good way to end this giveaway without pushing up inflation
Scrapping the two-child limit in full is a monumental decision. Well done to all involved in the Child Poverty Strategy, and everyone who has made the case against the policy.
OBR says scrapping costs £3 billion in 2029-30 and will lift 450,000 out of poverty
OBR says scrapping costs £3 billion in 2029-30 and will lift 450,000 out of poverty
November 26, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Scrapping the two-child limit in full is a monumental decision. Well done to all involved in the Child Poverty Strategy, and everyone who has made the case against the policy.
OBR says scrapping costs £3 billion in 2029-30 and will lift 450,000 out of poverty
OBR says scrapping costs £3 billion in 2029-30 and will lift 450,000 out of poverty
Reposted by Alex Clegg
Is runaway welfare spending to blame for the Chancellor's fiscal challenges?
Hear from @alexclegg.bsky.social on why any claims that the Chancellor could avoid raising in the Budget could by cutting welfare should be scrutinised.
Hear from @alexclegg.bsky.social on why any claims that the Chancellor could avoid raising in the Budget could by cutting welfare should be scrutinised.
November 25, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Is runaway welfare spending to blame for the Chancellor's fiscal challenges?
Hear from @alexclegg.bsky.social on why any claims that the Chancellor could avoid raising in the Budget could by cutting welfare should be scrutinised.
Hear from @alexclegg.bsky.social on why any claims that the Chancellor could avoid raising in the Budget could by cutting welfare should be scrutinised.
Inevitably, there are already arguments that the Chancellor should cut welfare spending instead of raising taxes tomorrow. But is welfare spending really 'out of control'?
Here's the facts:
www.resolutionfoundation.org/comment/is-w...
Here's the facts:
www.resolutionfoundation.org/comment/is-w...
Is welfare spending ‘out of control’? • Resolution Foundation
The run up to this Budget has seen more than its fair share of rumours, leaks, briefings and counter-briefings. But if there’s one thing we know for sure, it is that tax rises are coming. The public f...
www.resolutionfoundation.org
November 25, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Inevitably, there are already arguments that the Chancellor should cut welfare spending instead of raising taxes tomorrow. But is welfare spending really 'out of control'?
Here's the facts:
www.resolutionfoundation.org/comment/is-w...
Here's the facts:
www.resolutionfoundation.org/comment/is-w...
New @resolutionfoundation.org @safety-nets.bsky.social report on the localisation of social security since 2013: Support delivered by local authorities isn't well understood but is an increasingly important part of the social security system: real spending on it is now 122 times higher than 2010-11
The localisation era • Resolution Foundation
This report is part of the project Safety Nets: social security for families in a devolved UK, funded by the Nuffield Foundation. It examines the growth of localised social security in the UK from 201...
www.resolutionfoundation.org
November 20, 2025 at 11:56 AM
New @resolutionfoundation.org @safety-nets.bsky.social report on the localisation of social security since 2013: Support delivered by local authorities isn't well understood but is an increasingly important part of the social security system: real spending on it is now 122 times higher than 2010-11
Reposted by Alex Clegg
Unless DWP improves the clarity of its UC statistics by splitting out claimants who migrate from legacy benefits to UC vs those who make new claims, we're going to keep getting misleading headlines like this for the foreseeable future...
November 12, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Unless DWP improves the clarity of its UC statistics by splitting out claimants who migrate from legacy benefits to UC vs those who make new claims, we're going to keep getting misleading headlines like this for the foreseeable future...
Reposted by Alex Clegg
Local Housing Allowance rates have been realigned to market rents in just two of the last 13 years.
Current Government policy is for them to remain frozen . This risks a record 'affordability gap' opening between LHA rates and the 30th percentile of local rents.
➡️ buff.ly/gJR1hmO
Current Government policy is for them to remain frozen . This risks a record 'affordability gap' opening between LHA rates and the 30th percentile of local rents.
➡️ buff.ly/gJR1hmO
November 11, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Local Housing Allowance rates have been realigned to market rents in just two of the last 13 years.
Current Government policy is for them to remain frozen . This risks a record 'affordability gap' opening between LHA rates and the 30th percentile of local rents.
