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Resolution Foundation
Resolution Foundation
Resolution Foundation
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The Resolution Foundation is an independent[2] British think tank established in 2005. Its stated aim is to improve the standard of living of low- to middle-income families.[3][4]

Key Information

Appointments

[edit]

From 2005 to 2010, Sue Regan served as the chief executive of the organisation. She was succeeded by Gavin Kelly, who led the organisation from 2010 to 2015. Following his tenure, Kelly became the CEO of the Resolution Trust, the think tank's primary funder.[3]

In June 2015, the former Conservative MP David Willetts took over as executive chairman.[5][6] At the same time, Torsten Bell, a former senior advisor to Ed Miliband, was appointed as the organisation's director to lead what the Foundation described as "an expanded programme of work".[3][7] By November 2019, Willetts had become president of the Foundation's Advisory Council and Intergenerational Centre, while Bell had advanced to the role of chief executive.

In May 2024, Bell departed from the organisation after being selected as Labour's candidate for Swansea West.

In November 2024, the Resolution Foundation announced the appointment of Ruth Curtice as its new chief executive.[8]

Publications

[edit]

The Foundation has hosted a number of major reviews, and the commission on Living Standards, chaired by Clive Cowdery, ran from 2011 to 2012.[9] The 'Resolution Foundation Review of the Future of the National Minimum Wage' in 2013 and 2014 was chaired by Sir George Bain, and set out proposals to strengthen the minimum wage.[10] This report was referenced by Chancellor George Osborne when the National Living Wage was announced in 2015.[11] The 'Intergenerational Commission' ran from 2016 to 2018, chaired by David Willetts.[12] This was succeeded by the 'Intergenerational Centre', which was established "as a home for analysis and policy thinking on living standards through a generational lens".[13]

In 2018, a Macroeconomic Policy Unit was established "with the aim of contributing to a more inclusive and better informed macroeconomic policy debate".[14] The Resolution Foundation produces some recurring research publications. These include annual 'Low Pay Britain' reports, an annual 'Living Standards Audit', an annual 'Living Standards Outlook', and a quarterly 'Earnings Outlook'. The Foundation also calculates the rates of the voluntary UK and London Living Wages each year, on behalf of the Living Wage Foundation and using the Minimum Income Standard.[15]

In March 2023, the Foundation shared research exclusively with BBC Panorama, which claimed that stalling wage growth since the 2008 financial crisis had left British workers £11,000 worse off a year.[16] The Foundation released a report in April 2023, titled 'Low Pay Britain 2023: Improving low-paid work through higher minimum standards', stating that "good work" is needed to combat economic decline in Britain.[17]

Funding

[edit]

In the year ending 30 September 2022, its annual income was £3,285,540. The bulk of its funding comes from the Resolution Trust established by Clive Cowdery in addition to the Federation of Small Businesses, the Nuffield Foundation, the Rowntree trusts and others.[18] It has been awarded an A rating for transparency by the Who Funds You? project and is quoted more often by political parties that are left of centre.[19]

See also

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References

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Resolution Foundation

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The Resolution Foundation is an independent British founded in 2005 by Sir with the aim of improving living standards for low- and middle-income households in the . The organization conducts economic analysis and policy research on key areas including incomes, inequality, , jobs, skills, pay, , , taxes, social , public services, productivity, and , with a particular emphasis on those in low-pay or precarious work and vulnerable to financial shocks. It has overseen commissions such as the 2012 Commission on Living Standards and the 2016-2018 Intergenerational Commission, alongside ongoing initiatives like the Economy 2030 Inquiry in partnership with the London School of Economics and calculations of the since 2018. Notable achievements include shifting public discourse on living standards through concepts like the "squeezed middle" and influencing policies that reduced the share of low hourly pay among employees from 22 percent to 3 percent, including the introduction of the in 2015. The Foundation also launched Resolution Ventures in 2020, a venture fund supporting WorkerTech startups that has impacted over 350,000 workers. Primarily funded by the Resolution Trust established by its founder, the maintains a non-partisan approach focused on to address in-work and stagnant wage growth.

