work and welfare Articles

Self-employment is growing rapidly. Since the turn of the century there has been a 30 per cent increase in the number of people working for themselves, with an extra 100,000 more people choosing to start up in business this year alone. The result is that one in seven...

The very need for ‘Living Wage Week’ at the beginning of November highlighted the distorted nature of a labour market allegedly ‘on the up’. The best-paid group are on 3.7 times the pay of the bottom 10 per cent. This compares with a ratio of 3.5 in 2000 and equates...

Nobody can deny that Rachel Reeves knows her brief. With a background in financial services she is comfortable in the world of statistics that underpins the current discourse around welfare. This week, however, I began to fully appreciate how radical her vision for...

The next Labour government needs to make sure that the costs of reducing the deficit are spread more fairly. We also need to forward a plan for the additional cost of our ageing population. But how do we win support for this if people see welfare spending as for...