➡️ buff.ly/gJR1hmO
Current Government policy is for them to remain frozen . This risks a record 'affordability gap' opening between LHA rates and the 30th percentile of local rents.
➡️ buff.ly/gJR1hmO
New Universal Credit statistics today show the % of claimants in the ‘no work requirements’ conditionality group has continued to rise to 49%, and the proportion in work has fallen to 33%. This is likely to be written up as ‘a rise in claimants not required to work’, but context is very important! 🧵
November 11, 2025 at 4:45 PM
New Universal Credit statistics today show the % of claimants in the ‘no work requirements’ conditionality group has continued to rise to 49%, and the proportion in work has fallen to 33%. This is likely to be written up as ‘a rise in claimants not required to work’, but context is very important! 🧵
In 2010 I was in my friend's flat in Kentish Town and we suddenly heard that whistling song from Kill Bill REALLY loud in the street outside. We went to the window and looked down.
Jonathan Ross was driving slowly down the street in a red convertible with leopard print seats smoking a cigar.
Jonathan Ross was driving slowly down the street in a red convertible with leopard print seats smoking a cigar.
November 6, 2025 at 11:16 PM
In 2010 I was in my friend's flat in Kentish Town and we suddenly heard that whistling song from Kill Bill REALLY loud in the street outside. We went to the window and looked down.
Jonathan Ross was driving slowly down the street in a red convertible with leopard print seats smoking a cigar.
Jonathan Ross was driving slowly down the street in a red convertible with leopard print seats smoking a cigar.
I spoke to the Guardian about the necessity of scrapping the two-child limit in full to get child poverty to fall over the Parliament, and how to go further (relink LHA to rents, lift the benefit cap) to achieve a sustained reduction www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Tuesday briefing: Why Labour won’t press the ‘big red button’ to lift 450,000 children out of poverty
In today’s newsletter: The Labour Party recently sounded resolute in its intention to cut the two-child benefit cap. But against an ugly fiscal backdrop, the chancellor may be having second thoughts
www.theguardian.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:57 AM
I spoke to the Guardian about the necessity of scrapping the two-child limit in full to get child poverty to fall over the Parliament, and how to go further (relink LHA to rents, lift the benefit cap) to achieve a sustained reduction www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Alex Clegg
It's disappointing to see the Government reportedly distancing themselves from a full repeal of the two-child limit 👉 buff.ly/bRVP16Z
Here's why 🧵 ⤵️
Here's why 🧵 ⤵️
buff.ly
October 31, 2025 at 12:31 PM
It's disappointing to see the Government reportedly distancing themselves from a full repeal of the two-child limit 👉 buff.ly/bRVP16Z
Here's why 🧵 ⤵️
Here's why 🧵 ⤵️
Reposted by Alex Clegg
This is not the time for half measures.
@alexclegg.bsky.social explains why the Government should fully repeal the two child limit on benefits, as part of their upcoming Child Poverty Strategy ⤵️
@alexclegg.bsky.social explains why the Government should fully repeal the two child limit on benefits, as part of their upcoming Child Poverty Strategy ⤵️
October 31, 2025 at 10:15 AM
This is not the time for half measures.
@alexclegg.bsky.social explains why the Government should fully repeal the two child limit on benefits, as part of their upcoming Child Poverty Strategy ⤵️
@alexclegg.bsky.social explains why the Government should fully repeal the two child limit on benefits, as part of their upcoming Child Poverty Strategy ⤵️
New @resfoundation.bsky.social analysis: Any of the rumoured half-measure options for repealing the two-child limit would leave child poverty HIGHER at the end of the Parliament than it was when the Government took power. 🧵https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/no-half-measures/
No half measures • Resolution Foundation
The Government’s long-awaited Child Poverty Strategy is due next month, close to, or contemporaneous with, the Autumn Budget. There have been some welcome announcements already: the over-indexation of...
www.resolutionfoundation.org
October 30, 2025 at 9:09 AM
New @resfoundation.bsky.social analysis: Any of the rumoured half-measure options for repealing the two-child limit would leave child poverty HIGHER at the end of the Parliament than it was when the Government took power. 🧵https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/no-half-measures/
Reposted by Alex Clegg
The two child limit and benefit cap are "economically inefficient" because [they] "undermine public health, early years development and educational outcomes.... This in turn increases pressure on local services, including schools, health and housing." www.lbc.co.uk/article/grou...