History

Founding and Early Years (2005–2010)

The Resolution Foundation was established in 2005 by , a British businessman and philanthropist, with the aim of addressing stagnating living standards among low- and middle-income families in Britain amid growing income disparities following decades of uneven . The organization was formally incorporated as a private on 11 October 2005 and registered as a charity on 24 June 2006, enabling it to conduct independent research and policy advocacy focused on preventing the entrenchment of a low-paid "" class. Under the leadership of its first chief executive, Sue Regan—who served from 2005 to 2010—the Foundation prioritized high-quality empirical analysis of economic challenges facing working families, including low pay, in-work poverty, and barriers to financial security. Early efforts emphasized data-driven examinations of pay progression, impacts, childcare costs, and the interplay of tax and welfare systems, using charts and metrics to engage policymakers, media, and the public. This work helped shift discourse by highlighting phenomena such as the "squeezed middle," where middle-income households faced eroding real earnings despite overall economic expansion. A core initiative during this period involved advocating for expanded access to independent financial advice for low- and middle-income households, identifying gaps in generic advisory services that left many vulnerable to poor financial decisions. The Foundation's targeted research and outreach built broad consensus on this issue, culminating in a commitment to enhance provision of such advice, marking an early policy influence amid limited resources and a nascent organizational . By 2010, these foundational activities had established the Resolution Foundation as a credible voice on living standards, setting the stage for subsequent expansions in scope and impact.

Expansion and Key Milestones (2011–Present)

In the years following its initial establishment, the Resolution Foundation broadened its scope beyond foundational research on low-to-middle income households, launching specialized commissions and reviews that influenced policy on wages and living standards. Between 2010 and 2015, the organization hosted the Commission on Living Standards, which examined post-financial crisis income stagnation, and contributed to the Bain Review of the , highlighting evidence that higher wage floors could boost without significant job losses. These efforts marked an expansion in policy engagement, with the 2014 Low Pay Review providing data that underpinned the introduction of the in the July 2015 budget, effective April 2016, which subsequently reduced the share of low-paid workers from 20% in 2011 to 3.8% by 2024. From 2016 to , the Foundation initiated the Intergenerational Commission to address emerging divides in accumulation and lifecycle outcomes, producing reports that documented how younger cohorts faced delayed milestones such as homeownership compared to prior generations, amid house price rises of 152% since 1997 against earnings growth of just 36%. This period also saw the organization assume responsibility for calculating the voluntary Real Living Wage annually, starting formally in , based on empirical data on living costs, with rates updated each November to reflect inflation and regional variations—such as the 2023 UK-wide rate of £10.90 per hour outside . A significant organizational expansion occurred in 2020 with the launch of Resolution Ventures, a dedicated social investment arm aimed at funding innovative solutions in worker and economic inclusion, complemented by the introduction of the WorkerTech Fund in September 2025, seeded with £6.7 million to support startups enhancing labor market equity. In 2021, the Foundation partnered with School of Economics' Centre for Economic Performance to establish the Economy 2030 Inquiry, a three-year initiative that generated over 90 reports analyzing structural economic challenges, including a 20% gap with leading European peers like . This culminated in the December 2023 "Ending Stagnation" report, advocating productivity-led growth strategies to reverse median real earnings growth, which had averaged only 0.3% annually since 2004–05, equating to a £20,100 annual shortfall per household relative to pre-crisis trends. By 2025, marking its 20th anniversary, the Resolution Foundation had solidified its role through renewed commitments to evidence-based of wage depression and generational inequities, while forming a new advisory council to guide future priorities amid ongoing economic stagnation.

Mission and Research Focus

Stated Objectives and Priorities

The Resolution Foundation describes its core objective as improving living standards for the approximately 15 million people in Britain on low and middle incomes. This public benefit goal centers on generating original and economic to produce new ideas and solutions, which the organization then advances through , public debate, media engagement, and direct interactions with policymakers. Key priorities encompass boosting outcomes in domains such as incomes, inequality, and ; jobs, skills, and pay; costs and markets; wealth, assets, and pensions; as well as , welfare, and the broader distribution of . The emphasizes enhancing for vulnerable groups, including low-paid or precarious workers and those at risk of financial shocks, while addressing intergenerational fairness through dedicated programs like the Intergenerational Centre. These efforts aim to inform evidence-based reforms that prioritize inclusive macroeconomic policies and labor market improvements.

