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Giselle Cory and Alex Hurrell, The Resolution Foundation
(Project no. 30160)
This project will have a three-fold approach. The proposed research will investigate:
- Workplace/employment characteristics over time using the Annual Respondents Database
- Wage trends among the overall population and specific sub-groups over time using ASHE
- Trends in social mobility using the ONS Longitudinal study (LS)
The Resolution Foundation is an independent research and policy organisation. Our goal is to improve outcomes for people on low and modest incomes - in particular the 10 million adults in low to middle income households (LMIs), living on below median income but broadly independent of state support.
We do this by undertaking original research and economic analysis to understand the challenges facing LMIs today. We develop practical and effective policy proposals to tackle the issues we identify, and we engage with policy makers and other key stakeholders to influence decision making and bring about change.
We define the LMI group by focusing on those members of the working-age population in income deciles 2-5 who receive less than one-fifth of their gross household income from means-tested benefits. We 'equivalise' household income prior to establishing the decile distribution, in order to account for the different living standards associated with varying household compositions. As such, couples with no children fall into deciles 2-5 if their gross household income (from all sources) is between £12,000-£30,000 a year, while couples with two children qualify if their income is in the range £17,000-£41,000.
By these definitions, there are six million LMI households in the UK and 10 million LMI adults. They are not the poorest in society, but they are struggling to get by. Low to middle income households have become more exposed as a result of the recession and the contraction of the consumer credit and mortgage markets, alongside recent rises in the cost of living.
Our work includes:
-Micro-level analysis of the low to middle income group. For example, Squeezed Britain: the annual audit of low to middle income households (2013) http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/squeezed-britain-2013/
- Macroeconomic analysis of trends affecting the living standards of the low to middle income group. For example, work contributing to the Commission on Living Standards (2011-2012) http://www.livingstandards.org/
- Analysis of specific areas affecting low to middle income households, such as housing, part-time work and childcare. For more information, see http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/
The specific research project for which access to the VML is being requested will look at three areas:
- Trends in the nature of the workplace from 1973 to 2009. This analysis will also assess sub-periods as well as sub-groups of employers, using the Annual Respondents Database
- Wage trends among the overall population and specific sub-groups over time using ASHE. This will be the second wave of research we have already begun using the VML (by Alex Hurrell)
- Trends in social mobility using the LS, using econometric analysis to infer the socio-economic status of respondents and assess change over successive generations within families. The parent(s) of LS members aged under 18 will be identified (if present) in the 1971 household and their socio-economic status identified. If the LS member's grandparents can be identified in the household, an attempt will be made to establish their SE status as well, but this is not anticipated for many sample members. The LS member's own socio-economic status as an adult will be assessed in 1991 and again in 2001, and comparisons drawn with that of his/her parent(s) in 1971.