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Gavin Kelly’s blog

Gavin writes on politics, economics and public policy in a personal capacity. He is also Chair of the Resolution Foundation and Chair of the Living Wage Commission.

System collision: the interaction of Universal Credit and Child Benefit withdrawal is creating a…

System collision: the interaction of Universal Credit and Child Benefit withdrawal is creating a…

If there is anyone out there still harbouring the quaint idea that it’s the super-rich who face the highest marginal tax rates in the land…
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Gavin Kelly
Dec 27, 2022
The real Living Wage increases explained

The real Living Wage increases explained

The below is my foreword to the Resolution Foundation report setting out the 2022/23 Living Wage rates.
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Gavin Kelly
Sep 21, 2022
Talking ‘tax cuts’ amid Britain’s social stagnation

Talking ‘tax cuts’ amid Britain’s social stagnation

The social recession of the 2010s risks becoming a slump in the 2020s
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Gavin Kelly
Apr 1, 2022
Real Living Wage rates for 2021–2022: what’s behind this year’s increase?

Real Living Wage rates for 2021–2022: what’s behind this year’s increase?

(The below is my foreword to the Resolution Foundation report setting out this year’s Living Wage calculation)
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Gavin Kelly
Nov 15, 2021
We all pay the price for narrow thinking on social protection

We all pay the price for narrow thinking on social protection

Whatever else ‘building back better’ was supposed to mean it is now clear it involves returning to exactly the system of social protection…
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Gavin Kelly
Aug 29, 2021
Preparing for a decade of economic change: lessons from the era of White Heat

Preparing for a decade of economic change: lessons from the era of White Heat

Boris Johnson’s administration may well oversee the start of a period of major upheaval for the UK economy — quite possibly the largest…
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Gavin Kelly
Jul 2, 2021
Prospects for a fair work recovery?

Prospects for a fair work recovery?

These are my slides for a recent talk called ‘A Fair work recovery?’ given to an event organised by the Fair Work Convention.
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Gavin Kelly
Mar 17, 2021
The welfare state after Covid: learning from our Bismarckian moment

The welfare state after Covid: learning from our Bismarckian moment

A version of this article was first published by the Financial Times.
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Gavin Kelly
Dec 9, 2020
200,000 reasons to celebrate the Living Wage

200,000 reasons to celebrate the Living Wage

As the new real Living Wage rates gets announced — £9.50 in London and £10.85 in London — it is a good moment to reflect on the impact of…
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Gavin Kelly
Nov 9, 2020
The Child Trust Fund comes of age

The Child Trust Fund comes of age

It presents a unique opportunity to learn about the difference that asset ownership can make
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Gavin Kelly
Aug 28, 2020
The UK should not weaken safety nets mid-storm

The UK should not weaken safety nets mid-storm

As more workers are laid-off this autumn, the grim reality of meagre support will become clear
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Gavin Kelly
Aug 11, 2020
Talking about a revolution?

Talking about a revolution?

Making sense of the debate on the pandemic and its long-term impact on politics and policy
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Gavin Kelly
Jun 29, 2020
Churchill, the crisis and a better deal for Britain’s low paid

Churchill, the crisis and a better deal for Britain’s low paid

If we are to have a Churchillian response to the crisis, let’s have the right one
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Gavin Kelly
May 6, 2020

Would a richer decade have been a happier one?

The link between national prosperity and personal wellbeing is not straightforward
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Gavin Kelly
Jan 2, 2020
The new real Living Wage rates for 2019–20 explained

The new real Living Wage rates for 2019–20 explained

The new real Living Wage rates have been announced. The rates are overseen by the Living Wage Commission (which I Chair) and this foreword…
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Gavin Kelly
Nov 11, 2019
The flaws of the UK labour market won’t solve themselves

The flaws of the UK labour market won’t solve themselves

Time to learn from other Anglo-Saxon economies
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Gavin Kelly
Oct 29, 2019
UK jobs model — sinner or saint?

UK jobs model — sinner or saint?

I used these slides in a recent lecture I gave on the state of work in Britain to the Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath.
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Gavin Kelly
Oct 1, 2019
Football tournaments penalise GCSE students. Can’t we avoid this fixture clash?

Football tournaments penalise GCSE students. Can’t we avoid this fixture clash?

This piece was first published in the Guardian.
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Gavin Kelly
Feb 5, 2019
UK’s Brexit vote driven by complex new social divides

UK’s Brexit vote driven by complex new social divides

This article is co-authored with Nick Pearce, Prof Public Policy & Director at IPR. It originally appeared in The Irish Times.
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Gavin Kelly
Feb 5, 2019
Brexit and the Future of the British Model of Democratic Capitalism

Brexit and the Future of the British Model of Democratic Capitalism

This article is co-authored with Nick Pearce, Prof Public Policy & Director at IPR. The article is an extract from Political Quarterly’s…
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Gavin Kelly
Feb 5, 2019
The politics of UK tax rises are as complex as the system

The politics of UK tax rises are as complex as the system

The case for tax rises to fund creaking public services in the UK will only grow as an issue in the year ahead.
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Gavin Kelly
Jan 15, 2019
Past assets: Lessons from New Labour’s asset‐based welfare strategy

Past assets: Lessons from New Labour’s asset‐based welfare strategy

This article is co-authored with George Bangham, a researcher at the Resolution Foundation. It originally appeared in IPPR Progressive…
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Gavin Kelly
Dec 19, 2018
Explaining this year’s Living Wage Rates

Explaining this year’s Living Wage Rates

This is my foreword to Resolution Foundation’s report: Calculating a Living Wage for London and the rest of the UK
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Gavin Kelly
Nov 5, 2018
The austerity decade and the future of the welfare state — who should it be for?

The austerity decade and the future of the welfare state — who should it be for?

This piece was first published in The Guardian
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Gavin Kelly
Oct 29, 2018
Where has income mobility been rising fastest? Britain.

Where has income mobility been rising fastest? Britain.

Time to change the narrative.
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Gavin Kelly
Jul 5, 2018
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