Methodological Approach

The Resolution Foundation conducts through a primarily quantitative, empirical framework, leveraging administrative datasets from sources such as HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Office for National Statistics (ONS), alongside household survey data, to examine trends in incomes, inequality, , costs, and related factors influencing living standards. This approach involves disaggregating data by demographics like age, family type, region, and quintile to identify distributional impacts, often incorporating projections and scenario modeling for outlooks on labor markets, , and intergenerational fairness. For instance, their Living Standards Outlook series employs nowcasting and forecasting techniques to estimate real-time and future growth, integrating economic assumptions with variables. Rigorous quality controls underpin their methodology, including detailed internal assurance processes, for publications, and external consultations on novel or contentious analyses to ensure transparency and consideration of counterarguments. The organization publishes an annual Research Integrity statement outlining commitments to honesty, accountability, and methodological transparency, deriving recommendations directly from while focusing on well-defined, UK-relevant topics such as low-to-middle income dynamics. This data-centric method avoids unsubstantiated advocacy, prioritizing verifiable trends over ideological priors, though specific reports append tailored annexes detailing econometric specifications or simulation parameters for . In policy-oriented work, such as the Economy 2030 Inquiry, the Foundation bridges empirical findings with , using structured analyses to evaluate trade-offs in areas like skills development and public spending, informed by over 90 supporting reports. This iterative process emphasizes from observed data patterns, supplemented by macroeconomic modeling to assess growth scenarios, while maintaining independence from funders to preserve analytical neutrality.

Organizational Structure

Leadership and Appointments

Ruth Curtice serves as Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, having assumed the position on January 20, 2025, following her appointment announced on November 19, 2024. Prior to this, she held the role of Director of at for over 15 years, with expertise in labour markets, tax, , and financial regulation. Her selection was praised by founder and Chairman for her economic analysis track record and alignment with the organization's mission to improve living standards for low- to middle-income households. Torsten Bell preceded Curtice as Chief Executive, leading the organization from 2015 to 2024 with a focus on renewal and living standards research. Gavin Kelly, who was Chief Executive from 2010 to 2015, transitioned to Executive Chair from 2015 until 2024, overseeing strategic direction during a period of expanded research output. Kelly's tenure included establishing the Living Wage Commission, which he chaired. David Willetts, the Rt Hon. Lord Willetts FRS and former Minister for Universities and Science (2010–2014), holds the position of President, providing oversight on intergenerational issues. Sir , the founder, remains Chairman of Trustees, maintaining governance continuity since the organization's establishment in 2005. Mike Brewer acts as Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Economist, supporting executive leadership with expertise in public economics. Research Directors, including Lindsay Judge (social security and housing since 2016) and James Smith (wealth and housing since 2018), report into the senior team, directing specialized policy work. Recent board appointments include Siobhan Moynihan as a director on May 12, 2025, per filings.

Internal Operations and Ventures

The Resolution Foundation maintains a lean operational structure, employing around 30 staff members in a close-knit team that emphasizes collaboration, flexible working arrangements, and mutual support. The organization is based in a single office in Westminster, London, situated next to St James' Park, which facilitates proximity to policymakers and stakeholders in central government. Internal processes prioritize rigorous, data-driven research on living standards, with staff engaged in quantitative analysis, policy modeling, and stakeholder engagement, often drawing on partnerships with academic institutions like the London School of Economics for specialized inquiries such as the Economy 2030 project. A key venture arm is Resolution Ventures, launched to invest in early-stage WorkerTech startups that innovate to enhance labor market outcomes and worker protections. This initiative targets companies developing technologies for better job matching, skills development, and equity, reflecting the Foundation's focus on practical interventions in dynamics. In September 2025, Resolution Ventures announced a £9 million fund dedicated to supporting such startups amid rapid changes in the labor market, including and expansion. Notable investments include a participation in Breakroom's £4.9 million round in November 2021, a platform providing job quality ratings to aid worker decision-making. These activities operate independently from core research but align with the Foundation's mission, funded through dedicated channels to preserve analytical autonomy.

