By the end of 2025, youth employment in payroll data was back at the level seen at the end of the first COVID lockdown. Today’s ONS figures show job vacancies have fallen a further 12% since then - suggesting an even bleaker outlook for young people entering the workforce.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies@theifs.bsky.social · 3mo ago

NEW: 12.8% of 16- to 24-year-olds were not in education, employment or training at the end of 2025, as recent falls in youth employment approach the scale seen during COVID and the financial crisis. 📗THREAD on our new report on youth employment:

Yesterday’s announcement hugely reduces the short-term cost of hiring 18-24 year olds on UC, even compared to FY2024 before the rise in youth min wage rates and employer NICs. More (bonus) charts and reflections below 🧵👇

The Institute for Fiscal Studies@theifs.bsky.social · 5mo ago

NEW: How will the government’s new youth employment package, worth £1 billion over 3 years, impact the roughly 960,000 16–24 year olds not in education, employment or training? 📗 @xiaoweixu.bsky.social and Imran Tahir assess its policies in our new comment: ifs.org.uk/articles/ass...

Peter put together a starter pack of my colleagues at the IFS. Follow them for high-quality, policy-relevant analysis on tax and spending, efficiency and equity, firms and workers, healthcare and education and much more.

Peter Levell@peterlevell.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Here's a starter pack of IFS economists posting on BlueSky. Make sure you're following them all for the top-quality economic analysis on labour markets, inequality, public finances, healthcare, education and more! go.bsky.app/NYPwMB

Great piece by @paulswinney.bsky.social raising serious concerns about the UK's sub-national productivity data and what it can tell us. I share his worry that misleading conclusions about a northern city miracle may already be skewing policy debates www.economicsobservatory.com/have-the-uks...

Have the UK’s northern cities really experienced a productivity miracle? - Economics Observatory

While official data points to a 'productivity miracle' in several large northern cities since 2019, a closer look suggests otherwise. This serves as a reminder to sense-check any data before using it,...

economicsobservatory.com

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

Excited about discussing regional inequalities at the Fiscal Studies symposium event next week! We've got a star-studded lineup of @andyburnham.bsky.social, Paul Collier, Philip McCann, @lindseymacmillan.bsky.social, @amcanning.bsky.social and more. Summary of new papers below 🧵👇

How can policy tackle regional inequalities? | Institute for Fiscal Studies

At this policy conference, researchers will present new evidence on the scale and causes of regional inequalities.

ifs.org.uk