'Stay home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.'More than ever, the COVID crisis has bought the NHS and the vital role it plays to the fore. However, after more than a year of unprecedented pressure, it faces long waiting lists, staffing shortages and inadequate funding. What challenges will the NHS face in the future? How can it tackle these issues? And what can government do to help? Joining us this week are George Stoye, IFS Associate Director who leads our work on healthcare, and Saffron Cordery, Deputy Chief Executive of NHS Providers, the membership organisation for NHS trusts.Support the IFS: https://www.ifs.org.uk/about/membership/individual Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In September 1999, Tony Blair set a goal for 50% of young adults to attend higher education institutions in the UK. In 2019, twenty years after the policy was announced, university attendance tipped over the 50% threshold.However, in a world where many graduates work in non-graduate jobs, and where successive governments seek to develop further education in the UK, many have questioned the wisdom of this policy.This week, we speak with Jack Britton, IFS education expert, and Professor Alison Wolf, Sir Roy Griffiths Professor of Public Sector Management at Kings College London, to find out whether too many people are going to university.Support the IFS: https://www.ifs.org.uk/about/membership/individual Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since the start of the COVID pandemic, the government has stepped in to pay the wages of millions of workers through the furlough scheme. As restrictions ease, and economic life begins to recover, we ask what changes COVID brought to the labour market, and what jobs could look like in future.This week, we speak with Sarah O'Connor, Employment Columnist at the Financial Times, and Jonathan Cribb, a Senior Research Economist at IFS who studies the labour market.Support the IFS: https://www.ifs.org.uk/about/membership/individual Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Business rates are charged on non-domestic properties, such as shops, offices, pubs, factories and warehouses, and raise around 3% government's revenue.At the start of the COVID pandemic, the government waived business rates for most businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. But the tax will start again from summer. As the high street reopens, we ask what effect business rates have on our high streets, whether they should be reformed, and whether we need a new tax on online retail to level the playing field.This week, we speak with Helen Miller, IFS tax expert, and Helen Dickinson, CEO of the British Retail Consortium.Support the IFS: https://www.ifs.org.uk/about/membership/individual Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The COVID-19 crisis has brought to the fore increasing concerns about inequalities not only between different population groups – such as the gap between the rich and poor, young and old, and different ethnic groups – but also between people living in different places.Even prior to the crisis though, there was a sense that the UK is not only a highly geographically unequal country, but also an increasingly geographically unequal one.This week, we have gone into the archive to bring you an episode from last year exploring geographical inequalities with David Phillips, Associate Director at IFS and an expert on devolved and local government finance.Support the IFS: https://www.ifs.org.uk/about/membership/individual Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the past decade, the UK has seen some of the slowest rates of productivity growth of the OECD countries, with output per hour and real wages no higher today than they were prior to the global financial crisis. Why is a high-tech, developed economy like the UK struggling to be more productive? What policies can government implement to get productivity growing again? And how can we spur innovation while also tackling issues like inequality?This week, we speak to John Van Reenen, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, and expert on innovation, firms and productivity.Support the IFS: https://www.ifs.org.uk/about/membership/individual Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Universal Credit is a benefit for working-age people, which combines six existing benefits payments into one payment. Launched in 2013, there are now about 5 million households claiming Universal Credit in the UK. What was the thinking behind this new policy? Has it been successful? And how has COVID affected the trajectory of Universal Credit?This week, Paul speaks with Charlotte Pickles, Director of Reform and a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee, and Tom Waters, Senior Research Economist at IFS and expert on benefits.Support the IFS: https://www.ifs.org.uk/about/membership/individual Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Spring 2021 Budget will be the first one since the UK entered a series of lockdowns and Great Britain left the EU's Single Market and Customs Union. The Chancellor has immediate decisions to make over many aspects of the emergency support packages that will otherwise expire soon. In addition there is a clear need for policies to help the economy to recover and to adjust to a post-Covid, post-Brexit world in which we are moving towards Net Zero.In this episode, Paul speaks with IFS Deputy Directors, Carl Emmerson and Helen Miller to explore the kinds of things the Chancellor should be thinking about.Support the IFS: https://www.ifs.org.uk/about/membership/individual Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By the time the pandemic is over, most children across the UK will have missed over half a year of normal, in-person schooling. That’s likely to be more than 5% of their entire time in school.What are the effects of this lost learning? How is it impacting students and teachers? What can policymakers do to make up for lost learning?Here to discuss are Luke Sibieta, IFS Research Fellow, and Becky Francis, CEO of the Education Endowment Foundation, an independent charity which seeks to improve the educational attainment of the poorest pupils in English schools.Support the IFS: https://www.ifs.org.uk/about/membership/individual Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The UK has committed to achieving net zero by 2050. To achieve this, nearly all sections of the economy will have to undergo significant changes - from trade and transport, to agriculture and construction. What will this shift look like? How easy will it be to transition? What role will government play in driving net zero?Here to talk through these issues is Chris Stark, Chief Executive of the UK's Climate Change Committee (CCC), the UK’s independent advisory group on tackling climate change.Support the IFS: https://www.ifs.org.uk/about/membership/individual Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.