Key Publications and Outputs

Major Reports and Commission Work

The Resolution Foundation has hosted several high-profile commissions to examine structural challenges in living standards and . The Commission on Living Standards, active from 2011 to 2012, produced its final report Gaining from Growth on October 31, 2012, which diagnosed stagnant growth for low- and middle-income households despite aggregate , projecting that median household disposable incomes could remain flat in real terms from 2000 to 2020 without policy interventions to broaden growth distribution. The report emphasized failures in wage progression, productivity diffusion, and skills investment as causal factors, advocating reforms to ensure future GDP gains accrue to squeezed middle earners rather than concentrating at the top. Between 2016 and 2018, the Intergenerational Commission convened experts from business, academia, and policy to assess fairness across age cohorts, culminating in multiple final reports that highlighted disparities in , , and burdens borne by younger generations relative to older ones. Key outputs quantified how faced £80,000 lower lifetime accumulation compared to at equivalent life stages, attributing this to market distortions, proliferation, and uneven access, while recommending fiscal adjustments like reforms and increased supply to mitigate cohort-based inequities. The Economy 2030 Inquiry, a three-year collaboration with the London School of Economics' Centre for Economic Performance launched in the early and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, has focused on crafting a post-stagnation economic strategy amid and global shifts. Its outputs, including essays on policy and historical precedents, argue for prioritizing strengths in services exports and high-value to reverse productivity slowdowns, with analyses showing services comprising over 40% of GDP but underperforming in growth relative to peers. The inquiry's themes underscore causal links between weak investment, skills mismatches, and institutional rigidities in perpetuating low growth, projecting that without reforms, GDP could lag major economies by 10-15% by 2030. Beyond commissions, the Foundation's flagship report series include the annual Living Standards Outlook, with the 2025 edition released on June 26 analyzing decade-long income trends and forecasting modest real wage growth of 1-2% annually through 2030 amid fiscal constraints and productivity hurdles. The Low Pay Britain series, now in its 15th iteration as of 2025, tracks wage floors and insecurity, revealing that despite hikes, 5 million workers remain low-paid, with policy evaluations critiquing misclassification as a barrier to protections. Wealth audit reports, such as the 2025 Before the Fall—the fourth in the series—use data from the Wealth and Assets Survey (April 2020 to March 2022) to document rising inequality, where the top 10% hold 43% of net wealth despite interventions, linking this to asset price inflation outpacing income gains for lower deciles.

Ongoing Research Series

The Resolution Foundation conducts several recurring research series that track persistent challenges in living standards, low-paid , affordability, and distribution, providing annual or quarterly updates grounded in empirical data from sources such as for National Statistics and household surveys. These series emphasize quantitative analysis of trends, policy impacts, and structural economic shifts, often incorporating projections based on macroeconomic forecasts and labor market data. The Low Pay Britain series, an annual publication since at least 2011, monitors the prevalence and characteristics of low-paid work in the , with the 2025 edition—the 15th in the sequence—focusing on the implications of the Employment Rights Bill for employment status reforms, wage floors, and workplace security for the bottom third of earners. It reports that, as of 2024 data, approximately 20% of UK workers remain in low-paid roles despite increases, highlighting slow escape rates from low pay (with only 40% of low earners in 2011 moving out by 2021) and sector-specific vulnerabilities in retail and . Complementing this, the Living Standards Outlook (formerly Audit), an annual assessment launched around 2019, evaluates trajectories, rates, and inequality metrics across household types, with the 2025 report—the seventh—projecting a 1-2% squeeze for middle-income families amid and fiscal constraints, drawing on Family Resources Survey data to show non-pensioner household incomes stagnating at £30,000 after housing costs since 2019-20. The quarterly Housing Outlook series analyzes supply-demand imbalances and affordability pressures, as in the Q3 2025 installment, which critiques the government's 1.5 million homes target by estimating a shortfall of 300,000 units annually due to planning bottlenecks and construction costs, linking these to rising rents (up 8% year-on-year in private sectors) and their drag on disposable incomes for low-to-middle earners. Additionally, the Audits of Household Wealth series periodically dissects asset distribution and shock resilience, with the fourth report, "Before the Fall" (circa 2023-2024), revealing that the bottom 50% of households hold just 9% of total despite post-Covid asset gains, attributing vulnerability to high debt-to-asset ratios exceeding 50% in younger cohorts. These series collectively inform debates by prioritizing data-driven critiques over ideological prescriptions, though their reliance on datasets has drawn scrutiny for potential undercounting of informal economic activity.

Policy Influence and Impact

Engagements with Government and Stakeholders

The Resolution Foundation has submitted written evidence to various parliamentary select committees, providing analysis on living standards, , and welfare issues. For instance, in July 2021, it submitted evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee emphasizing the need for improved financial advice and support for low-to-middle income households. Earlier submissions include a 2014 to the Treasury Select Committee advocating for government-private sector collaboration to address wage stagnation and living standards challenges. These submissions typically draw on the Foundation's to recommend adjustments, such as enhancing generic financial advice mechanisms for vulnerable groups. The organization has also participated in oral evidence sessions before parliamentary inquiries. In the House of Commons' "An Equal Recovery" inquiry launched in 2020, Chief Executive provided testimony alongside officials from the Office for National Statistics, focusing on post-pandemic disparities in recovery across income levels. Such engagements allow the Foundation to directly influence legislative scrutiny of government policies on , inequality, and fiscal measures. Direct interactions with government ministers occur periodically, as evidenced by a November 18, 2024, meeting between (DWP) officials and representatives from the Resolution Foundation, alongside the , to discuss welfare and employment dynamics. The Foundation further engages stakeholders through events at political party conferences, such as Labour and Conservative gatherings in 2024, where it hosts panels on improving pay, conditions, and economic strategies for low earners. These forums facilitate dialogue with policymakers, business leaders, and on implementing research-driven reforms. Through initiatives like the Economy 2030 Inquiry, launched in collaboration with the London School of Economics, the Foundation conducts structured consultations to shape long-term , including submissions on macroeconomic frameworks and urban development that inform government strategies on stagnation and growth. It routinely responds to fiscal events, critiquing ministerial announcements—such as the 2023 Autumn Statement—for their implications on household budgets and public services, thereby positioning itself as a key stakeholder in ongoing debates.

