The interim report of the Timms Review of PIP was published this morning, and its conclusion is stark: "PIP is not working." Here's a thread summarising what it says, and what we might expect from the final report in the autumn. 🧵

Good to see the Government announce action to reduce the number of 16-17-year-olds who are NEET or 'not known'. While we might expect local labour market conditions to vary, the ability of local authorities to enforce the mandatory participation age should not. www.gov.uk/government/n...

This morning’s data shows a weak labour market: unemployment remains high and real wages are barely growing. The monthly LFS unemployment data is volatile but the big picture is that unemployment has been climbing for the past few years and stood at 4.9% in the three months to April.

4 million people in England and Wales now receive PIP. As the Timms Review gets underway, here are five things today's new DWP data tells us about the benefit 🧵

Extraordinary testimony to the Millburn Report about sleeping habits

If you need persuading of the importance of education funding / structures to UK's NEET problem, this chart was my best attempt at making that point. UK has *higher* % of YP in straight-employment than almost all OECD countries. But still manages higher NEET rates because ed participation so low

Nye Cominetti @nyecominetti.bsky.social · 3mo ago

2. Education. Mechanically, reducing the NEET rate means getting more young people into education or work. Almost all the countries with lower NEET rates than the UK do this via higher education participation. So that seems the main place to look for improvement.

This is a fantastic report - we are utterly failing too many young people, and it is no wonder that many of them feel fed up with the systems around them

Peter Hyman@peterhyman.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Inside the Mind of a Young NEET. Powerful testimony from 400 young people across the UK. A call to action. Please share widely. @rachelsylvester.bsky.social @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social @itvpeston.bsky.social @vicderbyshire.bsky.social Download a copy here: open.substack.com/pub/peterhym...

The UK's run of feel-good economic data came to an abrupt end this morning. The flash composite PMI index for May suggests private-sector activity shrank on the month. Worryingly, this happened despite pre-emptive buying propping up manufacturing. Services shrank at the fastest rate since 2021.

Running a half marathon isn't my idea of fun... but neither is living in a country where we lose someone to suicide every 75 minutes. I'm running the Hackney Half this Sunday for The Listening Place - any donations would be hugely appreciated! www.justgiving.com/page/louisem...

Bank of England follows the Fed and holds its policy rate at 3.75% given uncertainty from the conflict in the Middle East. BoE hints it will be patient on raising rates but the bigger issue is its assessment of the impact of the war. Thread on all that to follow...

How many pints of Guinness does an hour’s work buy you? Well, it depends where you live. Check out our Chart of the week ⤵️ buff.ly/KPkiIZZ

This morning’s stats show that the labour market remains loose, with high unemployment (albeit with a surprise fall in the latest month) and weak wage growth. A thread about what this means as we go into an energy price shock from me, @louisemurphy.bsky.social and @jametg.bsky.social:

New #ONS estimates of #families and #households in the #UK, up to 2025, were released today (www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...). The most eye-catching finding is the trend towards living with parents, especially so for young men. Here’s a thread with some key takeaways 🧵:

What a difference a week makes. It's almost as though our entire energy system is based on something fundamentally unstable

NEET estimates for Q4 2025 from ONS this morning. We already pretty much had the picture for Q4 from the main stats release last week (rising unemp) but let's run through the charts. And then zoom out. First - the number crept up ever so slightly. Importantly for comms the number remains below 1m.

Tomorrow the ONS will publish new data on the number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). This is important – and not just because the number is very close to one million…

Youth unemployment is at its highest level in over a decade - here’s our @resolutionfoundation.org take on today’s labour market stats

Julia Diniz@juliadelldiniz.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Today’s labour market statistics show that the UK’s unemployment problem is growing, with youth unemployment at its highest rate in over a decade. Here’s our @resolutionfoundation.org thread, from me and @louisemurphy.bsky.social :

🚨 New Living Standards Outlook published today! 🚨 This year will see a welcome boost to living standards... which we sadly expect to be short-lived. @louisemurphy.bsky.social explains 👇 buff.ly/siFTYAC

Families across Britain have experienced two decades of poor income growth, and the outlook for the rest of the 2020s isn't much better. In fact, the OBR's projection for income growth for the rest of this decade is worse than any of its previous ones...

Look, I know there's a lot going on in the news right now. But the MPC decision today was actually quite interesting! They were only one vote away from delivering a cut that wasn't on the cards at all, and they now think inflation will not just drop sharply this year but stay low. Thread below ⤵️

Our new report on Universal Credit is out today. We worked with participants from @changingrealities.bsky.social to develop 16 recommendations for how outcomes for and experiences of UC claimants can be improved. This thread has the details!

Resolution Foundation@resolutionfoundation.org · 6mo ago

🧵 NEW: Our report 'Listen and learn' sets out how the Government should improve Universal Credit (UC) for the 15 million people who rely on it. 13 years after its roll-out began, it’s time to get UC right. We've co-produced recommendations with @changingrealities.bsky.social participants 👇

The latest USoc wave lets us split out the Covid years from what came after. So striking that they look the same! Average mental ill health (based on a general screening instrument) is no better now than during the lockdown years, at any age. @alexbryson.bsky.social @dannyblanchy.bsky.social

Understanding Society@usociety.bsky.social · 7mo ago

The U-shape of wellbeing – high when we’re young, then falling, and rising after middle age – was “among the most striking, persistent patterns in social science ... But this is no longer true” – new blog by @dannyblanchy.bsky.social @alexbryson.bsky.social @xiaoweixu.bsky.social @theifs.bsky.social

Job opportunity - we need a fab new colleague to do quant research on work, welfare and mental health within @kingscsmh.bsky.social (closes 8 Feb) This is funded until Apr/28, but we'll support you in bids to extend it - please do circulate to suitable ppl! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQD294/p...

Postdoctoral Research Associate in Work, Welfare & Mental Health at King's College London

Apply now for the Postdoctoral Research Associate in Work, Welfare & Mental Health role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.

jobs.ac.uk

Today’s labour market stats show a weakening jobs market, with rising unemployment and flatlining real pay. Some @resolutionfoundation.org key takeaways from me and @louisemurphy.bsky.social 🧵 ...

Have written a piece teeing up tomorrow's labour market stats, pointing out the sort-of obvious - that we currently have a problem with unemployment (i.e. demand) not just participation (i.e. supply). www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...

Labour Market Outlook Q4 2025 • Resolution Foundation

Employment has fallen over the past two years and is substantially lower than it was before the pandemic. Perhaps surprisingly given its central place in policy debates, participation is essentially u...

resolutionfoundation.org

Good news - DWP has finally published UC Health data, splitting out those who have migrated over from legacy benefits (ESA). What does the data tell us? ESA migration accounts for most of the rise in UC Health claims over the past year - but new claims explain more of the rise since the pandemic.

The Govt is undertaking the Timms review, assessing whether PIP is “fair and fit for the future”. But what if we could learn lessons from a nation within the UK that had successfully implemented a new adult disability benefit just three years ago? 🤔 www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...

Delivering dignity? • Resolution Foundation

When the Scottish Government introduced the Adult Disability Payment (ADP) in 2022 to replace Personal Independence Payment (PIP), it set out to do things differently. [i] Although the two benefits ha...

resolutionfoundation.org

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...

New net migration figures show that international net-migration falls to 204k (like 2000s average). Partly reflects ONS revisions to how they calculate the figure. This is a big difference compared to the latest ONS projections, which don't forecast impact of policy or use the latest data.

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.