Group of 40 economists & academics tell Chancellor ending two-child benefit cap will help grow economy | LBC
With less than a month to go before the Budget, the group have written to Rachel Reeves to warn that more than half of larger families could fall into poverty as a direct result of the cap.
www.lbc.co.uk
October 29, 2025 at 12:01 PM
The two child limit and benefit cap are "economically inefficient" because [they] "undermine public health, early years development and educational outcomes.... This in turn increases pressure on local services, including schools, health and housing." www.lbc.co.uk/article/grou...
Reposted by Alex Clegg
New spotlight from me covering what the latest inflation data means for benefit uprating out now. Here’s a quick summary:
October 23, 2025 at 8:16 AM
New spotlight from me covering what the latest inflation data means for benefit uprating out now. Here’s a quick summary:
Very encouraging to read that the Government is preparing to lift the two-child limit as part of its child poverty strategy, but it is disheartening that options short of scrapping it entirely are still being considered. Thread on why this would be the wrong choice for an ambitious strategy:
Rachel Reeves to lift two-child benefit cap in November budget
Exclusive: Officials exploring options to change rule that affected 1.7 million children in Great Britain last year
www.theguardian.com
October 1, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Very encouraging to read that the Government is preparing to lift the two-child limit as part of its child poverty strategy, but it is disheartening that options short of scrapping it entirely are still being considered. Thread on why this would be the wrong choice for an ambitious strategy:
Reposted by Alex Clegg
Over the past two decades, the Resolution Foundation has worked to put living standards at the heart of political debates through its forensic research and hard-headed policy work.
As we mark our 20th anniversary, we reflect on the past and future of living standards in Britain.
👉 buff.ly/NuhNFF9
As we mark our 20th anniversary, we reflect on the past and future of living standards in Britain.
👉 buff.ly/NuhNFF9
September 18, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Over the past two decades, the Resolution Foundation has worked to put living standards at the heart of political debates through its forensic research and hard-headed policy work.
As we mark our 20th anniversary, we reflect on the past and future of living standards in Britain.
👉 buff.ly/NuhNFF9
As we mark our 20th anniversary, we reflect on the past and future of living standards in Britain.
👉 buff.ly/NuhNFF9
Reposted by Alex Clegg
ICYMI - new report out yesterday by me and Imogen Stone on how disabilities and caring affect low-to-middle income families, drawing on quant analysis and focus groups with disabled people and carers. Thread on key findings below 🧵 www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
Don't forget about us • Resolution Foundation
This briefing note combines quantitative data with insights from focus groups to explore how disabilities and caring responsibilities affect these families’ lives and living standards.
www.resolutionfoundation.org
July 18, 2025 at 2:58 PM
ICYMI - new report out yesterday by me and Imogen Stone on how disabilities and caring affect low-to-middle income families, drawing on quant analysis and focus groups with disabled people and carers. Thread on key findings below 🧵 www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
Reposted by Alex Clegg
Tonight, Rachel Reeves delivers her Mansion House speech, and we expect she’ll announce the long-awaited review into pension adequacy (alongside other reforms such as financial deregulation).
July 15, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Tonight, Rachel Reeves delivers her Mansion House speech, and we expect she’ll announce the long-awaited review into pension adequacy (alongside other reforms such as financial deregulation).
The DWP published this year's stats on households impacted by the two-child limit today, which include some welcome new breakdowns on gender and ethnicity, receipt of health/disability benefits, conditionality group, and whether households are affected by the benefit cap. Quick thread/
www.gov.uk
July 10, 2025 at 4:01 PM
The DWP published this year's stats on households impacted by the two-child limit today, which include some welcome new breakdowns on gender and ethnicity, receipt of health/disability benefits, conditionality group, and whether households are affected by the benefit cap. Quick thread/