Adopted Recommendations and Outcomes

The Resolution Foundation's 2014 report "More than a minimum: The case for a higher UK " recommended elevating the to 60 percent of median hourly earnings by 2020 to combat persistent low pay affecting over 20 percent of workers. This target was directly adopted by Chancellor in the July 2015 Summer Budget, which introduced the (NLW) for workers aged 25 and over, explicitly aiming for the 60 percent benchmark with rollout from 2016. The policy's implementation correlated with a sharp decline in low-paid —defined as below two-thirds of median earnings—to 3 percent of the workforce by 2024, alongside real-terms weekly earnings gains of 37 percent (equivalent to £125 for a standard 37.5-hour week) for 1.9 million beneficiaries, though effects remained minimal due to offsetting adjustments in hours and hiring. In response to the economic shock, the Foundation advocated for a wage subsidy scheme to preserve jobs and incomes during enforced business closures. The government enacted this via the () in March 2020, subsidizing 80 percent of prior earnings for furloughed staff, which peaked at supporting 9 million workers and prevented widespread spikes while stabilizing . Outcomes included sustained labor market participation post-scheme, with unemployment rising only modestly to 4.5 percent by late 2020 compared to sharper increases in peer economies without equivalent interventions, though fiscal costs exceeded £70 billion. The Foundation's Economy 2030 Inquiry, culminating in the December 2023 report "Ending Stagnation: A New Economic Strategy for Britain," prescribed sustained public investment hikes—targeting 3 percent of GDP—to counter stagnation rooted in chronic under-investment since the . Elements of this were incorporated in the Labour government's October 2024 Autumn Statement, which boosted capital spending by £14.8 billion annually by 2028-29 and revised fiscal rules to exempt investment from day-to-day borrowing constraints, enabling a projected public investment rise toward 2.6 percent of GDP. Early outcomes include enhanced funding for and R&D, though long-term gains depend on implementation efficacy amid competing fiscal pressures.

Funding and Financial Transparency

Primary Funding Sources

The Resolution Foundation receives the majority of its funding from the Resolution Trust, a charitable entity established in by British businessman to support research and policy initiatives aimed at improving living standards for low- and middle-income groups. In the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023, the Trust contributed £2,460,000, representing approximately 67% of the organization's total income of £3,659,969. The Trust has committed £7,680,000 over the three-year period from 2022 to 2025, underscoring its role as the core financial backer enabling the Foundation's independent operations. Supplementary funding supports specific projects and research programs, with notable contributions from philanthropic and research-oriented organizations. The Nuffield Foundation provided £653,718 in 2022-2023, primarily for collaborative inquiries such as the Economy 2030 Inquiry. Other donors exceeding £3,000 included The Health Foundation (£155,894), abrdn Financial Fairness Trust (£64,500), and the (£72,309), alongside smaller grants from entities like (UK) Ltd, , and Ufi VocTech Trust. These project-specific funds, while significant, do not alter the Trust's dominant position in sustaining the Foundation's overall budget and staffing of around 50 personnel.

Governance of Independence

The Resolution Foundation's governance structure is designed to safeguard its operational and editorial through oversight by a board of trustees, chaired by founder Sir since the organization's establishment in 2005. The board, which includes trustees such as economist Lord Adair Turner, former civil servant Kate Josephs, and business leader Danuta Gray, holds ultimate responsibility for strategic direction, financial stewardship, and compliance with charitable objectives, as outlined in annual reports and governance documents. This trustee-led model aligns with standard practices for charities, emphasizing duties to ensure research and policy work remains non-partisan and merit-based, without direct interference in day-to-day analysis. A core mechanism for maintaining is the Foundation's funding model, which relies primarily on from the Resolution Trust, a charitable entity established by Cowdery in 2007 to provide sustained, unrestricted support for research on low- and middle-income living standards. This endowment-style funding, totaling the bulk of incoming resources (e.g., donations from the Trust formed the majority in for years ended September 2015 and 2021), minimizes reliance on project-specific or that could introduce external pressures. While supplementary partnerships with organizations like the London School of Economics occur for specific inquiries, the Trust's ongoing commitment—rooted in Cowdery's philanthropic allocation of business profits—aims to insulate the Foundation from short-term donor influence, though critics could note the founder's dual role in both entities as a potential point of concentrated control. Editorial independence is further reinforced by internal protocols, including rigorous , quality assurance processes, and an annual Research Integrity Statement that commits to transparency, methodological honesty, and in outputs. An advisory council comprising academics and economists provides additional scrutiny, reviewing major programs without power, while the Foundation publicly engages across political lines and discloses on relevant publications. These practices, self-reported as upholding non-partisan pursuit of , are verifiable through published methodologies, though their effectiveness depends on adherence amid the think tank's center-left policy leanings observed in outputs.

Criticisms and Controversies

Allegations of Political Bias

Critics, particularly from conservative-leaning outlets, have accused the Resolution Foundation of exhibiting left-wing bias, attributing this to its funding sources, policy emphases, and personnel affiliations. The organization was established in 2005 by , a Labour Party donor, through the Resolution Trust, a structure domiciled in that has raised questions about undue political influence, with commentators describing such think tanks as "mouthpieces for individuals with particular political agendas." In 2015, the Foundation drew scrutiny for its prominent opposition to Chancellor George Osborne's proposed tax credit cuts, supplying detailed analysis that critics viewed as providing partisan ammunition against Conservative welfare reforms aimed at reducing work disincentives. Similarly, a 2019 report arguing that second home ownership disadvantages younger generations faced backlash for implying redistributive measures against property owners, which detractors labeled as promoting class-based penalization. The 2024 departure of long-time director to become Labour's parliamentary candidate for Swansea West has intensified claims of center-left alignment, with some portraying his prior roles at the Foundation as emblematic of "trendy lefty" policy advocacy. Conservative media have repeatedly characterized the as "left-leaning" in coverage of its critiques of policies on inequality and living standards, despite its self-description as independent and non-partisan. The Foundation has countered such allegations by emphasizing evidence-based analysis applicable across political lines, including recent rebukes of Labour's fiscal decisions.

Methodological and Ideological Critiques

Critics have argued that the Resolution Foundation exhibits a left-leaning ideological orientation, evidenced by its consistent emphasis on income inequality, low pay, and redistributive policies as primary drivers of living standards, often prioritizing these over supply-side economic reforms. This focus has led to accusations of aligning with interventionist agendas that appeal to progressive policymakers, despite the organization's claims of , as seen in its for higher minimum wages and expanded welfare mechanisms without sufficient counterbalancing analysis of potential disincentives to employment or investment. Methodologically, the Foundation's reports have been faulted for documenting distributional problems while underemphasizing causal factors rooted in regulatory or market barriers, such as in housing policy analysis where it highlights affordability crises but avoids deep exploration of planning restrictions as a supply constraint. For instance, in its examination of low savings rates, the organization identified intergenerational disparities but proposed redistributing resources from older minimum-wage earners to younger higher earners without accounting for behavioral responses or incentive distortions that could exacerbate savings shortfalls. Further critiques target assumptions in macroeconomic modeling, particularly in the 2023 "Ending Stagnation" report, where fiscal recommendations treat government budgeting akin to household finances, presuming money scarcity despite modern monetary theory perspectives that view sovereign currency issuance differently, potentially leading to overly contractionary policy advice. In tax policy discussions, analyses have been criticized for overlooking effective tax planning strategies and assuming persistently high tax burdens without rigorous modeling of behavioral adaptations by taxpayers or firms. These methodological choices, detractors contend, reflect an ideological preference for state-centric solutions over evidence of dynamic market adjustments, though the Foundation maintains its work is data-driven and empirically grounded.

References

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  53. https://iea.org.uk/media/resolution-foundation-identify-problem-but-fail-in-their-solution/
  54. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2023/12/09/the-resolution-foundations-proposed-method-for-ending-stagnation-would-deliver-a-massive-recession-instead/
  55. https://www.taxpayersalliance.com/what_the_resolution_foundation_gets_wrong_and_right_about_tax
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